Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very good original U.S. 60mm High Explosive M49A2 mortar round, consisting of a 1955-dated projectile body fitted with a 1953-dated Point Detonating M52A2 fuze, together with the lower portion of its original fiber shipping container or “husk.” The round has been completely deactivated, with the projectile body hollow and the fuze inert. It contains no explosive filling and is Not Available For Export.

This is a hard to find WWII 1955-Dated M49A2 Deactivated Mortar Round, for the U.S. 60mm M2 Mortar. This cartridge is fired in 60mm mortars M2 or M19 for use against personnel and materiel, providing both fragmentation and blast effect. This example comes in its partial husk, just the bottom portion.

The complete round consists of a projectile body, a point detonating fuze, a fin assembly, four increments of propellant charge, an ignition cartridge, and a percussion primer. The projectile body is of pearlitic malleable iron (PMI), and is threaded internally at the nose to accept the fuze and at the base to accept the fin assembly. The body is filled with TNT.

The projectile body of the M49A2 is of forged steel and is filled with flaked TNT. This example is in very good condition, with original arsenal markings ink-stamped onto the mortar round body:

60M
TNT
SHELL M49A2
LOT MA-3-32

There are then arsenal markings stamped into the metal itself:

OVL-7-37-55-60MM, M49A2 (BoU STAMP)

The fuze is marked LOT MA-3-826 8-53 FUZE PD M52A2. The husk is well-marked on the side.

This example is particularly noteworthy for the combination of its 1955-dated M49A2 TNT projectile body, 1953-dated M52A2 point-detonating fuze, surviving arsenal markings, and partial original fiber shipping container. Its configuration represents the continued post-WWII production and long service life of the M49A2 60mm high-explosive mortar cartridge during the early Cold War and into the Vietnam-era inventory.