[Commission] M-18 Recoiless Rifle (Handheld)
The M18 recoilless rifle is a 57 mm shoulder-fired, anti-tank recoilless rifle that was used by the U.S. Army in World War II and the Korean War. Recoilless rifles are capable of firing artillery-type shells at reduced velocities comparable to those of standard cannon, but with greater accuracy than anti-tank weapons that used unguided rockets, and almost entirely without recoil. The M18 was a breech-loaded, single-shot, man-portable, crew-served weapon. It could be used in both anti-tank and anti-personnel roles. The weapon could be both shoulder fired or fired from a prone position. The T3 front grip doubled as an adjustable monopod and the two-piece padded T3 shoulder cradle could swing down and to the rear as a bipod for the gunner. The most stable firing position was from the tripod developed for the water-cooled Browning M1917 machine gun.
Each U.S. Army rifle company in the Korean War was authorized three M18 recoilless rifles. The Marine Corps did not use the 57mm. Veterans of the Korean War have mentioned the use of the M18 against enemy machine gun nests. For anti-tank tasks, however, the M18 was too weak; the Soviet-built T-34 tank was extremely hard to penetrate even for the 2.36-inch (60 mm) Bazooka of World War II. The only way would have been flank or rear shots. U.S. infantry, initially with very few capabilities against these targets, solved the problem with new weapons like the 3.5-inch (89 mm) M20 Super Bazooka, which was powerful enough to destroy T-34s.
Wikipedia, lol
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