well, the darn thing is out

[pelago]

a guess, two pieces maybe in forward areas in combat, might mean or was able to change tires easily, two pieces bolted together might have made it easier to remove tire from rim and install new tire and tube??? just a guess getting a tire off the rim just not that easy???

[pelago]

We are just such endless founts of arcane knowledge around here.

For those reading along, black powder is graded by grain size. Black powder for cannons is generally #1, the next finer grade is Fg, followed by FFg (generally considered as a rifle powder) and FFFg, pistol powder.

Since I was overcome with curiosity (it's winter and its too dern cold to get out of the house), I found a 35mm film can and I filled it with FFFg black powder to get an idea of just how many grains would be in a film cannister.

Drum roll ... a film cannister is about 475 grains of FFFg. I would guess that #1 or even Fg would not pack as tightly - be less dense- so guess 425 or 400 grains to a cannister and a cannister and a half of cannon powder would be about 600 grains (plus or minus, your results may vary).

Doing a little arithmetic - with a cast iron ball, you would have a 3-pounder!

i have a few black powder firearms,,,, three 45/70's two antique one is a 1873 trap door carbine?? yeah a real one, the other is a 1873 trap door rifle. then i have a "
quigley" gun, (new) damn if it aint accurate, good out to 300 yards holds true, loud, quite a kick but a shooter. and have four original colt black powder pistols dont dare shoot them but they are in shootable condition, one belonged to my late great grandfather Col Martin Barger, 1851 colt used in civil war, and have providence to that fact have his belt, buckle, and pistol and one sword

[LarrBeard]

Old guns just wander into my house.

A friend came by one day and asked "Do you want this thing?"

I said "How much". He said "Just take it, a hired man left it in the work house at Dad's farm back in '58 or so and I'm tired of having to move it around".

Being the obliging guy I am, I said "Sure".

The thing was a 1873 Trapdoor Springfield rifle (.45-70 of course) - a bit the worse for wear - someone had tried to take off the barrel with a pipe wrench - but basically pretty good shape.

Am old guy in Vegas (now dead) found some history on it. It needed a sear and an extractor - but I got it fixed and I shoot it for kicks and giggles. I shoot about 30 grains of 5744 (a very light load) and even the teen-age grandson doesn't think it has any recoil.

I found bullets at the Acme bullet company (yeah - they make coyote bullets). The bullets have a protective coating/lubricant on them to protect you from lead hazards while you handle them - seriously.

My wife says they look like lipstick..

[gmwillys]

Thank you for the information. I've meant all weekend to figure out how many grains was in a film canister. I do know a two pound can does not last long. I like the traditional black powder fire arms, which led me to purchase a Thompson Center .50 cal. black powder rifle. My favorite rifle for accuracy and shoot ability would be the M14 platform.

I find it interesting about your Great Grandfather being the commanding officer of the Old Soldiers home in Danville. I grew up not too awfully far from there, and used to go to Rantoul for the government auctions at Chanute AFB. Dad would come home all the time with a whole trailer load of stuff for cheap. He once bought an industrial sewing machine that was around eight feet long. The needle looked like an eight penny nail. The machine was used to repair parachute harnesses. He also would come home with pallets of M151 MUTT parts, all for pennies on the dollar.

The reasoning behind a combat rim, (Pelago is correct) is to be able to dismount and mount tires without having to break out the tire spoons. Non directional tires have stiff sidewalls, and they are a bugger to change on a tire machine, let alone using spoons. It's tough not to damage the tubes when mounting the tire. A lot of modern forklifts use this tested technology to mount tires also.

[pelago]

ANOTHER QUESTION.... BATTERIES i have both trays and rebuild housing, but batteries. went looking and can not find correct size to fit in trays??

[LarrBeard]

I did some more poking and like most things, there are at least two factors in something like that.

Yep, I can see that changing a tire is a hard job. Most tire changes would have been a motor pool or transport section job. The GI would just swap to the spare most times but someone had to get that bead over the rim!

The other factor is productivity. There was a war on and doing it quicker, cheaper and with less labor was always a factor. The one piece wheel requires fabricating two pieces, then welding them together some way. The combat wheel was two stamped pieces with eight bolts, easier to build and a lot easier to swap a tire..

[gmwillys]

The batteries are 2HN. The replacements are expensive, but they are the right size. Here is some information that is out there on the inter web.

http://willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules.p...ewtopic&t=2131

http://www.debellajeepparts.com/m38premier.htm

[pelago]

OUCH 209.00 EACH might not be pretty but gonna look and see one that fits close to the shape of the battery tray, little less width, little less height, wth

[LarrBeard]

My friend with the M38 declares that you absolutely need to put a 24-volt battery conditioner on them immediately.

Just passin' the word on.

[gmwillys]

You might want to check out an EXIDE 51R-60. The dimensions are close enough, and are about half the cost. Check out a Tractor Supply store, along with your measurements. A lot of the time, their batteries are on sale. A battery conditioner is a good idea if you are not going to run your A1 at least once a week. It is hard on the expensive voltage regulator to have to run the generator at full field to charge low batteries.