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M-46 GENERAL PATTON

M-46 GENERAL PATTON

An initial production of 800 M-46s began in 1949 and 1215 M-26 Pershings scheduled for conversion. The chassis was the same outside of the rear deck being redesigned for the new engine and a track compensating idler added between the sprockets and last road wheels for track tension.

The M-3 90mm gun was modified to replace the huge double baffle muzzle brake with a smaller single baffle device and the installation of a bore evacuator, or fume extractor. The bore evacuator cleared the burning gasses from the bore after a round had been fired by dragging them into the evacuator can.  When a round was fired, it created a vacuum inside the can by dragging most of the air out of the gun tube with the projectile as it left the gun. As the air rushed back into the gun, the vacuum created in the bore evacuator sucked in the remaining burning  gasses from the bore, preventing them from flashing back into the turret.   It was commonly noted that you could always tell an M-26 loader as he had singed eyebrows and a sun- burned face.  To compensate for the difference in weight of the lighter muzzle brake, an equiliberator spring was installed in the turret. The gun now classified M-3A1, was installed in M-26 Pershings and the tank re designated M-26A1.  As such the M-26A1 and M-46 turrets were identical.

90mm gun M-3A1 had a range of 19,500 yards with HE or WP and 21,400 yards with AP-T ammunition. The optimum range for engagement was 1,800 yards.

90mm Ammunition stowage was the same in M-26 and M-46 tanks. 10 rounds were locked into the ready rack next to the loader and 60 rounds in the ammo wells under the floor and along the sides of the hull at the turret. Cal 30 and 50 ammunition and 45 caliber for pistol and submachine gun and cal 30 carbine were stowed in the turret bustle and in small sections under the turret, close to the rear wall.

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