The M551 Sheridan in action.

Youtube ^ | 8/3/14 | n/a

[DemforBush]

Interesting documentary/training film on the little tank with the great big gun.

[DemforBush]

The gun on the Sheridan is a low-velocity 152mm gun capable of also firing the Shillelagh anti-tank missile. The unique (and often troublesome) weapon was also found on the MBT-70 prototype, and the A2 "Starship" model of the M60 Patton tank.

[DemforBush]

BTW, in case anyone is interested in the MBT-70 or the A2 M60, here’s a couple brief clips of them:

MBT 70: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE7CUO0yuMo

A2 Starship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SblRf3Vgd0

[wally_bert]

Thank you. I’ve always had a sort of soft spot for Sheridan even though it never lived up to what it was supposed to do.

The idea was there but the technology wasn’t.

Up in Charlotte, NC at the old Aviation Museum, there was this one on display. I don’t know offhand what became of it when they moved into their modern and nice facility.

http://tysonneil.smugmug.com/Military/M551-Sheridan-Tank/

[BenLurkin]

Interesting — the loader certainly had a lot to keep track of!

[Lurker]

Treadhead ping

[Delta 21]

I am a huge fan of the M-2 HB Ma-Duece .50cal, but the M-85 .50 cal that the M-60’s had on them was an amazing weapon.

Love, love, love.

TC - Gunner, SABOT, Tank.
Gunner - Identified.
Loader - UP.
TC - Fire and adjust. Crew, caliber 50.
Gunner - On The Way!

[Flag_This]

"... the M-85 .50 cal that the M-60’s had on them was an amazing weapon."

That 7.62 coax was pretty sweet too.

[blueunicorn6]

Thank you. They had aluminum armor. You weren’t supposed to call them a tank. They sent all of them to The National Training Center to be opposing force vehicles. They could parachute them, but it beat the heck out of them. The old fatigues brought back some memories.

[blueunicorn6]

It’s like old home week.

[Delta 21]

M-85 had a “low” and a “high” rate of fire. It sounded like a loud sewing maching cranked up on high, and “Top” got pissed every time he heard it.

The M-240 is just pure TITS! The only thing that supplemented its greatness was the 10,000 round magazine along the turret wall!

[blueunicorn6]

One of my bosses was at an SF Camp in Vietnam. He said that the local VC had captured one of these and were using it to shell the camp. Every time the VC would fire off a round, the camp reaction force would go out looking for the gun. They finally took out some long probes and found the firing position. They dug it up, and it was a Sheridan. He said the VC were putting marks inside the turret to show azimuth and elevation when they fired. He said they would have eventually hit the camp. They buried a Sheridan. Amazing.

[Flag_This]

"The M-240 is just pure TITS! The only thing that supplemented its greatness was the 10,000 round magazine along the turret wall!"

I was in a CALFEX, back in the day, with an M60 tank about 75 meters off to my left. I was pinging away on my M-60 mg, at the prescribed 6-to-9-round-burst rate, and it was quite clear that the coax machine gun on the tank had no such restrictions. I felt kind of inadequate to tell you the truth... It was much worse at NTC watching an m113 with a vulcan gatling gun working over some targets.

[RitchieAprile]

they were not what you want to be in when hitting a mine.

none of the hot rods or funny cars were. we had a layer of 50 cal boxes on the floor or our ACAV, to shoot as well as to protect. poor driver just got a couple of sandbags.