Description
Original Item: The M1 81mm mortar was the largest weapon in the arsenal of the U.S. WWII infantry battalion. It provided the battalion commander with a powerful and flexible indirect fire capability. Sometimes called “infantry artillery,” or “hip pocket artillery,” mortars were capable of quickly laying down heavy barrages. These could stop enemy attacks under the worst conditions. Able to fire at high angles, mortars could fire at targets in defilade, either under direction of a forward observer, or firing off map coordinates. In the WW2 Pacific campaigns, these weapons became an important part of the battalion’s firepower, especially since they could be man-packed into positions that were inaccessible to artillery.
This offering is all fitted with the far smaller “Commando” base plate, which is easily carried on a belt, which drastically improved the portability of the mortar, at the expense of firing stability. Still, for front line highly mobile units, it was highly useful.
We offer genuine M1 81mm non-functional BATF approved display mortars as used by U.S. forces in WWII (however these are postwar manufactured) each display is comprised of the following:
– Lightweight “Commando” Base Plate
– Adjustable Bipod
– Demilled Barrel Tube which has been saw cut from the original base cup
– A near perfect reproduction inert base cup…
Read More
