Does anyone have a good picture of what mount was used when the .50 cal was removed from the cupola of the M48A3 and relocated in front of the cupola hatch? I am building one that has this set up but wasn't sure what the mount looked like. Is it a spare M113 mount? Second question- is what ever type of mount that is used available in any of the .50 cal sets from Academy or Tasca or elsewhere? Thanks

There was no standard kit or design. They were field modifications by unit maintenance teams. It was usually just a pipe w/a pintle mount welded onto the top of the cupola. The internal .50 cal was usually removed and the hole for it was either left open or welded over.





Tamiya addressed it like so...


This pic looks like it has an M113 pintle mount welded sideways to the top of the cupola.

As it was a field mod, I guess several options are possible. Here are two examples :

M113 mount :



sawed-off .50 tripods :






H.P.

Interesting options- thanks guys. the tank I am building this time is Wild One 4. I'll have to see if I can find a better pic of the turret to see what they used. Otherwise, I'll just use the above pics to scratch something

Also I found one in a book that is an M113 mount in front of the loaders hatch. Caption says it was attached to an auxiliary antenna mount and was put on sideways. Looks like there are many different ways

When the sight on top of the cupola was removed, was it plated over? Looks like it was removed when the machinegun was removed

In some cases, it looks like the mounting holes for the sight guard were reused for the .50 new mount :



If you're interested, I can send you a few more examples of field mods, like this one :

.50 Cal on the cupola + (ex-coax) 7.62mm M73 :



H.P.

I'm always open to pics. Making the mounting holes for the site would make sense (and make it easier on me!). [email protected]

Remember reading a book a long time ago, don't remember the title. Author was the TC of an M-48 'dozer, USMC IIRC. Said that his crew mounted a .30 cal. MG on the glacis for the driver's use when things got up close and personal. Claimed it was the only M-48 with a bow MG. Always wanted to do the 'dozer version of the Patton since reading that book. Al

Check your mailbox

H.P.