I was a gunner on the M60A3 circa '83 to '86. I loved this tank. It was easy to maintain and comfortable for a tank. Cozy and comfortable sleeping under the gunners seat.
Can this tank Survive A Tactical Nuke? And do you think it also has room for Extra MREs? 😂 Also In Nuclear Fallout Does this tank Perform well? Its a Cold War god afterall. And I'm A Fan of its older brothers M48A3,M103A2 haha Also!!! Does it have Air Conditioner. Ive only seen these tanks outside of them, And the owner of one amazing museum told me to Lay down underneath the M48 tracks haha 😂 Sorry for Asking you Random Questions man hooe you can answer them for me thank you.
Ah yes, the recoil pad. The empty 105 casings would bounce around on the turret floor. Part of the loader's duties was to police those up and jettison them or put them back in the ammo rack before the turret monster caused them to rip out wiring and such. I was driving on a tank range once on a moving engagement and the gun fire and something kicked me in the back. I thought "WTF? I was driving right down the tank trail at the right speed why is the TC kicking me?" Then I realized that he couldn't because the turret was traversed over the front. The empty case just fired had bounced under the gun and had hit me in the driver's hole. It started to melt my wet weather gear jacket and I was trying to get it off of me. I was bumping the T-bar and the tank was jerking back and forth. The TC was yelling at me, the loader was trying to get it out from under the gun, the gunner started laughing. Good times.
@@wlewisiii Although that never happened to me, it did to my buddy Ray who drove the LT's tank. Took him 2 days to clean out the driver's hole when we got back to the motor pool.
We were at the range in Ft. Hood one summer and it was so hot that I had rolled my BDU trousers up almost to my knees. We were firing so much that I didn't have time to police up all the spent main gun casings. I had one come out ot the breach and landed on a couple of others on the floor near my leg. It was just high enough for it to reach the exposed part of my leg and burn the shit out of me. Went to the clinic the next day and there was a big burned spot with a huge blister already forming. I had another injury, but they were very concerned about the burn since the risk of infection was high. They gave me a whole jar of silvadene cream to use on it and prescriptions for two antibiotics. You could only get it by prescription. I found out later how expensive silvadene was. hat should not have happened if you had the gate going to the driver hole in place. It was to keep someone from crawling through that opening when the turret had power so they wouldn't chance getting torn in half if the turret moved around. I know because this happened to me. After the gunner fired, the spent casing bounced and came to rest against my back and was only wearing my t-shirt with my BDUs. Burned the shit out of my back. Of course this happened only because I didn't have that gate in place. Although it didn't take me a week to clean out the driver's hole. Why did you have to and what did you clean? Also, there was only a tiny sliver of a window that the TC could even reach the driver, and even then he would have to get down off his position and stand in front of the gun breach and kicked you. And as before, you would've had to have the gate between the turret and driver hole removed. Not buying it.
I was the driver for an M60A3 TTS and I do not recall having cards, the box that You indicated for the cards was actually the XM something ballistics Solution computer. I mean no disrespect Captain, this was back in 1984-86, if memory serves. so it may have changed when we traded our old A1 Rise/Passive M60's in for the M60A3 TTS. Tp this day I recall the day my Platoon Leader, a butter bar, launched the barrel of his M-85 down range because he did not twist the barrel once he seated it in the receiver! Mind it just bounced off the front slope and stuck in the dirt in front of the track, but it was hilarious to hear him ask range Control if he could dismount and retrieve the barrel to his M-85! There was that, and then there was the time one of our gunners had both the Coax AND Main Gun turned on and was engaging infantry targets at close range, would have been ok except, they had a main gun round loaded and had the main gun in fire mode also. So, you heard the ratatat tat tat of the coax, then all of a sudden the shocking surprise of the main gun firing and the infantry targets flying al lover hell and half of Georgia!! Mind you Range Control went ballistic next! I am also sure the loader on that track had to change his boxers! I would have!! LOL
Was glad to help. BTW, on the M60A3, the box on the turret floor to the left of the Gunner's feet with all the cabling going into it is the LRF Electronics Unit (EU unit) that works in tandem with Receiver / Transmitter unit (R/T) mounted in front of the TC. It contains all the electronics and contains 8 spinning wheels that spin when lasing, and which each return comes back it stops a wheel. If you get one return, only 1 stops spinning, recording the range from the light impulse return. If you get multiple returns, multiple wheels stop recording each return's range. When you 'six-pack' and the laser is armed, all 8 wheels are spinning again. This is why the M60A3 is limited to '8' returns.....LOL
I was just watching the switchology video of The Chieftain's about the M60A3 TTS... as a young 19K0O back in 2002, I was told by a few old-timers that the optics on a TTS were better than the those of the original M1/IPM1. does that sound right? If any other tanker out there wants to hear a good sob story, I graduated from AIT in 2003, and haven't been on a tank since ;( Ended up as an 11B3E, with an ASI of B8 (about as close as I could get, #deathbeforedismount)
Former M60A1 platoon leader (along with other assignments) - One time in a demo of "Tank-Infantry Team assault on an objective" at the suggestion of the Platoon Sgt, my platoon (with live rounds for change instead of target practice inert rounds) set BOTH the main gun and coax power switches on. We had Smoke(live) and HEP(target) rounds for the main gun and were supposed to suppress a notional dug in infantry unit for the mech guys to assault. Index HEP on the mechanical computer (HEP and coax had the same ballistics) and get ready to fire. I counted down from five over the platoon net and gave the fire order where on all five main guns, coaxes and cal 50 opened on the target. The affect was stunning, even from the TC hatch and literally brought the infantry guys just behind us to a stop!. The gunner traced a figure eight pattern over the target area and held the trigger down for continuous fire while the loader humped rounds into the main gun, called up and on the fire command flipped the safety off and the main gun would fire, rinse and repeat until main gun rounds complete. With the gunner holding the trigger down on the Cadillacs it sounded like tat tat tat BOOM tat tat tat...with the cal 50 mixed in for good measure. The hill top that was the objective just exploded with all the impacts and was covered with smoke from the WP rounds when we got to them (vice the HEP rounds). Very impressive to the military delegation from some Latin American country that the Demo was for and well worth the slight chewing out I received for stretching the safety regs on the range. Very cool and the last thing I did as Tank Platoon Leader as I the company XO slot a few days later. Ammo load out for the demo was 1500 coax, 400 cal 50, 5 HEP target and 2 smoke (WP) rounds per tank. FUN range run.
1:59 the swing-out TC seat was called the "Autobahn Seat" in USAREUR. Useful on those long roadmarches. Also useful on trapping the TC in the cupola as the tank rolled over, hence its deletion in future designs.
@@dropdead234 I cringe when I see the blooper videos on You Tube when a tank rolls over. A tank rollover is all too frequently a fatal event for a member of the crew.
I went thru basic training and AIT in 1981,19E, on the M60, Good tank for the time, I later crossed trained for M1s in 82, 19K. I was the driver of M1E1 for the Cold Weather Test Team, Ft Greely,Akaska 83/84. It was one of 14 test beds for the 120mm, it had a 6 speed transmission from Allison that was a nightmare. Finally had to replace with normal 4 speed. Good times USA! USA!
It's a little taller inside than the M1, but both tanks shared the same turret ring diameter. What makes the M1 more cramped than the M60A1/3 is primarily the ammo stored behind the TC. Because of that the TC seat was pushed forward quite a bit. Because of that the gunner was pushed forward a bit. Moreover, because of the ammo behind the TC, the radios were moved from the bustle to the loader's side of the turret. So the radio rack and an enormous amount 7.62 stowed under it meant the loader got to be cramped as well. When the M60 was fully uploaded with ammo there wasn't much more room than in the M1.
"Cavernous" when describing the M60's turret. I always like to say it's a small apartment in there. Like, when you're in the commander's seat, you actually have to lean to reach the loader to give him a pat on the shoulder. Could probably lay down a cot beneath the breech and take a nap, if you were a little shorter and inclined to do so. Awesome machine.
@@wlewisiii The most important part was that the internal compartments on the .50 cal ammo boxes "Banana Boxes" would fit 2 six-packs each with room for a bit of ice to keep them cold.
On another note. The Azimuth Indicator and the Quadrant Elevation (QE) were mostly used for recording Range Card data. A holdover from the IR/Passive days. When you recorded your Range Card data, it enabled you to occupy the same position and target previously identified targets (bridges, intersections, a building etc.) using the pre-recorded settings during limited visibility. Yes, it could be used for indirect fire, but rarely was. In the M1s they just did a sketch card, while us DINOs did Range cards w/ firing data included.
the marines in the AAV platform myself included still do Range cards with targeting data our Up guns weapon station has a azimuth ring around it and we have a elevation degrees indicator so we dont need to see at all to engage a target we always fill out range cards when we stop for more than 40 minutes stopping for roughly more than 40 minutes requires something more than a at halt check and you have to setup a defense. and if you're staying for more than 1 hour setting up Cammie nets over the vehicle in a manner that doesnt reduce the visibilty from the turret and in a manner so that it can drive in and out from under it in almost no time.
Run away gun can be very dangerous and destructive. Had a Leopard AS1 have a runaway gun outside my office window in the Puckapunyal Workshop, except it ran away in elevation. It continually went from maximum elevation to maximum depression so the entire vehicle rocked back and forth so much first and last road wheels came off the ground.
"Slick" 60 and the A3 were my office as a lad in the AR Amy National Guard before going active duty and transitioning to the A1 Abrams. Talk about going from a model T to a 78 T-bird to a freaking caddilac. 😁
FYI: The Delta-P is a "Differential Pressure Transducer" which reads displacement of the gunner/commanders Cadillac's position. It reads an output voltage of 0-/0+ volts when centered and nulled out. As you depress the palm switch and turn the Cadillac's left/right you will be out putting a voltage between 0-to-15 volts (-) negative when left and (+) positive when right. The farther the grips are displaced the higher the voltage out put. This is picked up by the computer which determines way you've displaced the grips and the given voltage out put will tell the system how fast/slow to move the turret, or gun that direction (there are two Delta-P's). The Delta-P is mounted to both the elevation cylinder and the turret travers motor. They have two small O-ring orifices with strain gages that measure the pressure on the input side and the output side of the hydraulic actuator they are attached to. So when they fail (which is not very often) it produces all kinds of unintended reactions (and excitement) when you push a palm switch. *Edit* grammatical corrections two days after posting..
14:27 azimuth indicator and elevation quadrant - used to shoot from a range card - installed in M60[A0] and M60A1 - not relevant in M60A3 unless the TTS is broken down. There still was a Ft Knox training task for it on a night fire range as of 1986. Occupy a defensive position in daylight, line up likely target points, record numbers on your card, sun goes down, fog rolls in, TTS is obscured, Bob's Your Uncle. Probably used a bunch in Vietnam from M48A3 which is likely where it started.
BTW, when you use automatic lead in Stab mode, the reticle doesn't jump rather, much like the M1, both the reticle and the turret are moved to create the lead solution. P.S. The stab simulation is not at all real world. In the real world there is so much vibration to the sight picture that shooting at more than 1200 meters is just not a thing. That's why we shot from the short halt so much.
I totally agree. The one or two engagements I shot in M60A3 from the move were jiggly in the sight picture. The M1 (105mm) moving engagements I did in West Germany were super smooth by comparison.
@@N_Wheeler The key reducing the sight vibration in stab in the M60A3 was generally to go faster. Each tank was somewhat of a rule to itself but the gunner and driver would experiment and determine the optimum speed for various surfaces. During a moving engagement the driver would try to run at that speed .
@@wd4scz579 you are very likely correct. We were shooting M60A3 at Ft Knox just to get ready for M1 (105mm) in Germany, so no time to fiddle with speed on the range lane. There were no M1s in the Armor School for gunnery in 1986.
@@N_Wheeler The stabilization system on the M60A3 was the same as the M60A1 AOS from the mid Seventies. At low speed track slap exaggerated the vibration in the ballistic drive and sight mirrors. Telling a crew going faster was THE solution seemed counter intuitive, but later, when we were issuing the A3s at Vilseck that is exactly what those crews were taught. As I mentioned, the speed varied some depending on the tank and the surface, but the difference was sudden and dramatic. It was a primary teaching point during crew drills and gunners and drivers were expected to experiment and figure out what speed was the "sweet spot" for their tank. (In 86 the maintenance portion of the Master Gunner course was taught in Todd Hall. Half the bays were M1 and half were M60A3. Most of the M1s still had the 105mm gun, the 120 was just coming on line)
What a coincidence. Was just moving some old papers and my "Graphic Training Aid 17-6-1 Charts 1-11 Sight Reticle Mock-Ups" fell out of the pile, full of notations I apparently made while going through tanker OSUT at Fort Knox, KY back in the 1970s.
As mentioned below, those empty shell casings would rattle around on the turret floor. If there was a lot of firing going on, the loader would have to stand on the casings to keep them from getting into places they didn't belong. Fun times at Graf and Baumholder in those old girls. One more item - the .50 cal ammo tray in the cupola could hold more than a case of Coke cans. Useful when on long road marches in Germany.
@@TheChieftainsHatch , Pretty sure for the 10 years I was on M60A1/A3s we referred to the swing seat as either the autobahn seat or suicide seat. As for TCEs, we sat on the loaders hatch with our left foot jammed into the grunt rail.
@@TheChieftainsHatch Answer to a question you asked in the video: The Delta-P is a "Differential Pressure Transducer" which reads displacement of the gunner/commanders Cadillac's position. It reads an output voltage of 0-/0+ volts when centered and nulled out. As you depress the palm switch and turn the Cadillac's left/right you will be out putting a voltage between 0-to-15 volts (-) negative when left and (+) positive when right. The farther the grips are displaced, the higher the voltage out put. This is picked up by the computer which determines way and how far you've displaced the grips and the given voltage out put will tell the system how fast/slow to move the turret, or gun that direction (there are two Delta-P's). The Delta-P is mounted to both the elevation cylinder and the turret travers motor. They have two small O-ring orifices with strain gages that measure the pressure on the input side and the output side of the hydraulic actuator they are attached to. So when they fail (which is not very often) it produces all kinds of unintended reactions (and excitement) when you push a palm switch. *Edit* Grammatical errors corrected after posting.
The hull indicator arrow is hard to see due to the angle of the dial, but is inner most and points directly "up" (zero mils). Also, the lead calculation on the M60A3 is fixed, rather than the dynamic calculations found on the M1 series.
My Father Was A Master Gunner and was second in his class and in the second class to graduate at Fort Knox in 1975..., At 16 Years old i was Granted Permission to set in the sensing tank on the firing line at Grafenwohr Germany as my Father Was NCOIC For Range Control and of course i had Permission From Post Commander, I WILL NEVER FORGET MY EXPERIENCE! My Father was Also 1st Cav Master Gunner Later in his career... His Name was Michael L Barnes . I also Remember my father designing the Original Master gunner Badge Which in fact was approved by the Us Army..
The only time I ever crewed an M60A3 was during my AOB course. I was shocked how much room there was in the turret of that vehicle. I really liked the thermal sight on the A3 too. It was way better than the M1s at that time.
Lead isn't applied the same as with the M1. When you lase/lead with the M60A3 the reticle will jump behind the target, then the gunner has to relay the reticle, track for a second, and then fire. If the target changes direction or speed the gunner has to relase to obtain a new lead solution. On the M1 so long as you hold the palm switches after you lase, the lead solution (but not the range solution) will be updated 3x each second.
20:50 the loader is lap-loading rounds which dates this crew to pre-1988, when lap-loading was outlawed due to 120mm combustible cases rendering that super dangerous.
I was an M60A3 tanker in the 49thAD TX NG from 1990-92. Man, I forgot how much work it was to fight this tank wr a ginner/TC 😁 I did like the cupola though and my M85 was accurate and worked flawlessly. More often than not, we fired offensive engagements from a short halt. I remember each tank had a certain speed where the sight would stop vibrating and you could see clearly, then the gunner would say "platform" and the driver would maintain that speed 😁. Definitely a dinosaur compared to the M1's far more integrated fire control system
Disagree with comments on the M85 MG and the daylight sight. Most of the problems with the M85 were caused by user error, and that daylight sight turned the M85 into a sniper rifle. The stability of the commander's cupola and the firm mounting of the M85 made for EXTREMELY accurate fire.
When I was in 1/70 AR in Wiesbaden, it was a pleasure to watch our BN CO go down range. He had the M85 dialed in and could shoot the tits off or a Graf boar hog. Of course his gunner was the BN Master Gunner. ;-)
@@vicpecka7356 That M85 was BAMF. Never had a bad or unreliable one. But lots of folks had trouble getting them mounted, which inspired a lot of anger at it.
Mr. Potato head, I was a 19K/E (figure that one out) and an armorer for a while in an M60A3 company. You're right that it couldn't handle dirt. The M85's self adjusting head spacing and timing was too complicated. It chewed up brass so badly that it would look like a glitter bomb had gone off inside it, and they would misfire constantly. M2 was/is definitely better.
I remember all of the care we took of our M-85s and all of the tricks we used to keep it from jamming. My trick was to put an empty coke can in the end of the ammo compartment right next to the gun in order to prevent a sharp turn for the ammo belt. I hated that thing. During gunnery we would clean the M-85 and then carefully wrap it in a (clean) bedsheet. It would stay wrapped up until we were two tanks away from our qualification run and only then mount it and boresight it - because that thing had to be immaculate in order to function with anything resembling reasonable reliability. And skinny guys like me frequently had trouble charging the -85. We would take it to max elevation and pull on the charging handle. Sometimes I would be dangling in the air. The M-85 was designed as a replacement for the M-2 machinegun. And the M-85 was replaced by the M2. The back of the machinegun had a switch where you could set the rate of fire to 'low' or 'high.' Setting the switch to low would gurantee that it would jam after a few rounds.
I actually have that ammunition selection MOVING/STATIONARY box. Pulled it out of an M60A3 before it got towed downrange to be blown apart. The main gun was still nice and oiled up, the log book was still inside.
I got a better one Major. I have a close friend of mine who was both the gunner and the TC of a T-80BV when he was a conscript in the Russian Army. I think he wouldn't mind lending a hand.
I was a "Young" E-5 on the M60A1 at Ft. Polk (Puke) in the Summer of 79 when we got our M240s! Probably the last or 2d last US Division to get them (THANK GOD! The M73/219 SUCKED!)... ONLY "Willie Pete" had to be stored in the Standing Ready Rack (13 Rounds)! In Korea, on the M60A1's & A3's as well as our M48A5's, our Base Load had Willie Pete, Sabot, HEAT, HEP & Beehive were stored on the Standing Ready Rack (Sabot in the #1 Slot up Front). (FYI... There is also a 3 Round Rack Ready Rack to the Right of the Standing Rack with all Sabot / 5 Round Ready under the Main Gun in the 48A5, again all Sabot). I served on M60A1's & A3's, M48A5's (Korea) M1 IP's and ended on M1A1's, retiring in 97. I loved the M60A3, very easy to keep running, but I spent 14 years as a Dino DAT! HOPE that helps....
Resetting the laser or Battlesight-Reset we commonly referred to as six-packing your laser. If you ever picked up a six pack of your favorite canned beverages using your thumb and middle fingers, it was the same finger position for doing a Battlesight-Reset. During gunnery cycles it was always a reminder to new TCs "Don't for get to six-pack your laser".
When you turn STAB on with the M60s, you don't need to press the palm switches to engage STAB as you would on the M1. When an M60 is in STAB mode, it's in Stab 100% of the time. So you null the drift without engaging the palm switches. However, you do have to engage the palm switches to move the turret and gun. In essence you are overriding the stab system.
FYI in answer to your question at about 14:30 Azimuth indicator needs to be zeroed with your tank/turret/compass aligned. It is not used in the manner I think you are thinking as "0" can be any position you set it to in relation to the main gun.This way you could fire relative to your position with the magnetic compass alignment in accordance to positions on a map. That is one of several ways of using the Azimuth to alien the main Gun. Usually used in night fire. or obscured position fire. This means that you can adjust the Azimuth by turning the big black adjustment knob in the middle of the Azimuth to zero it to varying situations.
The one thing I didn't see you cover was the filter switch on the bottom left corner of the gunner's primary sight. Laser, Amber and Red filters for different lighting conditions. There is also a box for detachable filters on the 105D GAS (not modeled for use though). Used them on the 'A1 but we didn't have LASERs so the green one was a different hue.
It should also be noted that later upgrades of the M1A2 restored the ability to use the Commander's .50 cal "buttoned up" from inside the turret via the implementation of the CROWS and similar remote weapon system mountings. The only MG on the Abrams that is manually aimed and fired on all versions is the Loader's M240.
I'd love to see that. I'm pretty familiar with the T-72's turret, and I have access to one not 20 yards from my seat here in the office, I'd love to help.
@@tankolad nah, I work at the American Heritage Museum! We have a Polish built T-72M here parked right between the M41 and the SCUD missile launcher. I've hopped into it plenty of times and I have a ball playing it on SB
@@tankolad (1/2) So in my opinion the T-72 exemplifies Russian Cold War strategy to many degrees. It's a typical T-series tank with 3 crew and a compact layout, but its the details. The T-72 was built to rush fortified positions, and lots of things about it show that. First is the Delta-D switch on the gunner's controls. Delta-D works as a rangefinding function where the gunner only has to lase an object once and the FCS will wind down the range as you're approaching it. I've never got to try if it works moving away because that's not how Russian tanks work :P Delta-D does not account for the target you're lasing moving, though, so usually I just leave it off and just re-lase when I see fit to do so. There is no lead computer, you have to do it all yourself on the 72M model. It takes practice but you get pretty sharp with it after a little range time. The 72B models come with a neato little thing where if you lase and hold down the lase button, it will factor in the turret rotation speed and give you a rough indication of where to put your lead indicator. It still takes way more time than an American tank, typically, I lase to get the range, line up my sight, and then lase again to see if it changes and hold that second lase to get lead. It'll only work for the first shot in the engagement though, after that, you're better off falling back on estimating lead by eye. ANYWAY, the other thing to note is the smoke grenade launchers. On American (and NATO) tanks (mostly) these grenades land a short distance in front of the tank, enough to conceal it and let it sliiiide back into cover if need be. On the T-72, we aren't sliding into cover, we are sliding INTO THE CAPITALIST FRONT LINES, so the smoke grenade launchers project around 200 meters forward instead of like 10. It's a self-made smoke screen to advance behind.
That brought back memories. IIRC, (at least in 1981) the right commander's sight was night vision (starlight scope) versus thermal. The commander's cupola was not powered, either.
I have to agree with you. I still winch at the thought of hoping that more than one shot would go through the barrel before i had to call "stoppage". If I got some good burst in a row, I felt blessed.
Azimuth indicator needs to be zeored with your tank/turret/compass aligned then you can read your gun direction if you needed to. On the side of the gun is the gunners elevation bubble that gave you your elevation. Combined you got direction and elevation. Choke sight works better in the 105D (one o five delta) if you have a line of sight. FYI the Gunner would announce "lazing" in the fire command to prompt the TC to confirm range. Also you need to dump your lead some times! lol Love watching this.. how can i get the program? Too bad you do not have the M1A2 with CID (commanders integrated display) with IVIS (Inter-Vehicle Information System) to compare the M1A2SEP and the CDU (commanders display unit) and FBCB2. Also the CITV width was much improved.
My favorite thing about the LRF was the 'zing' sound it made when it fired. I always thought it sounded just like the blasters in the 'Star Wars' movie.
No, the TC doesn't have to hit reset for the Gunner to relase. Battle Range and reset was used when you changed targets if there was a rather large range difference. Battle Range would move the mirror back to a 1200 meter solution and the reset button reset the commanders LRF laser button. However, when the gunner lased the LRF automatically reset for him to lase again.
Hello. Enlisted 1981 out in 1990 back in in 2004, Retired April 1 2022. 19E and 19K tanker, and a Federal Tech" working on M1A1's at Camp Roberts. The "Delta P", "Delta" is a Mathmagician's term for change. represented by a triangle. "P" was pressure. The "delta P was a small sensor mounted on the BACK side of the hydraulic traverse parts in the gunners station. very small and moderately difficult to change due to awkwardness. It measured the Hydraulic pressure on BOTH sides (right and left) of the traverse motor to help advise the computer on what was happening.
My experience in M60A1s was that the grinding sound only happened when stopping the turret suddenly when traversing at high speed, usually by letting the palm switches go while the turret is still moving.
@@TimothySielbeck it could very well be that the AI gunner is letting go of the palm switches at the end of traversing. They do weird things but, hey, if you got a good gunnery score in Steel Beasts, they never miss!
Dad was M60 crewman in West Germany and he said as a loader, the M68 gun after firing when opening the breach, the shell casing would eject and bounce around in the turret, so for a loader who moves around to load the gun is kind of dangerous.
The box to the right of the ballistic computer is the STAB controller unit. Not sure about the latest editions of the M1A1, but until I retired in 1995, if your received a new type of ammo, you also had the computer card swapped out just like you were sort of mocking about the M60A3.
The commanders swing out seat, was affectionately named the "Autobahn" seat, and surly missed in the M1. The "Autobahn" seat allowed the commander to sit on exceptionally long road marches (i.e. Fulda to Wildflecken) . For safety the commander was still in the turret but seated. 1/11 ACR, Germany 81 - 85
yeah its awesome... i either suck at it or the supply line parts are terrible becuase i can only go like 3 engagements before i need to end the campaign simply because i run out of ammo, at times ill be lopping HE at T-62s or APFS at BMPs
I linked it to a buddy who served as an Army M60 Tanker/Tankee in Germany during the Mid--1979s. I want to see if it moves him to a bit of constructive nostalgia.
no pun intended, but you may have dodged quite the bullet. WE have a T-72 in our museum and it is not pleasant to sit in for longer than say 10 minutes. But I'm a rather tall being 1.9m in height in boots, so it may be different for those shorter folk
commander31able - Believe me you dodging the draft in the Russian army was good thing because being in a T-72 is not only extremely uncofortable but death traps when facing off against US and other NATO tanks.
Dodging the draft in the Russian Army is dodging quite a significant chance of mental damage or suicide due to excessive harrassment. I think you did good.
Hey, well done video. Why not do a video on a M728 CEV. We had none of that computer stuff, the only computer we had was between our ears. Really great videos.
God I remember how loud the TTS was cooling down.....And how much did the M-85 suck? I don't think I ever completed a gunnery without it jamming multiple times.
Trick was to put a soda can at the bottom of the feed ramp. That and make sure the feed cover wasn't worn out. Once I saw the trick of the soda can I never had another stoppage.
@@drkjk I did the same thing. And after I graduated from gun school I never let the armorers touch my M-85. And how I hated that thing. And it seemed that every TC has his own special trick to keep the thing from jamming.
Excellent, as a former M60A3, M1IP, and M1A1 tanker, I am glad you did not confuse anyone with the master gunner approach. I do have one question, how did you activate the bracket in the CITV for range determination.
There should be a deflector shield installed between the fighting compartment and the drivers compartment.. I'm an old 19E40 M60A3 tanker. Oh, and the M85 .50 worked fine, you just had to install it in the couple correctly and run it on High rate.
As a 19E20 who also did armorer work, it needed careful maintenance too. If the rivets weren't tight, things would not quite be lined up right and, yes, high rate helped for a while. I once DXed all but 2 of ours over rivet issues (Division changed the rules after that but we still got new in the box M85's for the company :)
@@wlewisiii all true, but I've put a lot of rounds down range with them and in my platoon and as long as the guys kept them cleaned we never had issues. The biggest problem was the crews that wouldn't load the ammo tray correctly and making sure the deflector plate on the ejection side was on bottom as opposed to on top. Saw more stoppages due to that than anything else. The M2 for all it's robustness didn't work well in the old M1 coupola on the M48's. That is why you saw so many mounted outside in Vietnam. Now, if you mention the M219, that was a dog. Absolutely hated those things
Interesting. I used to make those things but rarely got to see them work in more than sub assembly test. Making M60A3 and M1A1 and just starting BFVS when I started. I remember DITV as a follow on. Was 1980 really that long ago?
19E10B8!! 1984 to 1988 and 1992 to 1994. We never EVER said "best job I ever had" then....but it was. Hey,crewcut! No "on the waaaay!" when the trigger is pulled!
Probably wouldn't be fantastically "exciting," but a history and doctrine of tanks being used to provide indirect fire would be interesting. There are pictures from WWII and in particular Korea that come up all the time. I seem to recall them being used in Vietnam as well. Any modern doctrinal training for the M1 or do we now assume arty and air will be available?
not possible I watch blacktail defense. M268 is no way viable for indirect fire but 88m/71 caliber clearly is. This is a joke but check the m1a2 Abrams vs tiger 2 by blacktaildefense just do it you'll thank me latter
Russians love indirect fire with tanks too, I know all up to the T-72 were equipped for it, and probably T-80 and maybe T-90 but I don't know for sure. I'd love to hear about the doctrine behind that and how it actually functioned in combat (on all sides).
That swing out seat was known as the “suicide seat.” It would lock in the forward position and trap your legs under the sight, preventing escape in case of a rollover. Nobody used it.
When activating the STAb it is best to keep your limbs inside the turret. No reaching trhough the basket as the turret may suddenly jump and traverse. The gun may also elevate or deepress...
Woah, I just learned quite bit of new stuff, and I though I was well informed of these tanks, and this sim. Thanks! And cv9030 will be very interesting video because it has been the most best modeled vehicle on steelbeast and likely still is.
BTW for anyone interested to learn CV9030 in Steelbeast. It also has great tutorials on that vehicle of how to operate it and almost every modeled button of it is covered on those tutorials.
Uhh no we had wp in the combat storage, but we only day to day carried sabot, apds until 1983, then Fsds from then on, always fun humpin 63 main gun rounds and yes some heat ammo was carried too
When we were giving tours to non-tankers we would tell them that it was the turret rotation indicator to ensure that we did not traverse too many times in one direction and unscrew the turret.
you are missing the Ballistic shield that protects the driver from spent shells ,goes on the V behind the recoil pad . also prevents shell casings getting stuck in turret ring . yes the loader has to stomp down on spent shells while loading the main gun . yes M240 for coax
what would happen if the stabilizer disconnect thing didn't work and the turret kept spinning? In a hypothetical case, the guys in the turret would be able to exit by jumping before the main gun spins in their direction, but the driver? not so much, his only exit being in front of the giant spinning metal chunk of death and, on the inside, that space left in the turret basket which would also be a deadly washing machine
I should really reinstall Steel Beasts at some point. I like this idea of using it as a sort of digital museum to crawl around the insides of tanks when you can't get out to a real museum.
Why cant you use the infrared sight in daylight? I thought they either broadcast their own infrared beam and picked up the return, or more commonly (today) just picked up the IR emitted by various objects emitting heat. Why would daylight effect that? Does the natural IR of sunlight like overwhelm the returns from the M60 spotlight-style IR emitter?
![Stock to Spaded - M60A3 TTS - Should You Buy/Spade It? Mod RP Costs Are WAY Too High [War Thunder]](/img/n.gif)
I was a gunner on the M60A3 circa '83 to '86. I loved this tank. It was easy to maintain and comfortable for a tank. Cozy and comfortable sleeping under the gunners seat.
Can this tank Survive A Tactical Nuke? And do you think it also has room for Extra MREs? 😂 Also In Nuclear Fallout Does this tank Perform well? Its a Cold War god afterall. And I'm A Fan of its older brothers M48A3,M103A2 haha Also!!! Does it have Air Conditioner. Ive only seen these tanks outside of them, And the owner of one amazing museum told me to Lay down underneath the M48 tracks haha 😂 Sorry for Asking you Random Questions man hooe you can answer them for me thank you.
@@janiceroyal8052OK, Janice :)
Ah yes, the recoil pad. The empty 105 casings would bounce around on the turret floor. Part of the loader's duties was to police those up and jettison them or put them back in the ammo rack before the turret monster caused them to rip out wiring and such. I was driving on a tank range once on a moving engagement and the gun fire and something kicked me in the back. I thought "WTF? I was driving right down the tank trail at the right speed why is the TC kicking me?" Then I realized that he couldn't because the turret was traversed over the front. The empty case just fired had bounced under the gun and had hit me in the driver's hole. It started to melt my wet weather gear jacket and I was trying to get it off of me. I was bumping the T-bar and the tank was jerking back and forth. The TC was yelling at me, the loader was trying to get it out from under the gun, the gunner started laughing. Good times.
All that was missing was a mud hole deep enough for the bow to kick a wave up over the top of the turret inundating the TC as well as yourself.
@@wlewisiii Although that never happened to me, it did to my buddy Ray who drove the LT's tank. Took him 2 days to clean out the driver's hole when we got back to the motor pool.
The turret monster? Hahahaha
this tank. i like it, even i am not american.
We were at the range in Ft. Hood one summer and it was so hot that I had rolled my BDU trousers up almost to my knees. We were firing so much that I didn't have time to police up all the spent main gun casings. I had one come out ot the breach and landed on a couple of others on the floor near my leg. It was just high enough for it to reach the exposed part of my leg and burn the shit out of me. Went to the clinic the next day and there was a big burned spot with a huge blister already forming. I had another injury, but they were very concerned about the burn since the risk of infection was high. They gave me a whole jar of silvadene cream to use on it and prescriptions for two antibiotics. You could only get it by prescription. I found out later how expensive silvadene was.
hat should not have happened if you had the gate going to the driver hole in place. It was to keep someone from crawling through that opening when the turret had power so they wouldn't chance getting torn in half if the turret moved around. I know because this happened to me. After the gunner fired, the spent casing bounced and came to rest against my back and was only wearing my t-shirt with my BDUs. Burned the shit out of my back. Of course this happened only because I didn't have that gate in place. Although it didn't take me a week to clean out the driver's hole. Why did you have to and what did you clean?
Also, there was only a tiny sliver of a window that the TC could even reach the driver, and even then he would have to get down off his position and stand in front of the gun breach and kicked you. And as before, you would've had to have the gate between the turret and driver hole removed.
Not buying it.
"Let us forget that engagement ever happened." Well, the enemy was quite unaware. ;)
These switchology videos are rapidly becoming my favourite part of the Chieftains oeuvre
I was the driver for an M60A3 TTS and I do not recall having cards, the box that You indicated for the cards was actually the XM something ballistics Solution computer. I mean no disrespect Captain, this was back in 1984-86, if memory serves. so it may have changed when we traded our old A1 Rise/Passive M60's in for the M60A3 TTS. Tp this day I recall the day my Platoon Leader, a butter bar, launched the barrel of his M-85 down range because he did not twist the barrel once he seated it in the receiver! Mind it just bounced off the front slope and stuck in the dirt in front of the track, but it was hilarious to hear him ask range Control if he could dismount and retrieve the barrel to his M-85! There was that, and then there was the time one of our gunners had both the Coax AND Main Gun turned on and was engaging infantry targets at close range, would have been ok except, they had a main gun round loaded and had the main gun in fire mode also. So, you heard the ratatat tat tat of the coax, then all of a sudden the shocking surprise of the main gun firing and the infantry targets flying al lover hell and half of Georgia!! Mind you Range Control went ballistic next! I am also sure the loader on that track had to change his boxers! I would have!! LOL
Was glad to help. BTW, on the M60A3, the box on the turret floor to the left of the Gunner's feet with all the cabling going into it is the LRF Electronics Unit (EU unit) that works in tandem with Receiver / Transmitter unit (R/T) mounted in front of the TC. It contains all the electronics and contains 8 spinning wheels that spin when lasing, and which each return comes back it stops a wheel. If you get one return, only 1 stops spinning, recording the range from the light impulse return. If you get multiple returns, multiple wheels stop recording each return's range. When you 'six-pack' and the laser is armed, all 8 wheels are spinning again. This is why the M60A3 is limited to '8' returns.....LOL
I was just watching the switchology video of The Chieftain's about the M60A3 TTS... as a young 19K0O back in 2002, I was told by a few old-timers that the optics on a TTS were better than the those of the original M1/IPM1. does that sound right? If any other tanker out there wants to hear a good sob story, I graduated from AIT in 2003, and haven't been on a tank since ;( Ended up as an 11B3E, with an ASI of B8 (about as close as I could get, #deathbeforedismount)
Former M60A1 platoon leader (along with other assignments) - One time in a demo of "Tank-Infantry Team assault on an objective" at the suggestion of the Platoon Sgt, my platoon (with live rounds for change instead of target practice inert rounds) set BOTH the main gun and coax power switches on. We had Smoke(live) and HEP(target) rounds for the main gun and were supposed to suppress a notional dug in infantry unit for the mech guys to assault. Index HEP on the mechanical computer (HEP and coax had the same ballistics) and get ready to fire. I counted down from five over the platoon net and gave the fire order where on all five main guns, coaxes and cal 50 opened on the target. The affect was stunning, even from the TC hatch and literally brought the infantry guys just behind us to a stop!. The gunner traced a figure eight pattern over the target area and held the trigger down for continuous fire while the loader humped rounds into the main gun, called up and on the fire command flipped the safety off and the main gun would fire, rinse and repeat until main gun rounds complete. With the gunner holding the trigger down on the Cadillacs it sounded like tat tat tat BOOM tat tat tat...with the cal 50 mixed in for good measure. The hill top that was the objective just exploded with all the impacts and was covered with smoke from the WP rounds when we got to them (vice the HEP rounds). Very impressive to the military delegation from some Latin American country that the Demo was for and well worth the slight chewing out I received for stretching the safety regs on the range. Very cool and the last thing I did as Tank Platoon Leader as I the company XO slot a few days later. Ammo load out for the demo was 1500 coax, 400 cal 50, 5 HEP target and 2 smoke (WP) rounds per tank. FUN range run.
Let me guess, Ft Benning 2-69 Armor (Kelley Hill) at Hastings Range.
@@N_Wheeler i/8 Cav Ft Hood. Browns' Creek Tank Table IX ... I think, but i could be wrong - it has been a LONG time...
1:59 the swing-out TC seat was called the "Autobahn Seat" in USAREUR. Useful on those long roadmarches. Also useful on trapping the TC in the cupola as the tank rolled over, hence its deletion in future designs.
New drill.."Oh, bugger...The tank's rolled."
@@dropdead234 I cringe when I see the blooper videos on You Tube when a tank rolls over. A tank rollover is all too frequently a fatal event for a member of the crew.
AKA the "suicide Seat"
I went thru basic training and AIT in 1981,19E, on the M60,
Good tank for the time,
I later crossed trained for M1s in 82, 19K.
I was the driver of M1E1 for the Cold Weather Test Team, Ft Greely,Akaska 83/84.
It was one of 14 test beds for the 120mm, it had a 6 speed transmission from Allison that was a nightmare. Finally had to replace with normal 4 speed.
Good times
USA! USA!
The turret interior of the M60 series is absolutely massive for a tank
It's a little taller inside than the M1, but both tanks shared the same turret ring diameter. What makes the M1 more cramped than the M60A1/3 is primarily the ammo stored behind the TC. Because of that the TC seat was pushed forward quite a bit. Because of that the gunner was pushed forward a bit. Moreover, because of the ammo behind the TC, the radios were moved from the bustle to the loader's side of the turret. So the radio rack and an enormous amount 7.62 stowed under it meant the loader got to be cramped as well.
When the M60 was fully uploaded with ammo there wasn't much more room than in the M1.
@@drkjk Interesting, thanks! We have one in a museum at Camp Pendleton and I got to take a ride in it, I was surprised by how huge it is.
"Cavernous" when describing the M60's turret.
I always like to say it's a small apartment in there. Like, when you're in the commander's seat, you actually have to lean to reach the loader to give him a pat on the shoulder.
Could probably lay down a cot beneath the breech and take a nap, if you were a little shorter and inclined to do so.
Awesome machine.
I used to lay my sleeping bag across the WP rounds in the ready rack and tuck my long legs up under the coax.
@@wlewisiii The most important part was that the internal compartments on the .50 cal ammo boxes "Banana Boxes" would fit 2 six-packs each with room for a bit of ice to keep them cold.
On another note. The Azimuth Indicator and the Quadrant Elevation (QE) were mostly used for recording Range Card data. A holdover from the IR/Passive days. When you recorded your Range Card data, it enabled you to occupy the same position and target previously identified targets (bridges, intersections, a building etc.) using the pre-recorded settings during limited visibility. Yes, it could be used for indirect fire, but rarely was. In the M1s they just did a sketch card, while us DINOs did Range cards w/ firing data included.
the marines in the AAV platform myself included still do Range cards with targeting data our Up guns weapon station has a azimuth ring around it and we have a elevation degrees indicator so we dont need to see at all to engage a target we always fill out range cards when we stop for more than 40 minutes stopping for roughly more than 40 minutes requires something more than a at halt check and you have to setup a defense. and if you're staying for more than 1 hour setting up Cammie nets over the vehicle in a manner that doesnt reduce the visibilty from the turret and in a manner so that it can drive in and out from under it in almost no time.
Run away gun can be very dangerous and destructive. Had a Leopard AS1 have a runaway gun outside my office window in the Puckapunyal Workshop, except it ran away in elevation. It continually went from maximum elevation to maximum depression so the entire vehicle rocked back and forth so much first and last road wheels came off the ground.
I has thrown a perfect tantrum. :-D Childish Leopards are dangerous.
Leopard with severe mood swings sounds dangerous
"Slick" 60 and the A3 were my office as a lad in the AR Amy National Guard before going active duty and transitioning to the A1 Abrams. Talk about going from a model T to a 78 T-bird to a freaking caddilac. 😁
That office upgrade must've been nice!
Yeah, i was originally a 19E
Crossed to 19K.
Driving was my passion.
Gunning was too cramped.
Happy Trails 🍀
@@ws2228 Happy trails to you, too, tanker! :)
Did your Slick 60 have a 90mm gun? Also did it still have the old range finder?
@@kiltmanm60 Slick 60 had the 105mm. M48 had the 90mm up to the 48A5 which got the 105. Coincidence rangefinder, yes.
FYI: The Delta-P is a "Differential Pressure Transducer" which reads displacement of the gunner/commanders Cadillac's position. It reads an output voltage of 0-/0+ volts when centered and nulled out. As you depress the palm switch and turn the Cadillac's left/right you will be out putting a voltage between 0-to-15 volts (-) negative when left and (+) positive when right. The farther the grips are displaced the higher the voltage out put. This is picked up by the computer which determines way you've displaced the grips and the given voltage out put will tell the system how fast/slow to move the turret, or gun that direction (there are two Delta-P's). The Delta-P is mounted to both the elevation cylinder and the turret travers motor. They have two small O-ring orifices with strain gages that measure the pressure on the input side and the output side of the hydraulic actuator they are attached to. So when they fail (which is not very often) it produces all kinds of unintended reactions (and excitement) when you push a palm switch. *Edit* grammatical corrections two days after posting..
14:27 azimuth indicator and elevation quadrant - used to shoot from a range card - installed in M60[A0] and M60A1 - not relevant in M60A3 unless the TTS is broken down. There still was a Ft Knox training task for it on a night fire range as of 1986. Occupy a defensive position in daylight, line up likely target points, record numbers on your card, sun goes down, fog rolls in, TTS is obscured, Bob's Your Uncle. Probably used a bunch in Vietnam from M48A3 which is likely where it started.
BTW, when you use automatic lead in Stab mode, the reticle doesn't jump rather, much like the M1, both the reticle and the turret are moved to create the lead solution.
P.S. The stab simulation is not at all real world. In the real world there is so much vibration to the sight picture that shooting at more than 1200 meters is just not a thing. That's why we shot from the short halt so much.
I totally agree. The one or two engagements I shot in M60A3 from the move were jiggly in the sight picture. The M1 (105mm) moving engagements I did in West Germany were super smooth by comparison.
@@N_Wheeler The key reducing the sight vibration in stab in the M60A3 was generally to go faster. Each tank was somewhat of a rule to itself but the gunner and driver would experiment and determine the optimum speed for various surfaces. During a moving engagement the driver would try to run at that speed .
@@wd4scz579 you are very likely correct. We were shooting M60A3 at Ft Knox just to get ready for M1 (105mm) in Germany, so no time to fiddle with speed on the range lane. There were no M1s in the Armor School for gunnery in 1986.
@@N_Wheeler The stabilization system on the M60A3 was the same as the M60A1 AOS from the mid Seventies. At low speed track slap exaggerated the vibration in the ballistic drive and sight mirrors. Telling a crew going faster was THE solution seemed counter intuitive, but later, when we were issuing the A3s at Vilseck that is exactly what those crews were taught. As I mentioned, the speed varied some depending on the tank and the surface, but the difference was sudden and dramatic. It was a primary teaching point during crew drills and gunners and drivers were expected to experiment and figure out what speed was the "sweet spot" for their tank. (In 86 the maintenance portion of the Master Gunner course was taught in Todd Hall. Half the bays were M1 and half were M60A3. Most of the M1s still had the 105mm gun, the 120 was just coming on line)
What a coincidence. Was just moving some old papers and my "Graphic Training Aid 17-6-1 Charts 1-11 Sight Reticle Mock-Ups" fell out of the pile, full of notations I apparently made while going through tanker OSUT at Fort Knox, KY back in the 1970s.
The TCs cupola did not have a power traverse. The manual traverse was pretty good though. A lot better then the M1s. I TCed both of them.
As mentioned below, those empty shell casings would rattle around on the turret floor. If there was a lot of firing going on, the loader would have to stand on the casings to keep them from getting into places they didn't belong. Fun times at Graf and Baumholder in those old girls. One more item - the .50 cal ammo tray in the cupola could hold more than a case of Coke cans. Useful when on long road marches in Germany.
The swing out seat was referred to as the autobahn seat
Pretty sure the suicide seat was the TCE’s seat bolted to the turret roof
@@thomaswilloughby9901 That sounds..... uncomfortable. I guess you could call it a "significant emotional event" :)
@@TheChieftainsHatch , Pretty sure for the 10 years I was on M60A1/A3s we referred to the swing seat as either the autobahn seat or suicide seat. As for TCEs, we sat on the loaders hatch with our left foot jammed into the grunt rail.
@@TheChieftainsHatch Answer to a question you asked in the video: The Delta-P is a "Differential Pressure Transducer" which reads displacement of the gunner/commanders Cadillac's position. It reads an output voltage of 0-/0+ volts when centered and nulled out. As you depress the palm switch and turn the Cadillac's left/right you will be out putting a voltage between 0-to-15 volts (-) negative when left and (+) positive when right. The farther the grips are displaced, the higher the voltage out put. This is picked up by the computer which determines way and how far you've displaced the grips and the given voltage out put will tell the system how fast/slow to move the turret, or gun that direction (there are two Delta-P's). The Delta-P is mounted to both the elevation cylinder and the turret travers motor. They have two small O-ring orifices with strain gages that measure the pressure on the input side and the output side of the hydraulic actuator they are attached to. So when they fail (which is not very often) it produces all kinds of unintended reactions (and excitement) when you push a palm switch. *Edit* Grammatical errors corrected after posting.
@@TheChieftainsHatch .... bolted to the open loader's hatch.
Now THIS brings back some memories. I spent 4 1/2 yeas on M60A3 RISE TTS in the 80s.
The hull indicator arrow is hard to see due to the angle of the dial, but is inner most and points directly "up" (zero mils). Also, the lead calculation on the M60A3 is fixed, rather than the dynamic calculations found on the M1 series.
My Father Was A Master Gunner and was second in his class and in the second class to graduate at Fort Knox in 1975..., At 16 Years old i was Granted Permission to set in the sensing tank on the firing line at Grafenwohr Germany as my Father Was NCOIC For Range Control and of course i had Permission From Post Commander, I WILL NEVER FORGET MY EXPERIENCE! My Father was Also 1st Cav Master Gunner Later in his career... His Name was Michael L Barnes . I also Remember my father designing the Original Master gunner Badge Which in fact was approved by the Us Army..
The only time I ever crewed an M60A3 was during my AOB course. I was shocked how much room there was in the turret of that vehicle. I really liked the thermal sight on the A3 too. It was way better than the M1s at that time.
We used the QE and azimuth indicator primarily for range card engagements.
+1
The only time I ever fired a range card engagement was at Master Gunner School.
Dang man I wasn't expecting an M60 video.
Nobody expects the M60 video !
Lead isn't applied the same as with the M1. When you lase/lead with the M60A3 the reticle will jump behind the target, then the gunner has to relay the reticle, track for a second, and then fire. If the target changes direction or speed the gunner has to relase to obtain a new lead solution. On the M1 so long as you hold the palm switches after you lase, the lead solution (but not the range solution) will be updated 3x each second.
M1A2 CITV = "improved auto-aim" mod ;)
Always liked the M60A1/A3
Spent 8 years on the A3.....BEST JOB I EVER HAD!
20:50 the loader is lap-loading rounds which dates this crew to pre-1988, when lap-loading was outlawed due to 120mm combustible cases rendering that super dangerous.
If the Stab off; there's sedentary circuit breaker on the Subfloor; you open the door on the subfloor and rotate around to it and reset it, too
I was an M60A3 tanker in the 49thAD TX NG from 1990-92. Man, I forgot how much work it was to fight this tank wr a ginner/TC 😁 I did like the cupola though and my M85 was accurate and worked flawlessly. More often than not, we fired offensive engagements from a short halt. I remember each tank had a certain speed where the sight would stop vibrating and you could see clearly, then the gunner would say "platform" and the driver would maintain that speed 😁. Definitely a dinosaur compared to the M1's far more integrated fire control system
Disagree with comments on the M85 MG and the daylight sight. Most of the problems with the M85 were caused by user error, and that daylight sight turned the M85 into a sniper rifle. The stability of the commander's cupola and the firm mounting of the M85 made for EXTREMELY accurate fire.
When I was in 1/70 AR in Wiesbaden, it was a pleasure to watch our BN CO go down range. He had the M85 dialed in and could shoot the tits off or a Graf boar hog. Of course his gunner was the BN Master Gunner. ;-)
@@vicpecka7356 That M85 was BAMF. Never had a bad or unreliable one. But lots of folks had trouble getting them mounted, which inspired a lot of anger at it.
Not nearly as good as M2HB
Couldn't handle dirt.
I was a 19E/K, I shot both
M2 is over 100 yrs old and still the best a man can get.
Happy Trails 🍀
Mr. Potato head,
I was a 19K/E (figure that one out) and an armorer for a while in an M60A3 company. You're right that it couldn't handle dirt. The M85's self adjusting head spacing and timing was too complicated. It chewed up brass so badly that it would look like a glitter bomb had gone off inside it, and they would misfire constantly. M2 was/is definitely better.
I remember all of the care we took of our M-85s and all of the tricks we used to keep it from jamming. My trick was to put an empty coke can in the end of the ammo compartment right next to the gun in order to prevent a sharp turn for the ammo belt. I hated that thing. During gunnery we would clean the M-85 and then carefully wrap it in a (clean) bedsheet. It would stay wrapped up until we were two tanks away from our qualification run and only then mount it and boresight it - because that thing had to be immaculate in order to function with anything resembling reasonable reliability.
And skinny guys like me frequently had trouble charging the -85. We would take it to max elevation and pull on the charging handle. Sometimes I would be dangling in the air.
The M-85 was designed as a replacement for the M-2 machinegun. And the M-85 was replaced by the M2.
The back of the machinegun had a switch where you could set the rate of fire to 'low' or 'high.' Setting the switch to low would gurantee that it would jam after a few rounds.
I actually have that ammunition selection MOVING/STATIONARY box. Pulled it out of an M60A3 before it got towed downrange to be blown apart. The main gun was still nice and oiled up, the log book was still inside.
I got a better one Major. I have a close friend of mine who was both the gunner and the TC of a T-80BV when he was a conscript in the Russian Army. I think he wouldn't mind lending a hand.
I'd love to see a T-80BV Switchology and Inside the Chieftan's Hatch episode! Fascinating tank, that! :)
I was a "Young" E-5 on the M60A1 at Ft. Polk (Puke) in the Summer of 79 when we got our M240s! Probably the last or 2d last US Division to get them (THANK GOD! The M73/219 SUCKED!)... ONLY "Willie Pete" had to be stored in the Standing Ready Rack (13 Rounds)! In Korea, on the M60A1's & A3's as well as our M48A5's, our Base Load had Willie Pete, Sabot, HEAT, HEP & Beehive were stored on the Standing Ready Rack (Sabot in the #1 Slot up Front). (FYI... There is also a 3 Round Rack Ready Rack to the Right of the Standing Rack with all Sabot / 5 Round Ready under the Main Gun in the 48A5, again all Sabot). I served on M60A1's & A3's, M48A5's (Korea) M1 IP's and ended on M1A1's, retiring in 97. I loved the M60A3, very easy to keep running, but I spent 14 years as a Dino DAT! HOPE that helps....
Resetting the laser or Battlesight-Reset we commonly referred to as six-packing your laser. If you ever picked up a six pack of your favorite canned beverages using your thumb and middle fingers, it was the same finger position for doing a Battlesight-Reset. During gunnery cycles it was always a reminder to new TCs "Don't for get to six-pack your laser".
Nice meeting you , Sir ! Best regards !! Lg
Very interesting. Thanks for another great video Chieftain.
When you turn STAB on with the M60s, you don't need to press the palm switches to engage STAB as you would on the M1. When an M60 is in STAB mode, it's in Stab 100% of the time. So you null the drift without engaging the palm switches. However, you do have to engage the palm switches to move the turret and gun. In essence you are overriding the stab system.
FYI in answer to your question at about 14:30
Azimuth indicator needs to be zeroed with your tank/turret/compass aligned. It is not used in the manner I think you are thinking as "0" can be any position you set it to in relation to the main gun.This way you could fire relative to your position with the magnetic compass alignment in accordance to positions on a map.
That is one of several ways of using the Azimuth to alien the main Gun. Usually used in night fire. or obscured position fire. This means that you can adjust the Azimuth by turning the big black adjustment knob in the middle of the Azimuth to zero it to varying situations.
Also the TTS was the primary gunners sight as it was found to not have any parallax and acquisition of a good target sighting was very fast
We called resetting the LRF six packing, you could hit them at the same time.
The one thing I didn't see you cover was the filter switch on the bottom left corner of the gunner's primary sight. Laser, Amber and Red filters for different lighting conditions. There is also a box for detachable filters on the 105D GAS (not modeled for use though). Used them on the 'A1 but we didn't have LASERs so the green one was a different hue.
It should also be noted that later upgrades of the M1A2 restored the ability to use the Commander's .50 cal "buttoned up" from inside the turret via the implementation of the CROWS and similar remote weapon system mountings. The only MG on the Abrams that is manually aimed and fired on all versions is the Loader's M240.
Nick, you've been inside a T-72 before, so please do a switchology video on the T-72 in SB and tell us what you think.
I'd love to see that. I'm pretty familiar with the T-72's turret, and I have access to one not 20 yards from my seat here in the office, I'd love to help.
@@TacticalOni That's quite an office. Is that T-72 turret some sort of monument?
@@tankolad nah, I work at the American Heritage Museum! We have a Polish built T-72M here parked right between the M41 and the SCUD missile launcher. I've hopped into it plenty of times and I have a ball playing it on SB
@@TacticalOni Wow, that's awesome! We'd both like to hear what Nick thinks, but I'd also like to know your thoughts on it in SB and as a museum piece.
@@tankolad (1/2) So in my opinion the T-72 exemplifies Russian Cold War strategy to many degrees. It's a typical T-series tank with 3 crew and a compact layout, but its the details. The T-72 was built to rush fortified positions, and lots of things about it show that. First is the Delta-D switch on the gunner's controls. Delta-D works as a rangefinding function where the gunner only has to lase an object once and the FCS will wind down the range as you're approaching it. I've never got to try if it works moving away because that's not how Russian tanks work :P Delta-D does not account for the target you're lasing moving, though, so usually I just leave it off and just re-lase when I see fit to do so. There is no lead computer, you have to do it all yourself on the 72M model. It takes practice but you get pretty sharp with it after a little range time. The 72B models come with a neato little thing where if you lase and hold down the lase button, it will factor in the turret rotation speed and give you a rough indication of where to put your lead indicator. It still takes way more time than an American tank, typically, I lase to get the range, line up my sight, and then lase again to see if it changes and hold that second lase to get lead. It'll only work for the first shot in the engagement though, after that, you're better off falling back on estimating lead by eye.
ANYWAY, the other thing to note is the smoke grenade launchers. On American (and NATO) tanks (mostly) these grenades land a short distance in front of the tank, enough to conceal it and let it sliiiide back into cover if need be. On the T-72, we aren't sliding into cover, we are sliding INTO THE CAPITALIST FRONT LINES, so the smoke grenade launchers project around 200 meters forward instead of like 10. It's a self-made smoke screen to advance behind.
That brought back memories. IIRC, (at least in 1981) the right commander's sight was night vision (starlight scope) versus thermal. The commander's cupola was not powered, either.
M85 Jam-amatic Machine gun. I was an M60A1 tanker and then later a M1A1 tanker in the USMC
I have to agree with you. I still winch at the thought of hoping that more than one shot would go through the barrel before i had to call "stoppage". If I got some good burst in a row, I felt blessed.
We need some videos on the good ol tanks like M48 or T-54
I'm sure he'll cover them as soon as they are added to Steel Beasts.
In the late 70s, I had a model of an M60A1E1 that looked very like this A3.
Azimuth indicator needs to be zeored with your tank/turret/compass aligned then you can read your gun direction if you needed to. On the side of the gun is the gunners elevation bubble that gave you your elevation. Combined you got direction and elevation. Choke sight works better in the 105D (one o five delta) if you have a line of sight. FYI the Gunner would announce "lazing" in the fire command to prompt the TC to confirm range. Also you need to dump your lead some times! lol Love watching this.. how can i get the program? Too bad you do not have the M1A2 with CID (commanders integrated display) with IVIS (Inter-Vehicle Information System) to compare the M1A2SEP and the CDU (commanders display unit) and FBCB2. Also the CITV width was much improved.
I can see you have done your share of night fire.
You actually get 8 returns from the LRF. Depending on the situation the TC selects 1st, 2nd, or last. Last being the 8th return.
My favorite thing about the LRF was the 'zing' sound it made when it fired. I always thought it sounded just like the blasters in the 'Star Wars' movie.
26:47 Son of Chieftain is heard. ; P
Yea, thought i heard background noise.
His son's screaming because his Panther's transmission broke again
No, the TC doesn't have to hit reset for the Gunner to relase. Battle Range and reset was used when you changed targets if there was a rather large range difference. Battle Range would move the mirror back to a 1200 meter solution and the reset button reset the commanders LRF laser button. However, when the gunner lased the LRF automatically reset for him to lase again.
Plus one for the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog on the shelf.
Hello. Enlisted 1981 out in 1990 back in in 2004, Retired April 1 2022. 19E and 19K tanker, and a Federal Tech" working on M1A1's at Camp Roberts. The "Delta P", "Delta" is a Mathmagician's term for change. represented by a triangle. "P" was pressure. The "delta P was a small sensor mounted on the BACK side of the hydraulic traverse parts in the gunners station. very small and moderately difficult to change due to awkwardness. It measured the Hydraulic pressure on BOTH sides (right and left) of the traverse motor to help advise the computer on what was happening.
I just climbed into an M60 turret at the Gen. George S. Patton Memorial Museum, and I was going to request it. Beat me to it.
The uncontrollable spinning turret is for melee tank battles.
Or if you want to attach a bayonet to the main gun, lower the barrel, set it spinning, and use it as an anti-infantry weapon XD
That poor turret drive, grinding every time.
ITS
SO
*CHIRPY*
My experience in M60A1s was that the grinding sound only happened when stopping the turret suddenly when traversing at high speed, usually by letting the palm switches go while the turret is still moving.
@@TimothySielbeck it could very well be that the AI gunner is letting go of the palm switches at the end of traversing. They do weird things but, hey, if you got a good gunnery score in Steel Beasts, they never miss!
@@TimothySielbeck it honestly sounds like a brake grinding. But still, shame on that overzealous gunner.
It's called a turret brake. It is normal.
Dad was M60 crewman in West Germany and he said as a loader, the M68 gun after firing when opening the breach, the shell casing would eject and bounce around in the turret, so for a loader who moves around to load the gun is kind of dangerous.
The box to the right of the ballistic computer is the STAB controller unit.
Not sure about the latest editions of the M1A1, but until I retired in 1995, if your received a new type of ammo, you also had the computer card swapped out just like you were sort of mocking about the M60A3.
The commanders swing out seat, was affectionately named the "Autobahn" seat, and surly missed in the M1. The "Autobahn" seat allowed the commander to sit on exceptionally long road marches (i.e. Fulda to Wildflecken) . For safety the commander was still in the turret but seated.
1/11 ACR, Germany 81 - 85
Use the HEP scale to fire the coax.
I will recommend Steel Armor Blaze of War. I think is the best m60 simulator
yeah its awesome... i either suck at it or the supply line parts are terrible becuase i can only go like 3 engagements before i need to end the campaign simply because i run out of ammo, at times ill be lopping HE at T-62s or APFS at BMPs
I love looking at your shelf
Leo 2 switchology? Please?
Interesting and informative. Thanks for posting.
I linked it to a buddy who served as an Army M60 Tanker/Tankee in Germany during the Mid--1979s. I want to see if it moves him to a bit of constructive nostalgia.
Really liking the series Chieftain.
man I regret dodging the draft in the Russian army now - I could've been like "hey, I was in a t-72!".
no pun intended, but you may have dodged quite the bullet. WE have a T-72 in our museum and it is not pleasant to sit in for longer than say 10 minutes. But I'm a rather tall being 1.9m in height in boots, so it may be different for those shorter folk
commander31able - Believe me you dodging the draft in the Russian army was good thing because being in a T-72 is not only extremely uncofortable but death traps when facing off against US and other NATO tanks.
Do you
Dodging the draft in the Russian Army is dodging quite a significant chance of mental damage or suicide due to excessive harrassment.
I think you did good.
@@thomaskositzki9424 but muh T-72...
I served in one of those great tank for its time the balistic computer is called xm21 if i remember correct :D
Hey, well done video. Why not do a video on a M728 CEV. We had none of that computer stuff, the only computer we had was between our ears. Really great videos.
God I remember how loud the TTS was cooling down.....And how much did the M-85 suck? I don't think I ever completed a gunnery without it jamming multiple times.
Trick was to put a soda can at the bottom of the feed ramp. That and make sure the feed cover wasn't worn out. Once I saw the trick of the soda can I never had another stoppage.
@@drkjk Apparently our Master Gunner didn't know that trick.
The TTS made a clacking racket nonstop until you turned it off!
@@drkjk I did the same thing. And after I graduated from gun school I never let the armorers touch my M-85. And how I hated that thing.
And it seemed that every TC has his own special trick to keep the thing from jamming.
Excellent, as a former M60A3, M1IP, and M1A1 tanker, I am glad you did not confuse anyone with the master gunner approach. I do have one question, how did you activate the bracket in the CITV for range determination.
There should be a deflector shield installed between the fighting compartment and the drivers compartment.. I'm an old 19E40 M60A3 tanker. Oh, and the M85 .50 worked fine, you just had to install it in the couple correctly and run it on High rate.
As a 19E20 who also did armorer work, it needed careful maintenance too. If the rivets weren't tight, things would not quite be lined up right and, yes, high rate helped for a while. I once DXed all but 2 of ours over rivet issues (Division changed the rules after that but we still got new in the box M85's for the company :)
@@wlewisiii all true, but I've put a lot of rounds down range with them and in my platoon and as long as the guys kept them cleaned we never had issues. The biggest problem was the crews that wouldn't load the ammo tray correctly and making sure the deflector plate on the ejection side was on bottom as opposed to on top. Saw more stoppages due to that than anything else. The M2 for all it's robustness didn't work well in the old M1 coupola on the M48's. That is why you saw so many mounted outside in Vietnam. Now, if you mention the M219, that was a dog. Absolutely hated those things
Interesting. I used to make those things but rarely got to see them work in more than sub assembly test. Making M60A3 and M1A1 and just starting BFVS when I started. I remember DITV as a follow on. Was 1980 really that long ago?
19E10B8!! 1984 to 1988 and 1992 to 1994.
We never EVER said "best job I ever had" then....but it was.
Hey,crewcut! No "on the waaaay!" when the trigger is pulled!
Probably wouldn't be fantastically "exciting," but a history and doctrine of tanks being used to provide indirect fire would be interesting. There are pictures from WWII and in particular Korea that come up all the time. I seem to recall them being used in Vietnam as well. Any modern doctrinal training for the M1 or do we now assume arty and air will be available?
I didn't know I wanted to know this 👍
not possible I watch blacktail defense. M268 is no way viable for indirect fire but 88m/71 caliber clearly is.
This is a joke but check the m1a2 Abrams vs tiger 2 by blacktaildefense just do it you'll thank me latter
Russians love indirect fire with tanks too, I know all up to the T-72 were equipped for it, and probably T-80 and maybe T-90 but I don't know for sure.
I'd love to hear about the doctrine behind that and how it actually functioned in combat (on all sides).
Unfortunately, I’m not sure where I would even start looking for the material
@@TheChieftainsHatch probably find an un godly number of foot notes in manuals
That swing out seat was known as the “suicide seat.” It would lock in the forward position and trap your legs under the sight, preventing escape in case of a rollover. Nobody used it.
When activating the STAb it is best to keep your limbs inside the turret. No reaching trhough the basket as the turret may suddenly jump and traverse. The gun may also elevate or deepress...
When will you do a three-part on the M60A1RISE Passive/A3 TTS
God damn that brings back memories.
Woah, I just learned quite bit of new stuff, and I though I was well informed of these tanks, and this sim. Thanks! And cv9030 will be very interesting video because it has been the most best modeled vehicle on steelbeast and likely still is.
BTW for anyone interested to learn CV9030 in Steelbeast. It also has great tutorials on that vehicle of how to operate it and almost every modeled button of it is covered on those tutorials.
We would sleep 3 in the turret of the A3, wasn't easy but doable, Gunner had the best spot, slept many a long hrs in that chair.
Can you discuss the NBC (now CBRN) features of M1A1/A2?
I heard the M60 was so big inside you could hang up a hammock inside compared to the M1 Abram it was a lot more room inside the M60
Uhh no we had wp in the combat storage, but we only day to day carried sabot, apds until 1983, then Fsds from then on, always fun humpin 63 main gun rounds and yes some heat ammo was carried too
Our load out had 7 rounds of WP in the turret floor rack. A troop 1/11th 1979
14:27 What's confusing you with the azimuth indicator? The most confusing part to me is the part spinning around uncontrollably.
Really enjoyed this video. Thx
We really need to have a talk about the use of turret clocks ;-)
When we were giving tours to non-tankers we would tell them that it was the turret rotation indicator to ensure that we did not traverse too many times in one direction and unscrew the turret.
TC's upper seat was called the Autobahn seat.
a switchology video on the Chieftain Would be Cool
you are missing the Ballistic shield that protects the driver from spent shells ,goes on the V behind the recoil pad . also prevents shell casings getting stuck in turret ring . yes the loader has to stomp down on spent shells while loading the main gun . yes M240 for coax
Chieftain, do you think you could make a video on the switchology of a Leopard 2A4 or 2A5?
I would rather find a Leo2 commander to help me out first
Loving these videos. Are the T-64B and T-80U playable in this game or only enemy units?
what would happen if the stabilizer disconnect thing didn't work and the turret kept spinning? In a hypothetical case, the guys in the turret would be able to exit by jumping before the main gun spins in their direction, but the driver? not so much, his only exit being in front of the giant spinning metal chunk of death and, on the inside, that space left in the turret basket which would also be a deadly washing machine
Where is your M60 full review? Cannot find? Dislike? What tanks would it have faced?
I should really reinstall Steel Beasts at some point. I like this idea of using it as a sort of digital museum to crawl around the insides of tanks when you can't get out to a real museum.
Glad I'm on a m1a2
Why cant you use the infrared sight in daylight? I thought they either broadcast their own infrared beam and picked up the return, or more commonly (today) just picked up the IR emitted by various objects emitting heat. Why would daylight effect that? Does the natural IR of sunlight like overwhelm the returns from the M60 spotlight-style IR emitter?