
Cookies help us keep our website safe and give you a better experience. Read more or change your cookie settings.
We use cookies to give you the most relevant experience.
Cartridge, 76 mm: Smoke, WP, M361 and M361A1
Region
Turkey
Category
Ammunition, Missiles and precision weapons
The 76 mm Smoke, WP, M361 and M361A1 (actual calibre is 76.2 mm) are fixed rounds with the projectile crimped to the brass or steel cartridge case. One unusual feature of this round, and the other rounds in the US 76 mm series, is that the case is crimped over the projectile's specially designed drive band which has a groove to accept the cartridge case crimp. On both rounds the projectile is a thin-walled forged steel casing with a point impact fuze threaded into the nose fuze cavity. Both rounds contain 626 g of
White Phosphorus (WP) which, on the M361, is located around a two-piece steel casing containing an M28 tetrytol burster charge weighing 34 g; the M361A1 has a one-piece aluminium burster casing. Both types of burster casing incorporate an M2 burster initiator. The M361A1 has a tracer element threaded into the projectile base. When the nose-mounted PD fuze functions, the burster charge is detonated via the M2 burster initiator. The resultant internal pressure ruptures the body casing to expel the WP filling. On contact with the atmosphere the WP ignites to create dense white screening smoke. The cartridge case may either be an M88 (brass, used with M361) or M88B1 (lacquered steel, used with M361A1). The base-mounted percussion primer is the M58 , containing 25.9 g of black powder, or the M68. The propelling charge is 1.65 kg of M6 propellant. Muzzle velocity is 713 m/s and maximum range 14,595 m. The 76 mm Smoke M361 was originally developed for the 76 mm M1 series of guns used on the M4 Sherman tank series and the M18 gun motor carriage. Later developments from 1947 onwards led to the 76 mm M32 gun for the M41 Walker Bulldog light tank series, the first of which was produced during 1951. The 76 mm Smoke M361 rounds are used to provide screening or marker smoke although they also have a secondary incendiary effect. This round is no longer in the US inventory. Applications include m32 Cannon used on M41 light tanks.