December 6-8, 2023 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/6/2023
Utilizes 12 gauge shotgun blank cartridges as propellent charges and a spring firing pin and lanyard system, with a modern U.S. cooling rings 81mm This mortar is a combination or the Extremely popular WW2 Finnish mortar cup which utilizes 12 gauge shotgun blank cartridges as propellent charges and a spring firing pin and lanyard system, with a modern U.S. cooling rings 81 mm mortar tube and bipod with round baseplate. The reinforced receiver cup utilizes a removable “chamber” which holds a blank 12 gauge shotgun shell at a 90 degree angle to the bore-line. The removable chamber is locked into place within the mortar by rotating it into a threaded locking “keyway” in the same manner that breechblocks lock up in many early centerfire cannon. The removable chamber is perforated on the sides as is the receptacle it locks into. A plate which pulls the firing pin back against spring pressure when the lanyard is rapidly pulled back releases the firing pin and the cartridge is detonated. The expanding gas pressure from the detonation within the chamber pushes the projectile out of the muzzle of the mortar. No need for any propellant charge in or on the projectile itself. This allows for the firer to fashion their own projectiles out of any variety of materials (steel, wood, hard plastic, cardboard, soup cans), as long as the diameter is appropriate. This cataloger has commonly seen repurposed soup cans and other projectiles utilized which sometimes have pyrotechnics such as firework pull string smoke canisters as the payload. The essential part of this mortar which makes it such a popular recreational item if the lanyard firing system using the 12 gauge shotgun shell blanks. One need only to clean out the chamber with a brush after every few rounds, and one does not need to worry about ignition systems and propellant within the projectiles, and hence retrieval of expensive projectiles for reloading is a non-issue. The bottom of the tube is banded in the manner of a Parrot rifle to strengthen the chamber area, but even so, these mortars were designed only for smoke and light projectiles as opposed to the heavier high explosive rounds. Serial numbers on receiver cup and firing actuator mechanism are non-matching, but still fit perfectly. It is usually the case that these pieces do not match between the receiver cup and the firing actuator. The original Finnish production run included spare actuators to go with the main assemblies. When there was a demand for more mortars, the factory produced additional cups, tubes, baseplates, and bipods, and took the spare actuator mechanisms from those already produced and on-hand. The result is mismatched serial numbers between actuators and receiver cups. Electronic NFA registry indicates “WESTERN IRON INC.” as the manufacturer, and "M252" as the model, and the receiver cup reads, "WESTERN IRON INC, LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ". CONDITION: Overall appearance and finish is near excellent as repainted. Bore is extremely fine as is the firing mechanism. Any who have seen these mortars in action at the range know how easy, and how much fun they are to shoot. THIS IS A NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT ITEM AND REQUIRES BATF APPROVAL PRIOR TO TRANSFER. THIS ITEM IS FULLY TRANSFERABLE ON AN ATF FORM 3 OR 4 AS A DESTRUCTIVE DEVICE. JWK 2023-12-25
Accessories
Additional Breechblock, Bipod