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Pictures of U.S. M45 fuses required

T

Tailspin

Active Member
Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could supply me with some colour photos/pictures of U.S. M45 PD fuses.

I have a resin reproduction of one and it needs to be painted up.

Thanks,

Paul
 
U.S. M45 PD mortar fuze

Hello Paul,

Here are some photographs of my 1936 dated M45 PD fuze. It's inscribed as follows: FUZE PD M45 PA LOT 4486-7 P.A. 11-36. Just let me know if you need more.

Best regards,

Randall
 

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Randall,

Thank you for the pictures.

That's exactly what I'm looking for.

Any idea what metal the fuse casing would have been made of? Steel? Alumin(i)um?

Thanks again,

Paul
 
U.S. Mortar fuzes...

Hello Paul,

Here's a photograph of some different types of U.S. mortar fuzes. They are L to R: M45 PD fuze, M52A2 PD fuze, M53A1 PD fuze, M525 PD fuze. Let me know if any of these match your resin example.

Best regards,

Randall
 

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Here's what I have at hand.
 

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Guys,

Thanks for posting more pictures. It appears that I have some resin repros of the M52 fuse.

Slick, is that black fuse an M52 variant also?

Did the material of the fuse change through the years?

Just need to know what the best colour to paint them would be.

Cheers,

Paul
 
Paul

I am not that well versed in the details and variations of these fuzes. I assume all those pictured, mine and the others, are different for a reason but have no clue why there are so many to choose from.

Rick
 
M52 series bakelite mortar fuzes...

Hello Paul,

I've included photographs of two examples of my WWII U.S. M52 series mortar fuzes made of bakelite. The bakelite fuzes were manufactured ONLY during WWII as a method of conserving aluminum. The first photo is a 1944 dated M52B1 with a bakelite body and firing pin head while the second photo shows a bakelite body and zinc firing pin head fuze.

Best regards,

Randall
 

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Hi Guys,

Thanks for the examples.

Really helpful stuff.

One last question.The wire that is wrapped around the fuze: Can anyone hazard a guess at hoe long it is? I'm guessing it must be about a millimetre thick though. I'll pop down to my local DIY place and see what they have that could be used in a similar fashion.

Thanks again,

Paul
 
Aha! upon further reading it looks as though I'm bleeting on about the safety wire which, I presume would have been pulled from the fuze prior to bunging it down the tube, right?

Paul
 
Yes, it is the safety wire, and it should be removed before dropping in the tube if you want the fuze to fuction as designed.
 
Maybe it's just me, but it seems that you have a lot of time and thought invested in this resin repro. Why not just buy a real one, and enjoy it first hand? Rubber ducks are nice if you can't get the real thing, but these things are available.
 
At this time, over here in the U.K. I've been unable to source one real fuze.

The other thing is that I've been unable to get to any militaria fairs over here. War and Peace will be the first.
And going on prices for the actual 81mm mortar (1500 at some places) I'm not expecting to find a complete fuze for less than 50 if I'm lucky.

I may be completely wrong and I hope I am, but for me at this stage the stuff is just not available.

Paul
 
U.S. 81mm mortar shell & fuze...

Hello Paul,

Check out J.C. Militaria right there in your own U.K.! He has a beautiful 1944 dated U.S. M43A1 81mm mortar shell with an original M52B1 fuze for 195.00 pounds. I've done business with him in the past and have received excellent service.

Best regards,

Randall
 
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