Should US TD .50 Cals, have a restricted Arc of fire?

[Dittohead]

I recently acquired Squadron/Signal publications "US TankDestroyersin Action" Armor Number 36.

I noticed that on all M-10 and M-36 TD's the .50 cals were mounted on a fixed pintle on the back of the turret in such a way, that the only place that they can fire effectively is in about a 120 degree arc to the rear of the turret. The TC would have to hang out onto the rear sponson or deck in order to fire forward.

Some M-18's had the .50 cal mounted on a fixed pintle while others had the circular mount on the TC station.

Just wondering if the effectiveness of the .50 cal on these TD's should is drastically reduced when firing forward or should they be restricted to the 120 deg rear arc of the turret. Or if the .50 cal fires forward it makes the TC real easy to hit with small arms fire.

Some TD's were modified by moving the pintle forward, while others mounted a .30 cal forward. But in most pictures the .50 cal is pointed limply to the rear and not being used.

Its interesting to note that the UN captured a Serbian M-18 following the Dayton Peace accords. Now thats a classic.

Tony

[Guest Michael emrys]

You'll notice that most Allied tanks that had AAMGs had them located somewhat to the rear of the TC's hatch. I suppose that was so he could shoot at attacking aircraft approaching through the tank's most vulnerable arc. It's not surprising that the TDs should follow the same practice.

I think that later in the war some tank crews, realising that the Luftwaffe posed little threat to them, relocated the mounting in order to make the gun more convenient and safer to use against ground targets.

Michael