M4 Sherman

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

Can anyone help me with pictures, preferably color, of cleaning rods for a 75mm Sherman? Approximate dimensions would be icing on the cake.

2

I’m not sure if this will help, but someone here posted this link a while ago and there is tons of Sherman info on it: http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minutia/index.html.

Alan

3

Rammer staffs for the Sherman were of wood with steel ‘screws and sockets’ at the ends. If I remember the ones we used at the Patton Museum, they were about three feet long by 1.75 inches in diameter. Crews would often paint over the wood, if they had time. I think there were four of them, but I’d have to check.

Just looked at TM 9-750 M4A3 (dry)

"Brush, bore with staff 112 5/16 inches long M10 consisting of:

1 Brush bore, M10

1 Staff, End B1…

1 Staff Middle B1…

Stowed on left sponson.

Guess that doesn’t help a lot! I’ll keep looking.

Cheers,

Ron

4

I couldn’t find anything there but it is a good source for other stuff. Thanks.

Paul N

5

Although it is a 1/6th scale model, it gives you a good idea of what they look like. As far as painting, The main reason for “punching the tube” is to clean the gun tube. Painting your cleaning rod would just add to debris and residue inside the tube as the rod rubs against the interior of the barrel. That’s why the rods look like unpainted wood and unpainted metal. That’s why rifle cleaning rods are unpainted metal as well.

6

http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minutia/manufacturer/m4_105mm/m4_105mm.html

Don`t know the size, but the location allotted to that particular equipment gives a good idea of the section lengths. I have read though, that at most the wood sections might have oil wiped over them. Painting them, maybe, but some are of the opinion this would defeat the purpose of cleaning, and the paint could flake off inside the gun barrel.

regards,

Jack

edit;

well Rob above beat me to the painting bit, but it does make sense.

7

Thanks for the pic Jack but know that that bracket was ONLY mounted on the M4 (105) and M4A3 (105) Howitzer tanks. The OP is asking about the cleaning rods for the 75mm gun tanks.

(As an aside, I actually have the dimensions of that 105mm rod bracket somewhere. Long ago, Rob Ervin of Formations Models asked me to measure one that was on a surviving tank in my area. He needed the info to create one for a resin update set which included the bracket. The Tamiya M4A3 (105) kit did not include this bracket, unfortunately)

8

Roy, good catch there.

The photo reference should still be usefull, unless it is known that cleaning rods were not standard size for all Sherman types, with just the end (brush?) attachment that does the actual ‘swabbing’ out being associated with the different gun types?

Found couple other photos to guage their length, but note this is a post war refurbished Sherman:

regards,

Jack