I've been slowly restoring a 4.2" mortar and finally managed to get some firing pins turned down from stainless steel round bar stock. Originals were firing studs as the launching cartridges each had their own firing pin in a clip attached to the cartridge so they were self contained for launching. Guess that eliminated the chance of a malfunction in the field due to a firing pin breaking or wearing down.
I wanted to load my own cartridges from 12-gauge shotgun shell hulls and prefer a fixed firing pin so the rounds light off on impact with the pin at the bottom of the tube. Plus I have no way of producing self contained caps like they had during the war.
Took my live barrel out over the weekend and used a normal infantry base and legs which I am storing for someone else since my base and legs are the towed pattern which is much larger and harder to mess with for just a few test shots.
Link below is a very short YouTube video showing a single launch of an original round using black powder. I only used enough to throw the round out 225 yards which is extremely short range compared to the wartime maximum ranges of 3500 yards. As such, the round is moving fairly slow so you can see it leave the tube. I also didn't dig in the base since I was using light loads.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TshEHDD-GvQ
Figured it would be OK to add this to the existing message thread since its one of the types of mortars being discussed. And in case anyone is wondering, its a BATF approved destructive device here in the USA so I can legally take it out and get it dirty now and then
