Hi David
OK, so two people have said the springs are a "balance" rather than for recoil so I've been out to the workshop and had a play.
I've fixed a bar onto the front plate at the height of the square hole (accepted pivot or mounted height) to simulate the back of the gun, sitting in the gunners seat you literally have to hang onto the bar to get it to move a tiny amount. you'd need to me a power lifter to move the bar to any sort of useful amount. Trying to fire a rifle whilst using all your strength/body weight to get the required elevation doesn't seem very practical.
They are very strong springs and they push forward. For them to balance the gun surely they'd need to allow movement up and down? At the minute the gunner would have to be holding the gun under an enormous amount of strain to even move it off the fully forward position. There is only really movement backwards and that is using a lot of force.
My money is still on recoil. The gun must elevate freely between the two clamps. Once the trigger has been pulled the rearward force of the shot is absorbed by the spring and then it returns to the forward position.
Ben
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