This article is authorized to be published by the official account "Nibelungen Factory".
If you need to show people who are not familiar with firearms how they work internally, it's a good idea to put the gun in proportion. This way, training participants can see more intuitively what they need to learn and better understand the purpose of those tiny components.
Many people have made miniature scale models, and models like 1:16 and 1:6 are already considered large-scale. However, the training tool gun of the U.S. military unit is twice as large as the actual product, so its ratio is 2:1. Such a "Giant's Spear" can effectively improve the efficiency of training.
The origins of the Giant Teaching Aid Gun can be traced back to the U.S. Navy during World War II, when the number of recruits increased dramatically, and they wanted to train them in a clearer and more intuitive way. Teaching methods at the time, including live gun demonstrations, illustrations, films, and cartoons, were effective, but none of them allowed recruits to familiarize themselves with their firearms in a short period of time. A large-scale war requires the military to quickly train tens of thousands of civilians into munitions specialists, which is not an easy task. Firearm components are usually very small, making it difficult for recruits to quickly understand what they are for. In peacetime, it is possible to conduct long-term and repeated training, but in wartime, the training time must be as short as possible.
In 1948, U.S. Army recruits at Battalion Chaffee were familiarizing themselves with live guns during a training course.
As a new way of training, the 2:1 scale giant teaching aid guns came into being, and their internal structure is movable and detachable, accurately recreating the operating mechanism of the firearm. Each component is accurately enlarged and restored according to the scale, and some teaching tools are also cut so that students can directly observe the internal structure of the parts, as well as the action and linkage relationship of the parts.
U.S. Marine Corps instructors use giant teaching aid guns to teach cadets the principles of firearms.
Giant Teaching Aid Guns would be very heavy if crafted from physical materials, so their parts are made of lightweight materials. The springs are deliberately weakened to ensure proper functioning. Of course, such a teaching aid gun cannot fire bullets and does not have any lethality.
In addition to training, the Giant Teaching Aid Gun can also be used for posing.
The appearance of giant teaching aid guns with exaggerated dimensions made it easier for the troops to train recruits in large classes. They help trainees observe and understand the complex workings of firearms, including the principles of loading, aiming, and firing, as well as safety mechanisms and maintenance methods. During World War II, "giant versions" of the U.S. military's major firearms were developed, including the M2 carbine, the M1919 .30 caliber machine gun, the M1918 Browning automatic rifle, and the M1 Garand, as well as corresponding sights and other components.
A giant teaching aid gun that mimics BAR.
The Giant Teaching Aid Gun has been carefully designed to restore the appearance and internal structure of the real thing in large proportions, with an independent model number. The main material is aluminum, supplemented by a small amount of steel, zinc and wooden components. The teaching aid gun is colored according to the real thing, and the cut part is marked in red.
Each training aid is equipped with 24 rounds of plastic ammunition and two magazines/chains for demonstration of reloading and loading maneuvers. All the contents are in a large box that also houses the disassembly mat and instructional manual. The lid has been cleverly designed to act as a pedestal when it is displayed statically. When putting back the box, the barrel of the training aid, the magazine, etc., need to be separated from the body.
The M21 training aid is a double-scale model of the M2 carbine, which has a length of 72 inches compared to 36 inches for the real gun.
The M22 training aid corresponds to the M1919 Browning machine gun, equipped with two cloth cartridge belts and 24 rounds of plastic ammunition. When loading the box, it was necessary to remove the barrel and put the body upside down.
The M23 training aid made for the M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) is 93 inches long, which is longer than the Finnish-made Lahti L-39 20mm anti-tank gun, one of the bulkiest mass-produced firearms.
Of course, the M1 Garand also has a huge version of the teaching aid, which is the M24 Training Aid. It's not as big as the M23, but it's also 86 inches long and weighs 86 pounds including the box.
All the components of the teaching aid gun can be moved, and all the functions of the real thing can be simulated - the magazine can be disassembled and equipped with fake bullets, the handle can be operated, the safety device can be opened and closed, and all the parts can be disassembled. This hands-on teaching aid is the best way to teach.
After the end of World War II, as the size of the army was reduced, the demand for giant teaching aids also decreased, but with the emergence of new types of firearms, corresponding teaching aids were developed. Post-war teaching aid gun models were no longer identified with an "M" to represent equipment, but were classified as "Training Equipment (DVC)".
The teaching aid corresponding to the M16A1 assault rifle is the model DVC 9-19.
The teaching aid corresponding to the M60 universal machine gun was DVC 23-5.
The most interesting thing is the DVC 23-3 corresponding to the M2 heavy machine gun, which is 120 inches long and longer than the 75mm gun of the Sherman tank. Due to its large size, it was already difficult to operate by manpower, so it was equipped with a small electric motor. The electric motor drives the internal parts to act, fires plastic blank shells, demonstrates in slow motion at a speed of 7 rounds per minute, and at the same time uses the attached recovery device to retract the "shells", and so on.
The use of the Giant Teaching Aid Gun continued from World War II to the Vietnam War, and played a large role in the training of infantry and armorers. The structure of the teaching aid guns is much more fragile than the real guns, and they are often damaged, and there is a great demand for spare parts, and the US military has also developed an independent spare parts supply system for them. As prototype weapons were gradually retired, these giant teaching aids lost their relevance. They are classified as surplus materials of the army, sold to the civilian population, or scrapped. Today, the Giant Teaching Aid Gun is a very unique and rare collectible that can be sold for a pretty good price.