Thanks for this. For my own historical interest I'm studying Heavy Machine Gun Theory (Indirect Fire) and I'm trying to reconcile the rifleman mindset with the artillerist mindset, and none of my rifle training ever covered the aiming circle!
Just one comment: You repeatedly mentioned turning the aiming circle "45°" and then called that "1600 mils"; however, 1600 mils is not 45°, it is 90°. A complete circle is 6400 mils, or 360°, so 1600 mils is 1/4 of a circle, which is what you rotated the aiming circle during the leveling procedure, not 45° as you mentioned.
Good video. I saw videos of artillery crews in Ukraine using aiming circles and it put me down a rabbit hole of how artillery is aimed. It has not been easy to find information, lacking the basic vocabulary like “aiming circle” most of my searches dead ended with the extremely basic explanation.
Thanks for that demo. Been over 50 years since I laid the “French 75’s) down by the hi rise BOQ’s. But.....turning the instrument 1600 mils is 90 degs. Check or hold?
Thank you for your service. Check, that is correct sir. 1600 mils = 90 degrees. Were these originally adopted from the French? I have never heard them called that.
