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Do you know if any M38 's were fitted with the A1 shackles (with the retaining plate)?

The A1 shackles look a lot stronger with the plate, but I'm not sure if they were used on the M38's

Thanks

Peter (Ottawa)

According to the parts manual, when supply of the origional open type shackle was exhausted, the shackle would be replaced with the closed type, available as a kit. The Cdn parts manual shows the open and closed shackles as replacement parts for both the M38Cdns and M38A1Cdn.
There was an instruction for the M100Cdn trailer that when the existing stocks of the eary (M38 type open) shackles were exhausted, they would also be replaced by the closed type.
However, as a mechanic in the CF, I recall still getting the open type shackles right until we surplused the last of the M100s in the early 90s, so it is likely that the M38 Cdns would have, for the most part, continued to use the origional open type. Whether the open shackles were still available because the military bought a lifetime supply back in the 50s, or whether some supply manager somewhere continued to purchase them, I cannot say.

Thanks for the info, I think I'll install the closed shackles instead of the open ones knowing they were listed as replacement parts for the M38 CDN.

Peter(Ottawa)