The British light mortars used during the WWI had much smaller range than their German opponents, reason why finished the War, it was decided to modify the Stokes mortar model to eliminate this disadvantage. Although the Ordnance ML mortar is called as 3-inch (76mm), in reality its caliber is 3.2-inch (81mm) and is known as “Mark 2” to differentiate it from its predecessor, the Stokes mortar.The ML 3-in Mk.2 is muzzle loaded and drop fired and could fire up to 25 grenades per minute for a short period of time, although its normal firing rate was between 6 and 8 rounds per minute. This was the standard British mortar at the beginning of the WWII and although it was considered lightweight, it weighed more than 50 kg once in position, so it was transported in three packs by the infantry, and could also be transported by the Bren Gun Carriers.Despite the improvements incorporated with respect to the Stokes mortar, at the beginning of the WWII returned to verify that its range was not as good as that of the German mortars, and again new improvements were made. In 1943, the baseplate, sights and barrel were modified and their reach improved to 2,560 meters, quite similar to other mortars of the time.The grenade used by the ML 3-in mortar was of the HE type, weighed 4.53 kg and left the barrel with a muzzle velocity of 198 m/s. The tube could fire from +45º to +80º of elevation and had a traverse of 11º. Although in the beggining this weapon had some minor problems, it was finally selected by 20 countries to equip its infantry units.
