BLUF: Keep lunette tightened down properly to keep muzzle brake's tow bracket from needing to be repaired at depot.
This article originally appeared in PS 721, p. 9 (Dec 12).
A loose lunette on your M777A2 howitzer’s muzzle brake can cause no end of problems!
If the lunette isn’t tightened down properly, it allows a twisting motion during towing. It doesn’t take too much twisting to damage the muzzle brake’s tow bracket. The fix requires a depot-level welding and re-machining of the bracket.
You can prevent that expensive damage by making sure both the washer, NSN 5365-01-528-9349, and long nut, NSN 5310-01-528-9347, are in place. Then keep the long nut torqued to 350 lb-ft.