Small auto cannon round from gun show!

[Steve Flanagan]

Back in the days of yore, the time before the Plague of 2020 we used to gather in groups to attend what were once known as gun shows! After setting up the dealers would prowl the isles looking for deals before the public were allowed in. I went to a dealer I meet once a year at this show and knew him to have an assortment of stuff packed in aluminum showcases that he stored in his van between shows. When he set up he would simply toss the cases on a table letting the contents bang and jostle about with no attempt at organization. Well first I saw the cannon shell,,,,,then I saw the cardboard tube,,,,then I saw the projectile itself and told the guy to be thankful he had all his necessary body parts still in place. So is it live or is it dead? Is this the round that would have been aboard the ME-109?

[blinky]

Gun shooooe...... the words are familiar but strange. But that was before the sickity sick times.

I used to love collecting rounds like this but all it took was finding one live round to scare the interest in collecting them out of me. On Japanese rounds there is usually a small line stamped into the projectile between the fuze and projectile body. It's almost impossible to get them to line up when they were deactivated so if you lines didn't match up, the shell had been disassembled and was most likely "safe." I'm not so sure about German rounds......in any event, it's a great looking round!

[klarkon]

This round could only see any aircraft from below...................

It is 20 x 138 round used for 2cm FlaK.30/38 and 2cm Kw.K (tank gun)
Exactly - 2cm Sprenggranatpatrone. L´spur mit zerleger (HE-T-SD. Has a screwed in tracer ending in a self destruct element placed in the main charge. An aluminium impact fuze is placed on the projectile. )
P131 - Deutsche Waffen-u. Munitionsfabriken A.G., Werk Berlin-Borsigwalde



Shellcases:
The shellcases can be found in Brass and steel. Before 1939, only Brass cases were used. In WW2, due to lack of strategic resources as copper, the germans started using steel shellcases. These were either copper plated, either baked on laquered finished in brown or green. Last days of the war productions shellcases are laquered only.
The powdercharge with German shells is placed in a two piece powderbag, the upper one containing the main charge, the (small) lower one houses the booster charge. The type of fabric used for these powderbags may vary.

Fuzes:
When the projectile has an impact only nose fuze, it has a tracer self destruct element, either pressed in, either screwed in. Normally used impact fuzes are the AZ-1502 F, the AZ-5045- The AZ-45, The AZ-46, the AZ-47, the AZ48, the AZ-49 and the AZ-53. Functioning of these fuzes is quite alike in most cases; a firing pin with a flange in top is kept in upper position by either two centrifugal weights with a wound spring around it below the flange, either a rolled up foil coil below the flange. Upon firing the weights are thrown outward, releasing the firing pin, either the foil coil unrolls, releasing the firing pin.The firing pin is floating now. Upon hitting an object, the hammer pin above the firing pin wil hit the firing pin down into the duplex detonator, exploding the projectile.

If the projectile has no Tracer self destruct the “2cm Kpf.Z.Zerl. Fg” mechanical self destruct fuze is used. This type of self destruct mechanism was used for the first time in this particular type of fuze, and is still in widespread use with smaller calibre mechanical self destruct fuzes today.

Cartridges were fed with a 20 round box magazine (FlaK) or 10 round box magazine ( tank gun).
The firing rate of the gun is 120-180 Rpm
Vo: around 900 mtrs/sec (2,.953 ft/sec) (depending upon type of projectile)
Effective range: 2.200 mtrs. (2.406 yards)

The last time the gun was “officially” used was in the Yugoslav wars at the end of the last century where often the quadriple version could be observed, being used by all fractions.

[Steve Flanagan]

Shell

Thanks guys! Will print up diagram for display with it. Good to know about the mark on Japanese ordnance as well.

[me6_130]

Nice looking round. Seems the tracer stuff is still in place. Have you unscrewed the fuze to see if the shell is loaded??

Carles

[klarkon]

Thanks guys! Will print up diagram for display with it. Good to know about the mark on Japanese ordnance as well.

Here you are...................

http://www.ammunitionpages.com/download/130/japanese

[Steve Flanagan]

Flak

Thank you, can always use good reference sites

[me6_130]

Steve,

If you are looking for ammo for an Me Bf109 you should look for some like in the pics, for MG ff and for MG151/20. They are all 2cm but Luftwaffe for airborne weapons.


Carles

[Steve Flanagan]

Rounds

Thank you,,,,Looks familiar,,,will start digging in bunker