Cartridge Gram - Military Cartridges

22/12/2024

https://chng.it/qR9VVXGXqZ

Secure the Future of Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum

22/12/2024

Secure the Future of Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum

27/09/2024

Army is trialling an awesome 30x113mm cannon armed RWS vehicle mount. Details, tech, munition capability, pix www.australiandefender.com.au

15/09/2024

30x173mm MK258 Mod .0 APFSDS-T (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot Tracer) - the high-end sports car of ammunition

This round features a spindle type sabot with a fin stabilised tungsten long rod penetrator weighing 230 grams which is fired at a muzzle velocity of 1,430m/s or 4,691 ft/s.

According to NAMMO, this round has the ability to pe*****te >100mm of rolled homogeneous armour @ 1000m.

There is also a MK258 Mod 1 “Swimmer” variant of this round with a flat 2.3mm tip used for various surface threats, small to medium sized boats, personal watercraft that can be loaded with explosives, and submerged targets, or it can be fired through the waves before impacting the target.

This round is qualified for use in the Bushmaster II MK44 Chain Gun and DLS CAMGUN GI-30 auto cannon

Unfortunately, the cartridge case pictured here is incorrect, it is an aluminium 30x173mm GAU-8 case instead of a steel case, but it is fine for display purposes until a correct case is found.

25/08/2024

Here we have a 20 x 139mm TP-T (Target Practice - Tracer) round. This round was based off the now obsolete 20 x 139mm Swiss Flab Kan 38 and FMK 38 round which used a brass cartridge case, while this uses a steel cartridge case, a thicker rim and several different loadings.

Originally introduced by Hispano-Suiza in the 1950s for the HS 820 cannon, Oerlikon took over the company in 1971, subsequently, the HS 820 was renamed to the Oerlikon KAD. These days, Oerlikon is now a part of Rheinmetall Waffe und Munition and this cartridge has seen service with many countries and several auto-cannons both in ground to ground and ground to air applications, such cannons include: Hispano Suiza HS820, Rheinmetall Mk20 and Rh202,
GIAT M693 F1 / M693 F2, Oerlikon KAD-A / KAD-B, OM I -F2

A notable vehicle that uses this cartridge is the Schützenpanzer Marder 1, which uses the Mk-20 RH202 auto cannon.

This specific round shown today is made by Deutsche Waffen-u. Munitionsfabriken A.-G., Früher Lorenz, Karlsruhe, Germany. This TP-T is ballistically matched to the HEI (High Explosive Incendiary) and HEI-T SD (High Explosive Incendiary - Tracer Self-destruct) rounds. Projectile weights are typically between 120g - 125g and are fired at a muzzle velocity of 1045 m/s or 3428 fps.

11/07/2024

Here we have the 7.62mm Ball Duplex Cartridge T314E3, later type-classified as Cartridge, 7.62mm, Ball, Duplex, NATO, M198 on May 7th 1964 by the U.S. Army Materiel Command.

This is an experimental 7.62x51mm duplex, from project SALVO which houses not one, but two projectiles in tandem. It was an attempt to improve short range hit probability and effectiveness of M14 rifles. (Pictured with standard 7.62 NATO Ball)

If you would like to learn more about this cartridge, I highly recommend heading to Google and searching for an article called “M198: The Cartridge That Should Not Have Been” on written by friend, Nathaniel F.

From the article, well known cartridge collector, Ray Meketa, writes:
The lesson of Project SALVO was that nothing works quite as well as a conventional rifle, chambered for a conventional cartridge, firing one bullet at a time. But the lesson was not learned so quickly because following the SALVO II trials in December 1957, Operations Research Office (OCO) recommended the development of a standard length duplex cartridge based on the 7.62mm NATO case.
The cartridge showing the most promise was the T314, loaded with two copper-plated steel bullets in tandem. But, a U.S.Army Infantry Board report released in 1959 concluded that the T314 was not suitable for Army use and did not offer a substantial combat advantage over the standard Ball cartridge (7.62mm NATO M59). Unconvinced, the Army continued development of the cartridge through at least two more iterations culminating in the T314E3. In 1964 it was standardized as 7.62MM BALL-DUPLEX M198.
The M198 entered full scale production with the USMC receiving 4 million rounds for additional field testing. But, as the previous Infantry Board trials had concluded, the cartridge proved to be a disappointment. It did not improve single shot hit probability to the extent hoped for, which after all, was the goal of the duplex concept. There have been reports that some units in Viet Nam were equipped with M198 but, for the most part, production was halted and the entire program abandoned in the early 1970s. Reclassified as Obsolete (OBS), no cartridges remain in military stockpiles.

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/04/30/m198-the-cartridge-that-should-not-have-been/

11/03/2024

In the late 1960’s the US was designing a new advanced air superiority fighter which would come to be the F-15 Eagle. With all the new advanced avionics aboard the F-15 a revolutionary new cannon was envisioned for it as well, the GAU-7/A.

The GAU-7 program started with Philco-Ford and General Electric submitting 2 similar designs and by 1969 Philco-Ford had been selected for further development. The cartridge seen below is an example of Philco-Fords ammunition being made by Brunswick measuring 25x152mm and about 40mm in diameter. The cannon had 5 barrels and 9 chambers with a selectable RoF of either 3000 or 6000rpm.

Unlike most aircraft cannons which use metallic cartridges that must be stored in the aircraft even after firing the GAU-7 used combustible case-telescoped ammunition. The case burns up upon firing meaning no storage of spent cases and the projectile being buried in the propellant means an overall shorter cartridge length. The cartridge is made up of 5 main parts, projectile, combustible primer, rear charge (sitting behind the projectile), forward charge (surrounding the projectile) and combustible case. The case itself is made of a mix of felted nitrocellulose, acrylic fiber and resin.

The cartridge shown here is a factory inert cutaway showing all the major components and alongside are 2 loose projectiles. The right side projectile is a later PJU-3/B target practice projectile with both using polymer drive bands. The left side projectile is a very similar Hercules projectile made for the GE submission that instead uses copper drive bands.

The GAU-7/A would end up being canceled in 1974 due to changing safety requirements that required a fireproof sheathe be placed around each cartridge that had to be removed prior to firing by the gun itself. The ammunition also suffered from an inconsistent muzzle velocity due to the propellant being open to the atmosphere (as is a historical problem with caseless / combustible ammunition). Instead the 20x102mm M61 Vulcan would be used on the F-15 and the GAU-7/A never saw any further development.

Alongside the GAU-7 cartridge is a 20mm Vulcan on the left and on the right a 25x137mm for the GAU-12 Equalizer.

Rhys

12/02/2024

As the final part of our mini series on necked-up ammunition we’ll be taking a look at the Rheinmetall Mk35/50 Rh-503 50x330mm Supershot cartridge!

Originally developed in the mid-80’s and early 90’s it was meant to be a next generation IFV cannon to be installed on the Marder 2. Unlike the other cannons we’ve mentioned earlier in this series it was unique in that it only took a barrel change to be chambered in 50x330mm with no other modifications required. It had a dual feed linkless system with one for APFSDS and one for HEDS (High Explosive Discarding Sabot) and a variable rate of fire from 150-400rpm via a 6-8kw electric motor. The HEDS was interesting as it used a 35x228mm high explosive projectile in a 50mm sabot.

The 2 examples we have today are one aluminum dummy cartridge with a second APFSDS proof. It’s easier to sin these examples the semi-telescoped design of the projectiles that sit deep in the case with very little protruding forward like a traditional cartridge which couldn’t be seen with the smaller 34x184mm.

The aluminum dummy is nearly solid aluminum with about half of the cartridge being empty with a slotted steel screw-in base plug. This is likely an early in-house dummy for testing and a half empty “case” to make the cartridge have the correct center of gravity. It has no markings and appears to have been painted white originally.

The APFSDS proof has a steel case with a gray coating and uses standard 35x228mm German DN213 primers with its headstamp reading “LUD-W-05” (likely lot codes but no confirmation). The fired projectile features a heavy steel nose fitted to a lacquered aluminum tail boom, the fin assembly is simplified from actual APFSDS projectiles. Also to note is the missing polymer drive band that would have fit in the square groove. It’s posed next to a standard 35x228 cartridge along with a 40x365r L/70 Bofors cartridge for scale.

The plan was to have the Marder 2 adopted into service with the 35x228mm variant with the hope that the German Bundeswehr would later purchase the 50x330 kit. In reality the end of the Cold War would see the entire Marder 2 program canceled as an economy measure with only 1 vehicle built.

27/01/2024

I’ve finally put out a YouTube video showing some of the ammunition displayed at the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum

It’s a very basic video, part 1 of 3, so if you’re a nerd like me, feel free to check it out. The museum has put in a great effort to show ammunition from many of the vehicles, weapons and artillery pieces displayed in the museum, not many museums do this and I think it is under appreciated.

Click the link below:

https://youtu.be/Rz6vY3H7oOY?si=RgJoqQRto8TDnTRx

Please excuse my terrible editing skills, audio and mumbling Australian accent!

22/01/2024

As we take a look at the second example in the series of necked-up cartridges we have one that’s seldom seen with very little information available compared to its 50x330mm brother we’ll look at in the coming days.

This is a 34x184mm made by Rheinmetall sometime in the 80’s with this cartridge being made to fit 25x137mm systems presumably like the M242 Bushmaster. It shares the same case head dimensions as the 25x137mm at 38mm in diameter however it is physically produced from the longer 25x184mm KBB cartridges (25x184mm again sharing the same case head dimensions).

The example shown today is made from steel with no markings and a sterile headstamp. A standard 25x137mm uses press-fit primers while the example here has a threaded primer hole that accepts 20x128mm screw-in primers. It is also interesting to note that unlike the previous examples of the 27x70b and 40x180mm the case of the 34x184 is especially long compared to the overall length of the 25x137mm which leaves very little room for the projectile to stick out the top of the case. As such this cartridge used a semi-telescoped projectile design that had much of the projectile (both HE and APFSDS) buried in the casing with very little extending above the case mouth. While this gives an advantage of a much larger APFSDS penetrator the HE projectile likely suffered as a result with a low muzzle velocity however this is entirely speculation on my part due to zero data being available.

It’s pictured alongside a 25x137mm case and with a 30x173mm for the Mk44 Bushmaster II for scale. In the end it’s likely this project was dropped in favor of the larger 50x330mm “Supershot” cartridge in development at the same time by Rheinmetall for the Rh-503 IFV cannon.

Up next will be its much bigger brother the 50x330mm Supershot cartridge that’s very similar but saw more ”success” than the 34x184.

Rhys

05/01/2024

We’ve started off the new year with a quick trip up to Cairns in North Queensland to visit the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum

Not only that, I finally got meet a friend and fellow cartridge collector from Canada called Rhys who you might have seen contribute to this page many times over the years. Rhys and I found each other on ammunition groups and forums as far back as 2015, since then we’ve talked just about every week since then sharing knowledge, what we have in our personal collections and even having Rhys as a valuable contributor to this page. Not only does he have a world-class collection, but also a wealth of knowledge, especially when it comes to Medium caliber auto-cannon ammunition, which has worked out well considering most of my personal knowledge is in small arms ammunition below 30mm and Rhys’ is from 12.7mm all the way up to tank and artillery ammunition.

We have quite a lot of content to upload from this short trip, including possible YouTube content which yes, I told everyone back in 2019 I was going to do during an interview with Forgotten Weapons, I just don’t have good confidence nor the charisma in front of a camera, but it’s probably time to try something new and branch out off of instagram (you should be able to find the YT channel early by searching CartridgeGram on YouTube) anyone with a gun or ammunition page will know how difficult it has been over the last few years to gain any new audiences on instagram.

For now, here’s a few photos of us from the trip, more to follow.