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12.7x108 12.7mm Degtyarev heavy machinegun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This
cartridge was introduced in 1934 as a competitor to the German 13mm
antitank round
and the U.S. .50 Browning MG. The round was used in the WWII DK and
DShK-38 machinegun in 50 round belts for anti aircraft use and against
light armored ground targets. Rate of fire of the gas operated weapon
was 600rpm, out of a 4 right turn threaded 1070mm barrel, muzzle
velocity was 860 - 880m/s and the operation temperature could vary from
-50°C to
+50°C. It was also used in the Universalny Berezina aircraft machinegun in WWII that could be fixed to aircrafts like the I-16 and I-153 in synchronized (UBS), wing mounted (UBK) and turret mounted (UBT) installations. The gun had a rate of fire of 1050rpm, but in the synchronized version that rate dropped to 800rpm. The gas operated UB was the best gun of its class, lighter (21kg) and faster firing than any other guns with similar ammunition performance. The post WWII guns YakB-12,7 and YakBYu-12,7, original designation 9A624, are 4 barrel guns and are mounted on helicopters like the Mi-24. The first gun weights 45kg and fires 4000-4500rds/min, the later 60kg and fires 4000-5000rds/min. Both guns are rotary machineguns operated by gas pressure. The Afanassijef-12,7 (A-12,7) machinegun also uses this ammo. This single barrel gas operated gun weights 28kg and fires 1000-1500m/s. Ammunition belts for the A-12,7 have a linkage of 1x B-32, 3x BZT and 1x MDZ. Hungary
uses this round in
its "Gepard" antimaterial rifles M2, M2A1, M2A2, M4 and M5. The
ammunition
used are either the B-32 or the MDZ-3. A HEI bullet, the MDZ is used for AAA purpose. It has
a flat nose and mainly uses a air-compression type of fuze. It
is filled with
HE or HE + incendiary charge and a small blasting cap. Actually 5 types of MDZ projectiles are
known: The first has a screwed-on air compression fuze, the second a
fuze with striker pin and setback safety device. The third has the air
compression tube within
the projectile jacket and is closed with a brass washer at the flat
tip.
The fourth is basically the same as the second, but has a streamlined
outline and is produced post WWII only. The fifth has also a tracer and
is filled with a incediary charge in the nose and a blasting cap and HE
below. The
propellant consists of
17,5 - 19,0g of smokeless powder designated as "4/7 Tsgr" powder.
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Ammunition used during WW2: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ammunition used post WW2: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Two
types of duplex rounds are
described by several sources, the first is the 1SL, it consists of two ball bullets
with mild steel core and incendiary composition in the nose. The second
duplex round, the 1SLT consists of a ball and a ball-tracer bullet in
the rear,
they weight 31g and 27g. These duplex cartridges are easily identified
by three indented dots in the side of the cartridge case and by the
dark green bullet-tip of the 1SLT round. The total weight is 145g for
the 1SL and 142g for the 1SLT. The overall length is
147mm. They are operated reliably with the YakB machine gun of the
Mi-24D
helicopter at temperatures from -60°C to +60°C, engaging
vulnerable ground and airborne targets. Tracer of the 1SLT burns a
minimum of 2.9sec. Projectiles for the "Duplex" cartridges do not have
any AP
feature, there is an erroneous advertisement
brochure around, showing even the wrong shape of the cartridges.
Inert drill rounds, identified by four long flutes along the case, are used as well. |
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12.7x108R 12.7mm ShVAK AAA machinegun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The
cartridge has a similar appearance to the 12,7mm Degtjarjov, but with a
rimmed cartridge
case. Not very much is known about its developement. It is reported to have been test fitted to the Yatsenko I-28 fighter prototype, but the readily developed 12,7mm UB aircraft machinegun had far better performance than the 12,7mm ShVAK. It was used as an AAA caliber for a short time, but it was not successful and therefore soon taken out of service after its introduced in 1935. Later, the 12,7x108R case was necked up to create the 20mm ShVAK caliber 20x99R that had more success. The overall length of the cartridge was 146,1mm. |
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Ammunition used during WWII: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Any further information is well appreciated! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14.5x114 14.5mm PTRD & PTRS AT-rifles, KPV heavy machinegun and subcaliber device | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This round was developed with the experimental
Rukavshinkov antitank rifle in 1939 but Russian infantry did not have
any satisfactory antitank rifles at the beginning of the war because
the military leaders considered German tanks as only heavily armoured
and therefore considered antitank rifles
as obsolete. But this consideration proved itself as incorrect with the first combat actions and so design bureaus were asked to develop antitank rifles within the shortest possible time in July 1941. The simple and cost effective Degtyarov design PTRD was a single shot rifle 2,0m long and weighting 17,3kg, the Simonov design PTRS was selfloading and had a 5 round magazine loaded by a 5 round cartridge clip. The rifle was 2,1m long and weighed 20,9kg. It could be broken down in two separate loads by simply knocking out a square cross wedge at the receiver. Both rifles were considered usefull and were adopted both to service in Fall, 1941, with a total of about 400.000 PTRS and PTRD antitank rifles being produced during WWII. The original antitank round was the BS (API) round
with a tungsten carbide core and incendiary composition in the bullet
tip. It weighted 65,5g and was 51,0mm long, with an overall weight of
the round at 200g, and an
overall length of 155mm. The core weighted 38,7g, and the incendiary
composition 1,8g. The brass case was filled with 28,0g of smokeless
powder. With a muzzle velocity of 1000m/s, the bullet could penetrate
30mm of steel plate at 100m, or 25mm at 500m. The strength of the steel
plate was 120kg/mm², angle of incidence 60°. The round
could be identified by a black colored bullet tip and
percussion-primer. The lower part of the bullet was lacquered red. This
round also could have a unpainted projectile and a black lacquered
primer. These antitank rifles were still used during the
Korean war and possibly further on during the late 1950s. |
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The KPV machinegun was the brainchild of Semjon
Vladimirow and was introduced in 1944 for armored personell carriers.
Today, the KPV machinegun is mounted on armoured personell carriers and
used against ground and airborne targets. The aircooled weapon fires at
550-600rpm and it is 1980mm long and weighs 52,2kg with a barrel length
of 1350mm. Amunition is fed in steel belts (semi-desintegrating belt
that consists of 10-round increments) and the KPV machineguns are
recoil operated. In the AAA role it was designated ZPU, that came in single-, double- and quadruple-barrel mounts. These AAA systems spread not only in the RFAS countries, but also sold widely at the Far-Eastern market. The KPV machinegun is also used in Naval pedestal mounts, designated MTPU which fires at least 450rpm. China also built its versions of the KPV machinegun. They called their ZPU mounts Type 75, 80, 58 and 56. There are also modern anti-material rifles for this round, the South African NTW-14,5 for example. Hungary also uses this caliber in the M3 and M6 destroyer rifles with the standard B-32 and BZT rounds. Cartridges
use lacquered steel cases and a percussion primer; some countries also
used brass cartridge
cases. 80 cartridges are separated into two metal boxes and those are packed in a wooden box. This box has the caliber, type of bullet, Lot.-No., number of rounds and type of propellant painted on, it measures 480x350x160mm and weighs 23kg. Ammunition has been manufactured in Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Hungary, Iraq, North Korea, Poland, Romania, Russia and the former Czechoslovakia. |
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The ammunition used post WWII: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Romanian
blank rounds may have
a red cardboard cover. Inert drill rounds, identified by four long recesses along the case and/or nickel plated projectiles,were used as well. |
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Russian rounds for the ZSU anti aircraft gun in
cutaway, from left to right: Blank round, API round, API-T round |
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The 2Kh35 subcaliber device (Cyrillic 2X35) is a self
loading gun
inserted into the barrel and breech of the 125mm tank gun, it is
electrically
conected to the firing system of the tank and aiming is done the same
way
as with standard rounds. This gun is operated by gas preassure and is used to have a cheap alternative of shooting the tank gun without spending the expensive 125mm rounds. The standard 14,5mm cartridges of the API-T type (Russian designation BZT) have trajectories nearly identical to the main tank gun. They are fed to the subcaliber device in an open loadingclip-like magazine that holds 6 rounds. The gun is operated by 22 to 29 volts. Cartridges are percussion primed and have a muzzle velocity of 980m/s. The overall dimensions of the 2Kh35 subcaliber device are 1660x175x350mm. With a total weight of 29kg, the rate of fire should not exceed 10 rounds per minute to ensure a barrel life of 6000 rounds. A picture of the subcaliber device can be viewed at the ZID V.A. Degtyarev Plant. A similar subcaliber device was introduced to the
Czech army as "14,5 vlozna z bran vz.85" which means "Cal. 14,5
inserted gun model 85". It was built to simulate live shooting of the
main gun of the T-72 tank. |
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Legend: m= mass of projectile, om= mass of complete round, pm=mass of propellant, l= length of projectile, ol= overall length of complete round, Vo= muzzle velocity, cartridge case headstamps are given in the clockwise system, the clock-sections divided by "|" for better reading. The "|" does not mean an imprinted line in the headstamp. Example: symbol at 12 o´clock | 3 o´clock | 6 o´clock | 9 o´clock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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