Municion Fal Su Historia

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Appendix 'A'

Ammunition

Part 1: UK Intermediate Range

Ammunition Statistics

As mentioned in the bo dy of the text, theIdeal Calibre Panel initially set out by exploring

two different solutions to the problem of

satisfying the stringent 1945 War Office speci-

fications laid down for Rifle and round. To avoid

confusion, these were labelled the .270 and the

.280, although they both shared the common

calibre of .276" or 7 mm.

Initial production as mentioned earlier was

at Radway Green and Kynock. A number of

different specifications were tried, all with

basically either a 130 grain (early) or 140 grain

bullet, the change coming in November 1948.

Other differences include core type, cone

shape (sharp and blunt ogive), gilding metal

and cupro-nickel envelopes, cylindrical and

boat-tail base, and various experimental fil ler

materials (lead, plastic, and wood fibre).

From the very beginning, light alloy was

tried as a case material, and is found either

lacquered plain or bright orange. Various loads

will be found with alloy cases.

The .270 project was dropped in April,

1948. Very few of these early rounds have

survived to the present day.

The change from the .280 calibre to .280/30took place on December 9, 1949, to make the

UK base compatible with that of the US T65.

Working drawings of that period show that the

base had been constantly modified since the

outset in November, 1947. The increase in

velocity to 2,594 fps was inspired by US

Aber de en and Fo rt Benning t r ials res ults ,

which had complained of relative weakness and

unacceptable mid-range trajectory.

This final round of the .280/30 series was

sealed, using the flat-base 140- grain FN S-12

bulle t, in Aug ust 1951 as the "C ar tr id ge , S.A.7mm Ball Ma rk 1 Z. " As an interest ing aside, a

small lot of .280/30 rounds was manufactured to

these specifications in 1970 for new short

rounds tria ls, and headstampe d " R G 70 1 Z "

(see fig. 216).

As the whole projec t be came inc re as in gl y

political, several modified cartridge types were

developed in an attempt both to woo the

adamant Americans away from their T65 round,

and yet salvage some of the light assault Rifle

characteris tics whic h the Brit ish wan ted . The

following compendium l ists these attempts,

most of which unfortunately came to nought in

the face of the flat refusal of US Ordnance to

consider any round less "ef fe ct iv e" than their

.30 cal T65. Co-operation among the British,

Canadians and FN on the development of these

various "compromise" rounds led to FN's

further development and successful marketing

of the 7mm Second Optimum as the "7mm

Liviano" in South America. Later developments

at Canadian Arsenals Ltd saw a small number of

EM2-type Rifles made up in the 7x51 Comp-

romise calibre, although these Rifles are

erroneously marked "7mm H.V.".Data regarding the UK intermediate

cart rid ge devel opments used in this book,

together with the scaled drawings and head-

stamps shown in figs 216-218, are gratefully

acknowledged as being supplied by Mr. A.O.

Edwards of Merton Park, London. A great deal

more detail on these and other Service calibres

can be found in a new series of pamphlets

wri tte n by Mr . Edwards and others , publi shed

by their "Col lector Cartr idges " of Ki ngston,

Canterbury, Kent, England.


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Fig. 216 The full range of the UK Intermed iate CartridgeDevelopment. From left to right:

1. A typical 7.92 mm Kurz the cartridge thatstarted the whole Assault Rifle concept. Headstampindicates manufacture by Metallwarenfabrik Treuenbriet-zen, Sebaldushof, 1943.

2. The first of the Ideal Calibre Panel's attempts atan ideal military round: the .270 (7 x 46 mm). The "K 47"headstamp (Kynoch) is listed as "reported but not seen."

3. The second of the Ideal Calibre Panel's designs,the .280 (7 x 43 mm). The earliest lot of 1947 RadwayGreen experimental cases bore no headstamp. The later1947 1,000-case production run was marked simply " R G " .The project was terminated in 1949.

4. .280/30 calibre, base compatible with US T65.Made in UK and Belgium. The FN 52 and RG 70 are theincreased-velocity pattern sealed as "Cartridge, Ball, 7mm MK 1Z."


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5. The 7 mm High Velocity (7 x 49.5 mm).6. The 7 mm Compromise (7 x 51 mm). This round

also loaded by FN and Dominion Arsenals (Canada).

7. The 7 mm Second Optimum (7 x 49.15 mm). Thisjo in t Anglo-Canadian venture was in parallel wi th No. 6(above). The round was continued and marketed by FN inVenezuela as late as 1957, as the "7 mm Liviano". In thisform it was loaded as ball, AP and tracer. The FN 55 headstampis a 7 mm Liviano loading.

8. 7.62 x 51 NATO representative early UK(Radway Green) loading.

Actual-size drawings by A.O. Edwards, Merton Park, London.


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238


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Fig . 217 Left: "Case , cartr idge , S.A. .280-inch D6(L)615/91". Drawing dated 1/10/47 with revisions to18/12/47.

Right: .280-inch observation bullet, scale 1:1.

240


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Appendix 'B'

Part 2: UK 7.62mm NATO Ammunition

Statistics

1. Manufacturers of 7.62 mm Ball Small Arms

Ammunition in the UK

RG Royal Ord nan ce Factor y

Radway GreenChesh ire

K Imperial Meta l Industries

(Kynoch) Ltd

Witton , B irmingham

GB Gre enwo od & Batley Ltd

Leeds

2. Ball Ammunition Production dates

RG 1953 to dat e

K 1955 to 197 0

GB 1958 only.

3. UK 7.62 mm NATO Cartridge Types

Desig-

nationType Approx. dates Manufacturer Identification Current Status

L1A1 G re na de launcher

blank

1955 - 57 RG Rear part of case

b l ac k e n e d

device , obsole te ;

l imited issue, re-

placed by L1A2

L1A2 Grenade launcher

blank

1957 on RG, K as ab ove Current service

issue; different

charge to L1A1

L1A1 Drill Round 1955 - 56 RG Usually brass case

with 3 flutes,

painted either

white, red or grey

This is experiment-

al "Round L1A1",

as it has a bullet.

The Grenade Laun-

cher is "CartridgeL1A1" as it is a

blank.

L1A2 Dril l Round 1957 on RG Chromed case , 3

flutes painted red

Current service

i s s u e .

L2A1 Ball 1954 - 56 RG Purple p.a. Early service issue,

cases usual ly H/S

7.62 A1

241


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Desig-


L2A2 Ball 1957 on RG, K, GB Purple p.a.

Bullet wt. 144 gm s

Charge approx. 43

gr am s

Current service

iss ue. Early cas es

were H/S 7.62 A2,

the n L2A2. Since

1976, no load

des ignat ion in

h e a d s t a m p

L2A3 Ball late s ixties RG purple p.a. Exper imenta l; dif-

ferent propel lant

L2A4 Ball 1969, 1972 RG purple p .a . Limited Issue;

American bal l

powder; cases H/ S

L2A4

L3A1 Inspectors

D u m m y

1956 on RG Si lvered case ,

bl ind primer

pocket

Current service

i s s u e

L4A1 Proof 1957 on RG Case coppered

overal l

Current service

i s s u e

L5A1 Tracer 1957 - 61 K Red tip, one can-

nelure on bullet

above case

Early service issue

L5A2 Tracer K Various t ip colours Pure ly exper imen-

tal as far as is

known

L5A3 Tracer 1961 on K, RG Red tip, one can-

nelure on bullet

above case

Current service

i s s u e

L5A4Tracer s e ve n t i e s RG Presumed Red t ip Very l imited issue

Believed to be

bright ignition

tracer for Jungle

u se

L5A5 Tracer s e ve n t i e s RG Presumed Red t ip Very l imited issue.

Bel ieved to be

bright ignition

tracer for Jungle

u s e


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Desig-


L6

L7

Not known probably al located to experimental projects

L8which were d i scont inued

L9

L10A1 Extended cr imp

blank

1957 - 60 F N Extended neck

crimp

Contract made by

F N

L10A2 Extended cr imp

blank

1961 -1971 RG Red, clear or green

lacquer on crimp

Service; replaced

by L13A1

L11A1 Ball 1970 - 71 Rauffors G r e en p .a . "Off -shore" con-

tract with Rauffors,

Norway, for British

Army in Germany.

Limited service.

XL12E1 Reduced Bal l 1969 approx. RG Short round-nose

bul le t

Experimental . Low

power round load-

ed with .32 ACP

bullet for anti-riot

use . Not adopted .

L13A1 Extended neck

b lank

1972 on RG Red, or green lac-

quer on crimp

Current service

issue blank. Thin-

ner case walls than

L10A2 for economy

243


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