30x98RB cannon ammunition

[BMG50]

Was there only one type of 30mm cannon ammunition the Germans used in their fighters which caused devastating effects on aircraft, near enough pop a fuselage in half see pictures. I have been trying to get a round for the collection but not sure if there was a standard 30mm round they commonly used or were there many variants, any good references would help, many thanks.
The picture is of a Blenham bomber which test were carried out using this round, Apparently one round could near take a Spitfire wing off, god knows what it would do to the crew.
Are these rounds hard to come by.

 

[ammogun]

hello
"mine" shells carry more explosives than "standard" shells
i remember similar video and show a M shell

 

[rigby]

For the MK108, the mine shell was the standard projectile.
Here are the projectiles used in 1944. They can often be found in Germany.

 

[BMG50]

Thanks for the diagrams, much appreciated. I noticed the blue projectile, and blue band on the yellow projectile and letter M, M i assume for mine? Are these rounds generally referred as Mine shells ?

 

[rigby]

The blue projectile is an incendiary projectile. The yellow one with the blue and green ring is a high explosive incendiary self destruction projectile. Yes, the M means mine.

 

[BMG50]

Are these rounds expensive and hard to find in the collecting circle.

 

[rigby]

In Germany they are not hard to find and they are not expensive, it depends on the condition.

 

[pzgr40/42]

Hey BMG,
The Germans operated three 30mm (3cm as they would say) weapons.
The:
Mk-101
Mk-103 and the
Mk-108
Both the 101 and 103 fire a 30x184/B round.
The main difference being, that the ones used in Mk-101 are percussion primed, whilst the ones fired by the 103 use an electrical primer.
The Mk-108 fires a 30x91/RR, electically primed, round.
The Mk-108 is a very short, stubby even, weapon, that does not generate high muzzle velocity. The 101 and 103 on the other hand, both are long barreled weapons, thus projectile velocity is quite high.
The Mk-108 was mainly employed in an air/air capacity, in which blast effect was considered a more important factor than penetration.
Both Mk-101 and 103 were used as multi-role weapons in both air/air and air/ground roles (the 101 however, saw most action in an air/ground capacity. It was soon replaced by the lighter and more reliable Mk-103).
For both Mk-101 and 103 a plethora of rounds /l oadings excisted, including the HE and mine-shells as used in the Mk-108.
Besides these quite a large amount of AP types came into use, ranging from simple APHE-T, to APHEI-T (with "Kappe" and "Haube") and "Hartkern" (tungsten carbide cored) rounds.
The AP types (projectile wise) are usually hard(er) to find and demand steep prices, as do the rare, lacquered steel, 101 percussion primed casings.
Pristine 101/103 casings being hard to find eitherway. They often have a gash down the neck (from pulling the shells).
Mk-108 casings in good condition are fairly commonly found, both online and at shows.
Besides the weapons that saw action, several experimental types, like the Mk-213 and Mk-212, reached an advanced state of development. For these guns experimental rounds may be found, though these are considered quite rare. For the Mk-212 one may encounter a long "blind" (unfused / inert filler) mine shell.
Pictures excist of cutaways of Hollow-charge projectiles; these may however have been made from post war replica's done on the basis of wartime drawings.
Casings for both rounds are exceedingly rare.

 

[Eggburt1969]

Apparently one round could near take a Spitfire wing off, god knows what it would do to the crew.

As can be seen from Rigby's screen captures, from what I take it is the 1944 German publication 'L.Dv. 4000-10 - Munitionsvorschrift für Fliegerbordwaffen - Teil 10 - Handbuch der Munition für Fleigerschußwaffen ', 30 mm mine projectiles (minen-geschoss/minen-geschoß) hold a lot of explosive material!

The filling mass is between that of a classic hand grenade, such as the US Mk 2/II series, and those of latter offensive types. The filling however is aluminised RDX or aluminised RDX/TNT. Both are more energetic blast- and temperature of explosion-wise when compared with more common grenade fillings.

When within the relatively weak structure of an aircraft the blast would be confined, leading to considerably more dramatic effects, as seen in the image.

The high-strength thin steel walls of the mine projectile and the high filling weight (high mass-to-charge ratio) would result in many small high velocity fragments, plus some larger slower ones from the nose area and the base area of the tracered versions. Some of the fragmentation pattern can be seen in the image.