34x 239 Flab Kan 38

[SG500]

Just a few photos of the Swiss 34mm anti aircraft round.
This was in service until 1968.
All inert, hole drilled, primer made safe etc.
If anyone has any further information or photographs of other loadings I'd be interested in seeing them.
Thanks.
Dave.

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Nice item !

Sorry Dave I have no information on that one, but it is a nice round !

 

[Tony Williams]

Apologies for only just spotting this one.

The 34mm round was developed for an automatic AA gun introduced in Swiss service in 1938, which stayed in service until replaced by the current 35mm Oerlikon systems in the 1960s. It was unusual in featuring a water-cooled barrel.

I have three rounds in my collection, two different AP (one like yours, one capped) and an HE. The HE is shown on the right of the pic below, from my Ammo Photo Gallery.

The projectiles weighed 720g and were fired at 900-990 m/s (the AP being faster). The gun fired at 250-270 rpm and was belt-fed.

 

[SG500]

Thanks Tony, thanks for the information - any chance of seeing a photo of your other 2 rounds please?
Ta,
Dave.

 

[Tony Williams]

The plain AP is shown below. I don't have a photo of the capped AP at the moment but it has a nose cap to give an overall profile similar to the HE, and the whole projectile is painted the same dull green.

I aim to reshoot a lot of the pics in my Ammo Photo Gallery when I get the time - it takes a while to set things up properly.

 

[Chris]

34mm Swiss rounds

Yust saw this treat and I have a bit more information about it.
The projectiles were found in Holland just the other day.



Chris

 

[SG500]

Thanks for the additional information Chris.
Dave.

 

[mdot633]

Here is mine. Thanks to EOD for the quick ID

 

[EOD]

There is also dummies made of brass and aluminum and one (late variant) with a case and inert projectile.
Furter there is a plastic break up and a TP-T variant in shape pf the HE-T (all red projectile).

 

[Big Al]

I picked up two of the AP rounds from one of Our Swiss members. He was kind enough to send a pdf of the the gun from a Swiss publication. VERY DETAILED.

PM me and I can a word or pdf file. The publication is in German.

As an aside can we post word or pdf documents in Replies?

 

[DOODLE]

I've got a projectile in my posession from which I think it's a swiss 34mm. I bought it in an antique/flea-store in Switzerland.
At first I thought it coud be an oerlikon KBB round. But nowhere I found a picture to match this idea.
Until I tried some different dimensions and found this topic.

It looks almost exact the same as the projectile found by "Chris". (Mine's fuse is a bit larger).
On the fuse there aren't any markings left to see. But on the body above the copper drive-band there are 2 +'s (like this: ++ )
and on the bottom a marking like seen on the 4th picture in the first post by "SG500".

Below a picture. (click on it to see a larger version :tinysmile_twink_t2: )


Or here you find a link: ( http://postimg.org/image/nycon0979/ )

So is it the Swiss 34mm? And if so, which type?

Thanks in advance ^_^

 

[Tony Williams]

It looks like it (well, if it measures 34mm at the bourrelet you can't go far wrong, there aren't any others that size!). It couldn't be the KBB as that's a 25mm round - I think you meant (35mm) KD series.

A colour photo of the range of different 34mm rounds was included in the ECRA Bulletin of a few months ago (issue No. 580). Your projectile is the standard shape used for both practice and HE types.

 

[Nabob]

Halo all,
18 - Stahlgranate
19 - Uebungsgranate
20 - Fiktivgeschoss
21 - Manipulierpatrone
22 - Zerteilung der Stahlgranate

Cheers, Bob

 

[Tony Williams]

There are also a couple of different AP in my collection - one ballistic capped, the other uncapped.

 

[hicky1300]

I have several fired TP rounds that came from an old german AA site in Holland.
Fairly sure I have posted pics here before now?
All except one had solid dummy fuzes steel or brass with an inert filler to bring them up to the 720 grammes. The odd one had an inert 1941 dated complete percussion fuze - unfortunately all a bit messed up from impact.
Anyone wants one I am selling for 15 plus post at about 5 for 2nd recorded. or willing to swap for a case?

 

[Tony Williams]

I have several fired TP rounds that came from an old german AA site in Holland.

That's curious - how did they get there? AFAIK the Swiss were the only users of the system.

 

[hicky1300]

your guess as good as mine Tony!
If I can find the fuze I am sure it had a waffenamt stamp on it as well.
Projs marked in German & French - so bears out Swiss origin.
Did the Germans manage to get some before start of conflict?
Not dates I can make out on the others - only from the fuze & local records/statements at the time these were recovered.

 

[Tony Williams]

Interesting - maybe the Germans acquired one for testing. Militaries were doing that kind of thing all the time.

 

[DOODLE]

Thanks for the information so far. Is it possible to send me a copy of that bulletin 580? Because I can't seem to find it anywhere...

 

[Tony Williams]

See your PMs.