Short Oerlikon Type FFM?

[Depotman]

Can anyone confirm the i.d. of this and identify the head-stamps? Case is 20mm x 80mm. Thanks, Trevor

 

[TonyE]

Oerlikon

Yes, as you thought.

20mm Oelikon made by Hugo Schneider A.-G., Werk Altenburg, Germany in 1939

Regards
TonyE

 

[Depotman]

Yes, as you thought.

20mm Oelikon made by Hugo Schneider A.-G., Werk Altenburg, Germany in 1939

Regards
TonyE

Thanks Tony, great to get the full i.d. Trevor

 

[EOD]

Oerlikon did not develop the 80mm case. So the correct designation would be MG FF.

 

[Tony Williams]

Yep - the FFM wasn't introduced until 1940.

 

[TonyE]

Mg-ff

Oerlikon did not develop the 80mm case. So the correct designation would be MG FF.

True, but the gun was a license built version of the Oerlikon.

Regards
TonyE

 

[EOD]

True, but the gun was a license built version of the Oerlikon.

Regards
TonyE

And Oerlikon bought it from Becker (Becker-Semag). So you would call it a Becker then?

 

[blackwatch]

And Oerlikon bought it from Becker (Becker-Semag). So you would call it a Becker then?

No the right name is Oerlikon/Becker, Build in Germany under license

 

[EOD]

Well the only designation is the one by the country that had it in service which is still MG FF.
Oerlikon/Becker is a self invented designation which will misslead everybody since it never existed.

 

[blackwatch]

Well the only designation is the one by the country that had it in service which is still MG FF.
Oerlikon/Becker is a self invented designation which will misslead everybody since it never existed.

So Pawlas was wrong ?(waffen revue 15)
But who develop this gun?

 

[Tony Williams]

Becker designed the original Advanced Primer Ignition Blowback (APIB), of course. The rights to make it were acquired by SEMAG, who later sold them on to Oerlikon, who in turn licensed manufacture to other countries.

Germany bought the licence to make the small FF aircraft gun, and modified it into the MG-FF (subsequently MG-FFM when modified to fire Minengeschoss), which was made by Ikaria Werke Berlin.

Japan bought the licence to make the small FF and the medium-sized FFL aircraft guns, designated Type 99-1 and Type 99-2 respectively.

France bought the licence to make the big FFS aircraft gun, and made it as the Hispano-Suiza Types 7 and 9.

The UK and USA bought the licence to make the big Type S AA gun, and made huge numbers of them in WW2.

There's a summary of the history of the APIB guns and their ammunition here: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/apib.html and another article concerning the "missed opportunity" of the FFL here: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/OeFFL.htm