Mauser 213

In 1945 Germany had a clear lead in large calibre aircraft guns with 3 different guns in service, the Mk 101, Mk 103 and Mk 108. The allies did not have any such guns.

Germany was also developing the MK 213/30 (30mm cannon) which was a revolver cannon developed by Mauser at Obendorf. The 213/20 (20mm cannon) was also being developed as a possible high velocity gun.

British teams visited Obendorf in the summer of 1945 and sent back to Britain material and drawings relating to the MK 213/30 and MK 213/20.

By September 1945 a programme or work had started with pressure barrels being ordered for the German MK 213/30 cartridge. A quantity of proof projectiles and brass cartridge cases similar to the steel cased German MK 213/30 cases were also ordered.

By October 1945 it was decided that the particular German MK 213/30 gun to be used as the basis for the Aden gun would be the V.6 type (Prior to the V.6 type of which Mauser had made 10 before the end of the war there were 5 earlier prototypes).

The photographs show a war time dated Mauser 213 (30x85) next to a post war experimental Aden LV round (30x86). Its clear who copied who!!

Both INERT and legal to own.

Dave.

2 very nice rounds Dave! Dave

Thanks SG500,
Thats a nice write up on the aden development, i had not made the connection between the Aden and the 3cm Mk108 German round. Looling at those two side by side they are incredibly simmilar, nice rounds to have in your collection.
Best Weasel.

Hi Weasel & Dave, thanks.

Weasel, the round in the photo is not a 3cm Mk 108, its a Mauser 213, a completely different round and the gun worked in a different way (The Mauser being a revolver cannon) but yes the projectiles are the same as often happens with experimental rounds. If you compare a standard Mk 108 to a Mauser 213 the rim is different and the Mauser is belted.

Dave.

Nice rounds indeed: the Aden 30x86B is quite common, but the MK 213C 30x85B round is extremely rare.

A couple of additional comments: the first model of Aden, the 3M or LV, used the 30x86B ammunition and this saw service in the 1950s. The French slightly lengthened the case of their version of the same MK 213C design to 97mm for the DEFA 540 series. However, the RAF decided that the muzzle velocity of the LV was too low (at about 600 m/s) so the case was lengthened to 111-113mm for the Aden HV in conjunction with the French, who adopted the same case for the DEFA 550 series (but steel rather than brass cased, and with other differences which made them non-interchangeable). Shell weight was reduced slightly, but muzzle velocity went up to 750-800 m/s.

The pic below (from the Ammunition Photo Gallery on my website) is an interesting one as it shows the two WW2 German 30mm rounds - the 30x90RB for the MK 108 and the 30x184B for the MK 101/103 - next to the 30x86B, 30x97B, 30x113B, 30x150B for the current French 30M791 revolver cannon used in the Dassault Rafale, and the 1950s Soviet 30x155B for the NR-30 aircraft gun used in the MiG-19 and Su-7 series.

20mm Mauser213 and 20mm Aden

A couple of pictures of the 20mm Mauser 213 and the 20mm Aden. Again its not hard to see who copied who!! The obvious difference being that the Aden is belted. I've included the headstamp on the Mauser. All inert, primers oiled etc.
Dave.

Oops forgot the pictures!

Wow! Both of those rounds are exceedingly rare. I can only dream...

I've just been asked to provide some measurements for the Mauser 213/20 so here goes:

Case length 134.79mm
Overall round length 198.08mm
Rim diameter 31.75mm
Primer diameter 9.92mm
Neck length 8.11mm
Shoulder length 12.41mm
Diameter of groove at bottom of case 27.01mm

Hope this helps.

Dave.

Just a few more photos of Mauser 213 rounds out of a friends collection.
Note the variation on the driving band from the one I posted at the start of this thread.
The primer pockets seem to be different diameters too.
Dave.

SG500 said:

Just a few more photos of Mauser 213 rounds out of a friends collection.
Note the variation on the driving band from the one I posted at the start of this thread.
The primer pockets seem to be different diameters too.
Dave.

Click to expand...

Also used on the Mk 108 case (the first projectile)Sprenggranate Ub

Just a couple of line drawings giving more detail.

Dave.

Greetings Dave,
Interesting drawings....are they from a manual?

A couple of interesting points about the Mauser 213 development. The 30mm version was the MK213 whilst the 20mm was the MG213/20, since in German nomenclature a 30mm weapon was a Maschinen Kanone whilst a 20mm was a Maschinen Gewehr.

One of the reasons for the rarrity of MK 213 rounds was that the British Intelligence team sent many crates of parts, ammunition and drawings from the Mauser factory (occupied by the French) back to England. These all went through the US run clearing station in Paris where most of the crates were broken open and the contents stolen as "souvenirs". The British report is very strongle worded about this.

Probably, there are still a number of MK213 rounds in odd places in the United States in the hands of families who have no idea what they have!

Regards
TonyE

charley777 said:

Greetings Dave,
Interesting drawings....are they from a manual?

Click to expand...

Hi Charley, I think they're scale drawings from specimens.
Dave.

TonyE said:

A couple of interesting points about the Mauser 213 development. The 30mm version was the MK213 whilst the 20mm was the MG213/20, since in German nomenclature a 30mm weapon was a Maschinen Kanone whilst a 20mm was a Maschinen Gewehr.

Click to expand...

In theory that is true, Tony, but I have a vague recollection that in practice they never got around to formally giving a separate designation to the 20mm version. If you have a source that says otherwise, please say!

I thought it was time to show some photos of Aden LV rounds (or rounds that use the Aden LV projectile).

From left to right:

30 x 200 RG. This is described in the Hawkinsons list as "30mm British exp (Nutcracker WW2) case is telescoped with a large forward top. It looks like a flashlight. The base is 32.3 x 166mm long with a heavy crimp to hold the projectile at 72mm from the base. Then the case extends drastically to 42.5mm outside diameter and 22mm long. all of this is brass with a cap that is steel 6.5mm long x 42.7mm.

30 x 86 Mauser 213 (see write up at the start of this thread)

30 x 86 Aden LV. Fuze is stamped RG 194 (scored out see photo - is this a mistake or was there a 194 fuze?) and re stamped with 914. Gold coloured anodized aluminium case with K77/52 marking

30 x 86 Aden LV. Fuze is stamped AEM 933 Mk 1. Orange coloured anodized aluminium case

30 x 86 Aden LV. Fuze is stamped RG 914Mk1. Blue anodized aluminium case with ICI stamp. Case rim is the smaller 31mm

30 x 86 Aden LV. Brown exptl prac projectile. Orange anodized aluminium case.

30 x 86 Aden LV. Brown exptl prac projectile. Brass case with design number D2/101/301. Case rim is the smaller 31mm.

30 x 86 Aden LV. Brown exptl prac projectile. Brass case with number RA2/2957.

30 x 86 Aden LV American version. Projectile is marked T158 LOT WCC-1-A. Brass case. Band is stamped PNN-12-3-53 30mm T 241

30 x 86 Aden LV American version. Brass case. Band is stamped GM1-2-2-1953-30mm-T241

30 x 86 Aden LV in section

30 x 86 Aden LV one of the more common practice versions

The long round along the base of the photograph is the 30 x 333 Nutcracker. Hawkinson describes it as "30mm telescoped exp 2 piece case aluminium tube and base. This case has 3 crimps, one above the projectile 49mm from the top, the second is below the projectile, 121mm from the top and the third is to hold the base in place".