6 pounder 7cwt AP question

[Jb4046]

Hey guys, my friend on another forum picked this 6 pounder shell up for his collection.

initially i thought it was a AP shot round. However the projectile stamp states that it was made in 1943

this confused me. In the book “firing now” it says APC was introduced in october 1942 and APCBC was introduced in 1943. So why would a AP shot projectile be made in 1943. My friend suggested maybe there was a transition period when they were still making basic AP but that didn’t make sense to me as why would they waste resources on a worse performing shell when there exists better designs.

This source also backs the dates

http://www.quarryhs.co.uk/Molins.htm

my main ideas were that either
-a projectile to be fired for live firing exercises to not waste important ammo
- since the driving band reveals it has been fired, would the shell have losts its caps?

Thanks for the help regarding my question!

 

[M8owner]

It was normal for substandard ammunition to remain in production at the same time as the "good stuff". I have a 1946 dated 17 pounder plain old AP-T shot - capped, APCBC and APDS were available. The US manufactured "Substitute Standard" ammunition through out WWII - 75mm M72 AP shot vs. M62 APCBC is such an example. It was better to have plenty of something to shoot, and not every manufacturer could make the good stuff. Contracts were also allowed to run their course through bureaucratic inefficiency.

 

[AE501]

Each of these shot is more costly and takes longer to produce therefore there are less of them available, so you maintain stocks of each. There is no point in wasting an APCBC on an armoured car or a Stug, when you can take it out with an AP shot. You need to save your top anti tank shot until the real thing comes along.

 

[Tony Williams]

All of the photos I have seen of the airborne Molins gun, as fitted to the Mosquito "Tse Tse", show it with standard AP projectiles.

 

[Jb4046]

Thanks for explaining it guys! That does make more sense now that you have explained it.

 

[AE501]

These photos were taken about 30 years ago at the De Havilland Aircraft Museum, Colney (just off the M25 at J22). It is still going but is run by a volunteer trust so needs all the help it can get.
The first one shows the rack with 3 rounds in it and the other, the same rack from below with a cart case on the table.