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Internally rifled 26mm flare

Slick

Well-Known Member
I have a bunch of flare cartridges in the collection. Mostly common but a few oddballs have found their way in with the majority having been acquired at SLICS over the years. This one is unique to the collection in that it is internally rifled. Not sure why or the benefit attained. We're talking flare. Shoot it up in the air and that's it. Accuracy is never an issue, that I know of. Maybe someone can enlighten me/us as to WHY they would go to all that trouble.

flare 1.jpg flare 2.jpg flare 3.jpg flare 4.jpg flare 5.jpg
 
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I guess it's to stabilize the flare which is pretty long, and would have I suppose an erratic flight. May be a trial?
 
It seems to be a rocket assisted, spin-stabilized flare. The long, inside-rifled cartridge-case acts as a barrel. What type of payload-flare did this assembly contain ? I also have not seen this before.
Bellifortis.
 
It's all comin' to me now. STABILIZATION! I don't know the payload. It came as the 3 empty tubes. Here's another one with fins. It appears to be rocket assist.
flare 7.jpg flare 6.jpg
 
Hi Slick,
your new foto could be a: "SIGNAL, RAUCH UND LICHT, DM 37, 26,5mm, FLIEGERALARM" In english "Signal, Smoke and Light, Aerial-Attack-Alarm". The small rocket motor has a single central nozzle. There may be others with the same construction. But without the cartridge-casing you can never be shure. Would your sample fit into a 195mm long casing ? Your first object seems to have a spin-stabilized rocket-motor (3 small canted nozzle-holes for spin and one central one for lift). This is a typical russian/east european construction method. The rifling is a very interesting detail and I would very much like to know more about this item.
Regards,
Bellifortis.
 
I would like to know more also. That is a very interesting flare. Was it made by Eugène Hendrickx of Deurne?
 
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