37mm APCNR (squeeze bore)

[mach1bang]

Hi there,
i have this American 37mm squeeze bore projectile,which I want to give a paint job.
Are the coloured bands different from the British 2 pounder Littlejohn?
If anyone has a photo or diagram to help me,that would be much appreciated.
Condition is not mint by any means but would like to paint as original.

 

[RichardB]

Its an interesting question, what makes you say its American?
I ask that as as Id only ever heard / read that it was British that used them in combat (i assume the Americans would have tested them at some point)
The usage would have mostly likely been in British Staghound or Humber US 37mm equipped armoured cars. (My assumption) the only round ive ever seen has three white bands on the tip ( see below) if there is other information id like to know also

 

[mach1bang]

Thanks Rich,
When I found it I thought it was a 2 pr Little John mk2,but then found it was 37mm,not 40mm.Two other collectors at the time said it
was American for the case as in your photo.So I went with that.It does look a match.No stampings in metal remain.
Tim.

 

[mach1bang]

Hi there,
I finally got around to painting and stencilling as per photo shown by Rich,and crimping in a case.
pitting still shows through paint,but I don't think it looks too bad.Didn't want to fill it,but keep honest.
looks pritty anyway.
Tim.

 

[RichardB]

Well there cant be many 37mm Littlejohns remaining, so in lieu of finding one its infinitely better than nothing at all. Even in a pitted state its rare.
Now lets see the rest of the Littlejohns out there :wink:

 

[94thFS95]

I have also heard that these can be US. Does anyone know of any reference books that give specifications such as you would find in something like TM 9-1901?
-Steve

 

[SG500]

I've had a relic 37mm for a while so the hacksaw escaped today and the core got liberated.

I've included a few pics of the decent round that Rich showed in the second post to this thread together with an empty case complete with correct Littlejohn crimping groove.

The core to this is super hard, like the ones in the 17 pounder APDS, a hacksaw just doesn't touch them.

Dave.

 

[sgdbdr]

Are those 37mm documented somewhere ?

 

[SG500]

I saved these from elsewhere on BOCN, I think Bonnex posted them.

Dave.

 

[AE501]

As you can see from the drawing, the Empty Design Drawing (Land) 16315 number appears in the tables and is in the UK technical manuals as Shot QF 2 Pr SV/APT MK 2B.
This was the last UK in-service mark.
The core is Tungsten Carbide which, at that time was probably the hardest known substance after diamond, but can shatter on impact, which eventually led to marginally softer Tungsten alloys for AP kinetic shot..

 

[jeff w]

Its an interesting question, what makes you say its American?
I ask that as as Id only ever heard / read that it was British that used them in combat (i assume the Americans would have tested them at some point)
The usage would have mostly likely been in British Staghound or Humber US 37mm equipped armoured cars. (My assumption) the only round ive ever seen has three white bands on the tip ( see below) if there is other information id like to know also

I don't believe that there is any evidence that these were ever used in combat by any armored cars in WW2.
However these rounds may have been issued to the M22 Locust tanks that saw action in operation Varsity in March 1945.

Still working on cleaning my projectile up - have to wait til the weather warms. I gave it a preliminary sandblast a couple weeks ago and it is still oozing brown liquid. Must have been submerged.

 

[wingsofwrath]

I'm going to tack this here, since this is already a thread on the topic of the Littlejohn adapter and the ammunition thereof. I received this 3d printed replica SV shell as a gift from a seller on purchase of two unrelated shell casings. He says it's from the US 37mm gun M3, but I have my doubts, since it doesn't look like any of the rounds I'm familiar with - either the prototypes like T23, HV 37/28, etc. or the actually adopted 37mm SV as used in the T-22 Locust. So my question is this - is this a copy of something that actually existed, or just a flight of fancy?

Length is 100mm, diameter of the forward and aft flanges is 36mm and the driving band is 39mm. The body diameter is 22mm.

View attachment 169658

 

[Buster]

Thought I would share pics of my replica and a sectioned example.

 

[wingsofwrath]

I see that for some reason the picture did not actually attach, so here it is again -
Is this a copy of something that actually existed, or just a flight of fancy? The guy who gave it to me told me this is supposedly a very rare projectiles that the Americans trialed in lat 43 prior to the Normandy Landings, but he seemed uninclined to provide any data for it when I pushed, so I'm definitely inching towards "made up".

Length is 100mm, diameter of the forward and aft flanges is 36mm and the driving band is 39mm. The body diameter is 22mm.

 

[Listy]

I have also heard that these can be US. Does anyone know of any reference books that give specifications such as you would find in something like TM 9-1901? -Steve

It was the UK that used them: Files at Kew for Staghounds: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1824017 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1824518 And pictures of them fitted to M22 Locust's: http://www.combatreform.org/Image1232.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8b/d1/7e/8bd17e27cfb1ea6a0d7b701fc77308e9.jpg

 

[Weasel]

Here is another one to add to this thread. there seem to be very few mint condition examples most are relic at best.