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Bofors Questions

BMG50

BMG50

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I have been working with the Land Trust department about a Bofors site i found. Just need to brush up my knowledge as i stumped myself when asking questions for them.
As we know a Bofors projectile had two fuses, one impact the other a base fuse that exploded the projectile off at a certain height, one to create a flak burst as a deterrent the other as a safety fuse to stop the projectile coming back to earth as a dangerous lump. Did they use different base fuses with different timing to burst at different heights? What came with the gun to the site, different selection of fused rounds that accommodated aircraft low or high. What is the max ceiling height for a Borfors L60 and L70. Why was the L70 produced, faster aircraft etc.
 
The self destruct tracer was time activated, not altitude. I think the time was stencilled on the projectile, 12 seconds being common. It was purely to avoid casualties to your own side from falling shells.
 
Bofors shells didn’t have timed explosions, other than the self destruct from the tracer/igniter. The nose fuze was impact only. Hollywood has a lot to answer for with their CGI rubbish showing Bofors “flak” explosions all around very low flying aircraft.
 
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I had a look at the down load very interesting, would like to know about the history of L60 to L70 any links would be good.
 
Get a hold of the book: The 40mm Bofors Gun by Terry Gander. Always copies for sale on eBay. Goes through the whole development of the gun through to the L70.
 
Ordered one on ebay as you said. Bit late for the tip off but thanks anyway.
 
Although i am waiting for the book to arrive by post, will the book tell me what type of ammunition a standard WW2 British Bofors protecting a military camp would have. Would the gun fire a standard round that covered high or low enemy aircraft or would there be a few different boxes of ammunition that had different fuses to suit different situations. Just trying to picture what they used. I know the different types of ammunition and how the fuses work, just wondered if an aircraft was Around 20,000 feet and another aircraft at 3,000 feet could a standard 40mm projectile deal with both heights or would you need two types of ammunition with different fuses.
 
Basically the only ammunition the gun in your scenario would have is the standard HE-T explosive round. During WW2 these were fitted with 250, 251 and 255 impact fuzes which were not timed. Bofors guns would protect against the low flying aircraft only and could not reach planes flying at 20,000ft. Bases and airfields were protected by a combination of gun defences. Usually 3.7inch heavy AA guns were used for the high flying planes and these used time fuzes that could be set for the altitude.
Gander’s book has some information on ammunition, but not a lot. It’s more to do with development of the gun and use by different countries.
 
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