Bomb MC 500

[FZG76]

Hello


I am trying to understand the evolution of the British MC 500 bombs.
There are officially 13 models and a welded 300mm diameter model is also said to exist.


Does anyone have documentation for these different models?
I am also interested in photos to illustrate these models.

Thank you in advance for your help!

[sgdbdr]

A.P. 1661 B has an extensive chapter on the 13 first marks

[FZG76]

Thank you
there is indeed some very good information in this document.
Unfortunately I couldn't find the different bomb lengths without the tail.
I know the 1949 version of AP 1661B, is there another version or another AP ?
Thank you for the feedback

[Dreamk]

When referring to the AP1661 you need to understand how this "booklet" is built and updated - as this is an important critical issue and a painful one. It was discussed at length in a symposium of the RAF historical Society held in Hendon in 2008 on the subject of unguided weapons used by the RAF throughout its history - the discussions can be consulted in the issue number 45 of the RAF Historical Society Journal (it's freely available somewhere on the web, I'll try to find the link and post it here)
The individual sheets for each bomb or fuze/ pistol is inserted in the folder when received by the ordnance personal of the unit. When a new sheet is issued on the same bomb the former sheet is discarded. There were sometimes "cleaning operations" that caused the obsolete pages to be discarded. This was the case for instance for the extended pistols, for whom there is no written information available due to such an "cleaning operation".
So for each bomb the date is different:
On the copy I have of the AP1661B the date of the index page is April 1945 while for the MC500 bombs the dates range from July 1944 (MkI) to April 1945 (MkXIII)
This copy is available for download on the excellent Bulletpicker site
Could you be kind to upload a pdf of your 1949 copy on the download site of this forum? This would be quite useful.

[TimG]

Issue 45 and others can be downloaded from here - https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/researc...iety-journals/

The explanation given by the editor of the journal regarding updating of the publications is very general and is a case of what should have happened, but in a lot of cases didn't. There is a a copy of AP 1661F (Miscellaneous Cartridges) in the National Archives that must contain every issue, amendment and re-issue from the late 1930s to 1951. It makes it very difficult to read as they have been inserted at random.

TimG