Tungsten APDS core

[ozziammo]

Greetings all, I fellow down under has a tungsten core from an APDS projectile but is asking what was the parent caliber. The core measures 40mm in dia. X 134mm in length.
Is it from a 17pdr, 20pdr or a 105mm please???
Thanks, regards Ozzi.

 

[Spaceinvader]

A photo would help a lot, all of those cores mentioned can be ID'd by the shape.

 

[ozziammo]

Pics of core as requested to go with above post. Regards Ozzi.

 

[Alpini]

Are you sure it is tungsten? It looks like it has a deep scratch on the side and it is engraved on bottom side. Maybe only hardene steel?

 

[ozziammo]

It is not mine or in my possession, I will probably be able to view it first hand in late April. The owner says it is tungsten, is tungsten magnetic? The owners original question was: what size round did this come from? Regards Ozzi.

 

[aaaaa]

can you measure it weight ?

and tungsten cores may have engraved numbers on it

soviet tungsten carbide cores from APFSDS for example(VN8 alloy which is sintering tungsten carbide with 8% nickel binder)


if it's very heavy it can be tungsten heavy alloy, like We-Ni-Fe or We-Ni-Cu(and i think it can be magnetic)

 

[Tony Williams]

I have a 17 pdr core, it's just over 38 mm in diameter and 127 mm long. You can see it on the right-hand side of this group:

 

[SG500]

Greetings all, I fellow down under has a tungsten core from an APDS projectile but is asking what was the parent caliber. The core measures 40mm in dia. X 134mm in length.
Is it from a 17pdr, 20pdr or a 105mm please???
Thanks, regards Ozzi.

I think its a 20 pounder core.
I don't have one in my collection any more but used to have one. The measurements are slightly larger than the 17 pounder cores (see Tony's info above). Also the 17 pounders always seem to have the matt finish where the core narrows (presumably where it was ground to the right profile) whereas the 20 pounder cores don't.
Both 17 pounder and 20 pounder cores come with engraved bases.
Dave.

 

[Spaceinvader]

Yes I agree that is a 20pdr APDS core. Jason (APFSDS) had a beautifully sectioned 20pdr APDS that showed the core, exactly as this one, picture attached.

As for the engravings on the bottom I have seen a number of Tungsten cores that are engraved, including my WW2 17pdr APDS, the engravings can be viewed once the tracer unit is unscrewed. And yes, the Tungsten Carbides used for AP ammunition will be weakly magnetic. Pure Tungsten has little to no magnetic properties, but is brittle. Once carbon is added to the mix it becomes the Tungsten we know it as.