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Help UK ammunition shell

F

FZG76

Well-Known Member
Ordnance approved
Hello everyone


I have a question in mind for a long time.
With regard to the British artillery of the two world wars, why were projectiles designated in "Pounder" and others in "Inch".


Can someone explain to me this difference in name, weight and length.

thanks a lot !
 
And sometimes 2 designations for the same thing,ie 3.45"/25pdr.
It amuses me when the US has mm(metric) designations for artillery/cannon,yet everything else is US Imperial.
 
No, the US Army had many artillery calibres measured in millimetres long before NATO existed. In WW2 they had in service the 75mm Howitzer, Field Gun and tank gun, 105 mm Howitzer, 155mm Howitzer and Gun, 240mm Howitzer, 37mm, 57mm, 76mm and 90mm Anti-Tank Guns, 37mm, 90mm, 105mm and 120mm AA guns, 37mm aircraft gun, as well of course the 20mm Oerlikon and Hispano and the 40mm Bofors.

I believe that the metric system was adopted following the large-scale purchase of French artillery in WW1, when the US Army had very few of its own guns in service.
 
Tony Williams said:
No, the US Army had many artillery calibres measured in millimetres long before NATO existed. In WW2 they had in service the 75mm Howitzer, Field Gun and tank gun, 105 mm Howitzer, 155mm Howitzer and Gun, 240mm Howitzer, 37mm, 57mm, 76mm and 90mm Anti-Tank Guns, 37mm, 90mm, 105mm and 120mm AA guns, 37mm aircraft gun, as well of course the 20mm Oerlikon and Hispano and the 40mm Bofors.

I believe that the metric system was adopted following the large-scale purchase of French artillery in WW1, when the US Army had very few of its own guns in service.
Click to expand...

That’s exactly how I understand it as well.
 
FZG76 said:
Hello everyone


I have a question in mind for a long time.
With regard to the British artillery of the two world wars, why were projectiles designated in "Pounder" and others in "Inch".


Can someone explain to me this difference in name, weight and length.

thanks a lot !
Click to expand...

The way that it was explained to me was that the “pdr” was the weight of the proof shot for the gun, rather than the weight of the actual projectile. For example; a 25 pdr projectile doesn't weigh 25 lbs, and can have a range of weights.

I’m happy to be corrected, but this is my understanding.

Cheers

Pete
 
It has always been said to me that the designation by weight dates from the time when the weight of the projectile (ball) influenced the charge of propellant powder.
Gunners gave importance to powder charge rather than caliber. We can find designations by weight other than in England, for example in Austro-Hungary. It would be among other things for that two HE projectiles 18 Pdr could have a different length, as long as they weighed well 18 Pdr.
Standardization after WW II led to placing more emphasis on the diameter of the shell rather than its weight. Shooting tables have been adapted accordingly.
It became necessary when NATO advocated the interoperability of nations, an American shell that can be fired by a German gun or other.


Yoda
 
Thank you for your attention.


I think this is a real good question because at the moment there is no real certainty for your answers.


Why use pounders like before during 1WW? Why mix with lengths during the 1WW as the inch? Why come back to the pounder during the 2WW?
Like 18Pr with 4.5inch during the 1WW then 25 Pr during the 2WW ....


A nice question!
 
True, we used a lot of French WW1 guns, but we used the inch designations along side of metric. Almost all of the coast defense guns were in inches , along with the 8" guns and howitzers of the Army. Not til NATO was the metric measurement used exclusively. The Navy used inches until after WW2 except for light AA guns. Bombs were in pounds, also. The changes to metric use has not changed for every day use.
 
As I understand it the British pounds was the designed weight of shell around which the gun was created, it then became a way of having two guns of similar calibre but having different uses ie the 12pr and 13pr and 3in 20cwt all the same cal. and the 17pr and 77mm. 2pr AA and 40mm S gun.
 
highlandotter said:
True, we used a lot of French WW1 guns, but we used the inch designations along side of metric. Almost all of the coast defense guns were in inches , along with the 8" guns and howitzers of the Army. Not til NATO was the metric measurement used exclusively. The Navy used inches until after WW2 except for light AA guns. Bombs were in pounds, also. The changes to metric use has not changed for every day use.
Click to expand...

The USN still uses inches: see the current 5 inch gun: http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-62_mk45.php

The reason that some US artillery was measured in inches and some in metric is mainly to do with age: the older guns had inch calibres and they kept them. From WW1 onwards most if not all new artillery were metric. So in WW2 you got the 3 inch anti-tank gun (which used the same ammo as a pre-WW1 gun), followed by the 76mm.

This habit of keeping old inch measurements still applies for US small arms: the .45 Auto is still the .45; the .50 Browning is still the .50; the .300 Win Mag keeps that name because that was the civilian name for it.
 
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