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3.7cm Bordkanone.

C

christhurston

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Hello All,I've been looking at a German WWII 37mm AP round that's on SA,
it's an earlier version,but would just such a round have been used later on
in the 3.7cm Bordkanone?
Chris.
 
If by "an earlier version" you mean a conventional steel AP instead of the later tungsten-cored Hartkern, then I've never seen any use mentioned in the Bordkanone. I believe that they did sometimes carry HE, for attacking softer targets.
 
Hello chaps,Although I've found quite a few pics of the Ju 87 Gustav and it's gun array.I've been unable,so far.to find any pics of Bordkanone ammo,
not even on your excellent website,Tony.The round depicted on SA,has a
conventional steel AP proj which I'm thinking would have been normally found in PaK 36 rounds.It has what,I think,is the correct FlaK 18 type
belted case.Apart from some use of HE,then,would a 3.7cm Bordkanone
round have to be fitted with a Hartkern projectile? In the interests of authenticity in my slowly growing Luftwaffe collection,I can live with an earlier dated case of the correct type,but I need to have the right projectile.I'm thinking they might be a bit thin on the ground!!!!
 
A base-fuzed APHE was issued to FlaK units for dealing with armoured vehicles.

The 37x263B Hartkern is shown below.

FGww2APcarts1e.jpg
 
Hey Chris,

IRRC the Flak 18/37 and PaK 35/36 used different standard AP rounds, easily distinguished by the drivingband.
The one on the FlaK round being much narrower and of a non "tapered" design.
I agree with Tony about possible use of the standard AP with the BK, I've never seen it mentioned either.
Iff you're willing to settle for an "b" (practice) version of the HK projectile, you should be able to find one readily, these aren't all that rare anymore.
A "true" HK projectile would be a different story alltogether though.

greetz,

Menno.
 
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Sorry,Tony,I should have known better than to think you had left something out.I'm just going to have to change my optician,methinks!!!
Now that I know what one looks like,will I ever see one,I wonder,I may well
need to settle for a practice version as Menno suggests,or make do with an HE round instead.Neither,has the allure of the real "tankbuster" though.
 
Hi Tony,
Ok i am getting a little bit confussed here, the Hartkern projectile in you picture, is that a practice ub round or the genuine service one. I have seen a few different versions of this projectile now and have got another one on the way to add to my collection and would like to verify what a "real" AP one looks like compared to the it would seem numerous practice/experimental ones. I will post a pic of the new projectile when it arrives.
Best regards Weasel.
 
Hey Weasel,

The Hartkern service round employs an aluminum bodypiece, the ballistic cap is made of a light alloy, drivingband either copper, or later in the war, iron (the iron band being notably narrower than the copper ones).
The body is painted black, with a red band, just over the drivingband, indicating tracer.
The ballistic cap us usually missing or in very bad shape as the alloy is very prone to corrosion. I'm not sure wether it was originally left unpainted or was painted white.

The b versions are all steel (I'm not aware of any exceptions to this where the b's are concerned although there are different versions)

greetz,

Menno.
 
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Hi Tony,
Could you hazzord a guess at the round in the link i posted ? maybe another variation.
Best regards Weasel.
 
Hi Weasel,
I can't find the pic of the round you mention,it's what comes of me being a PC dummy,I guess.However,do you ever visit www.ww2incolor.com there's a brilliant,extensive series of postings in the forum archive on every aspect of Luftwaffe cannons and MGs,like everything else,the 3.7cm Bordkanone is extremely well covered.The main contributer is Panzerknacker in Argentina,but there's quite a bit of input from Tony Williams as well,so it couldn't be any better than it is.
 
Hi Chris,
Yes i have seen that site, a great amount of info there. Best regards Weasel.
 
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