Hello forum-members,
I'm currently processing some finds we did during an archaeological project in the Netherlands. We encountered lots of German 2cm casings, as well as signal ammunition (Landungsrauchzeichen, rauchkörper, signal casings etc) while surveying a Luftwaffe ground strafing practice target and it's observation post. I had a few questions about the 20x82mm MG 151/20 and 20x80mm MG FF ammunition we found for helping to understand the dating and use of the site, and I hoped you could help me. We have the following questions:
We found lots of 20x80mm MG FF casings that were produced in 1940 by Hugo Schneider AG. I'm interested to learn what the lower-case letter could tell us, possibly the month of production? Or is this just part of the lot number? It is also interesting to note that on some casings there is an indentation on rim of the casing. Could this have something to do with a faulty ejector/extractor? Could this tell us something more about the gun or aircraft in which it was used?
The lower case letter (red square) and the indentation (blue square).
Futhermore, we found lots of steel 20x80mm MG FF and 20x82mm MG 151/20 casings. I read somewhere that steel casings for these calibres were produced from 1943 onwards. Is this correct, and if so, is it possible to tell from which month or period production started? This would help a lot with dating the site, since it is very possible the site was used twice during the war (by different operational units).
From left to right: 20x80mm MG FF (brass), 20x80mm MG FF (steel) and 20x82mm MG 151/20 (steel).
If anyone has more information on how these Luftwaffe practice targets operated, what the exact function of the signal ammunition was and how the layout of these sites normally would look like, I'd be happy to know! All information is more than welcome.
Thanks in advance for your help!
I'm currently processing some finds we did during an archaeological project in the Netherlands. We encountered lots of German 2cm casings, as well as signal ammunition (Landungsrauchzeichen, rauchkörper, signal casings etc) while surveying a Luftwaffe ground strafing practice target and it's observation post. I had a few questions about the 20x82mm MG 151/20 and 20x80mm MG FF ammunition we found for helping to understand the dating and use of the site, and I hoped you could help me. We have the following questions:
We found lots of 20x80mm MG FF casings that were produced in 1940 by Hugo Schneider AG. I'm interested to learn what the lower-case letter could tell us, possibly the month of production? Or is this just part of the lot number? It is also interesting to note that on some casings there is an indentation on rim of the casing. Could this have something to do with a faulty ejector/extractor? Could this tell us something more about the gun or aircraft in which it was used?
The lower case letter (red square) and the indentation (blue square).
Futhermore, we found lots of steel 20x80mm MG FF and 20x82mm MG 151/20 casings. I read somewhere that steel casings for these calibres were produced from 1943 onwards. Is this correct, and if so, is it possible to tell from which month or period production started? This would help a lot with dating the site, since it is very possible the site was used twice during the war (by different operational units).
From left to right: 20x80mm MG FF (brass), 20x80mm MG FF (steel) and 20x82mm MG 151/20 (steel).
If anyone has more information on how these Luftwaffe practice targets operated, what the exact function of the signal ammunition was and how the layout of these sites normally would look like, I'd be happy to know! All information is more than welcome.
Thanks in advance for your help!
