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Rocket Head ? Canadian marked Identification
- Thread starter Gspragge
- Start date
Eggburt1969
Well-Known Member
It's very close to the sub-projectile of the Mk. 3 DS practice, but different in a couple of ways.
The first is that tracer or tracer housing is screwed into a recess in the base of the sub-projectile, whereas in the Mk. 3 the tracer is housed in an extension of the base of the sub-projectile as seen in the image (plate) posted by kahul1 which is probably taken from page the publication 'Regulations For Army Ordnance Services - Volume 4 - Ammunition - Pamphlet 8 - QF Fixed Ammunition - Part 9 - Cartridge QF 20-pr (1957)'.
Another difference, though this just might not be shown in the plate, is the knurled of the bottom edge of the sub-projectile. This is present so that on firing the setback forces push the ridges into the softer aluminium alloy sabot pot. This results in a good mating between the two and insuring the transfer of torque to the sub-projectile and hence making sure it spins up to the same rate as the sabot.
So it might be that this a later mark of 20-pr DS-Prac, it's certainly not earlier (see images), a Canadian variant of the 20-pr DS-Prac Mk. 3, a later Canadian variant of the 20-pr DS-Prac, or some other DS-Prac sub-projectile.
20-pr DS-Prac Mk. 1
20-pr DS-Prac Mk. 2
The first is that tracer or tracer housing is screwed into a recess in the base of the sub-projectile, whereas in the Mk. 3 the tracer is housed in an extension of the base of the sub-projectile as seen in the image (plate) posted by kahul1 which is probably taken from page the publication 'Regulations For Army Ordnance Services - Volume 4 - Ammunition - Pamphlet 8 - QF Fixed Ammunition - Part 9 - Cartridge QF 20-pr (1957)'.
Another difference, though this just might not be shown in the plate, is the knurled of the bottom edge of the sub-projectile. This is present so that on firing the setback forces push the ridges into the softer aluminium alloy sabot pot. This results in a good mating between the two and insuring the transfer of torque to the sub-projectile and hence making sure it spins up to the same rate as the sabot.
So it might be that this a later mark of 20-pr DS-Prac, it's certainly not earlier (see images), a Canadian variant of the 20-pr DS-Prac Mk. 3, a later Canadian variant of the 20-pr DS-Prac, or some other DS-Prac sub-projectile.
20-pr DS-Prac Mk. 1
20-pr DS-Prac Mk. 2
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