# BK 3,7 magazine capacity, once and for all?



## Johnny .45 (Aug 22, 2017)

I am always seeing different ammo capacities listed for the BK 3,7 (37mm) un pods carried by Ju 87G tankbusters. Currently wikipedia and a few other places list it as either 12 (each, apparently) or "twin 6 round magazines" for each gun. But I remember when Wiki said it was 12 rounds TOTAL, or 6 for each gun, because I had always assumed it was 12 each before that. Problem is that "twin magazines" doesn't make any sense; yes, there are "boxes" on both sides of each pod, but one is deeper (longer in chord) than the other, and I don't see how it could switch between feeding from left to right anyway. The size of a single box doesn't really look big enough to fit twelve rounds. So is it 2x6 = 12 or 2x12 = 24? I can't help but wonder if people didn't see "capacity: 12" and read that as 12 EACH when it was really 12 rounds TOTAL. I know the Hurricane IID has 40mm gun pods with 15 rounds each, but in that case there is no problem with a seemingly too-small magazine tray sticking out the side of the gun. A 12 round box of 37mm shells would probably take up quite a bit of space (no idea what the differently-shaped box on the opposite side of each is, unless it's for collecting spent cases; if it WAS a second magazine, and they figured out some way of alternating feed from left side to right, you'd think they'd both be the same size and shape, right?)
Note in this attached picture of (supposedly) a BK 3,7, there is but one ammo tray, and it looks about right for a row of six shells. Any thoughts?


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## Greyman (Aug 24, 2017)

The way I understand it, each gun held a box magazine which in turn had two 6-round clips of ammunition. As the rounds were fired, the shell casings were ejected but the clips was fed into a clip holder on the opposite side of the gun, as these had a habit of damaging the aircraft.

So:
6 x rounds per clip
2 x clips per magazine
1 x magazine per gun
2 x guns per aircraft
---------------------------------
24 rounds total

Reactions: Agree Agree:
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## Greyman (Aug 25, 2017)

If any German-speaking individual could help:


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## swampyankee (Aug 25, 2017)

Greyman said:


> If any German-speaking individual could help:
> 
> View attachment 381205


Could we have a translation for those among us illiterate in German?


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## tomo pauk (Aug 25, 2017)

Basically - each cannon has 12 rounds of ammo, held together by two 'joined' clips.


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