MG131

[Clayton Magnet]

Hate to resurrect a dusty old thread, but it seems to best place to ask the question. I had read recently that the MG 131 HE round packed as much explosive as the 20mm Hispano HE rounds. Is there truth to this? did the MG 131 use the thin walled projectiles like the Mg 151?

 

[Shortround6]

It would seem to be total BS and/or wishful thinking by some gamer/fanboy.


20mm HS rounds carried about 10-11 grams of explosive, give or take a bit due to exact version and type of explosive (they varied in density)

The 13mm HE/T projectile carried 1.2 grams of Penthrite wax. in part due to the tracer compartment.
The projectile weighed 34 grams total compared to 130 grams.

I have never read of a 13mm mine shell (doesn't mean some don't exist somewhere but actual use?)

 

[tomo pauk]

It would seem to be total BS and/or wishful thinking by some gamer/fanboy.
...

Seems like you've neglected the fact that ammo boxes for ww2 German ammo came factory fresh with 'iron crosses' and swastikas.

 

[Greyman]

I think a decimal place must have gone somewhere it wasn't supposed to.

13-mm HE/T round:
1.17 grams PETN (British examination)

13-mm HE/I/T round:
0.9 grams PETN
0.3 grams Elektron-Thermit

20-mm Hispano HE
10.2 grams Tetryl

20-mm Hispano HE/I
7.0 grams Tetryl
4.3 grams SR379

**EDIT: Shortround, do you have a handy source for the 'clean' 1.2g figure for the HE/T round?

 

[Shortround6]

That maybe the most logical explanation but something (common sense=cube rule?)should have clued the person claiming it held as much that something was off.

 

[tomo pauk]

**EDIT: Shortround, do you have a handy source for the 'clean' 1.2g figure for the HE/T round?

If I may. Here is a table for different German air guns' ammo: link
Note that 'Sprgr.L' shell for the 13mm has 1.2g worth of explosive content. The incendiary content is noted on 'Brsprgr' shells as, say, "+1.3g BR" for the 15m one.
'BR' and 'Br' = brand = incendiary; 'Spr' = spreng = explosive; 'gr' = grenate = shell.

 

[Clayton Magnet]

The original claim was from a Facebook post, so it was taken with a grain of salt. 10.2 grams of explosive for the HE Hispano round, any idea what the equivalent MG 151/20 projectile had packed into it? If Wikipedia is to be believed, it was 2.8 grams. I had always believed, perhaps incorrectly, that the German projectiles packed more explosive then their allied counterparts, due to the minengeschoss construction.

 

[Shortround6]

My source is "Flying guns of WW II"
The Problem with the 20mm rounds for the MG/151 is that there were several, the minengeschoss ones could hold around 20 grams but do the construction of the shell, they didn't make them with tracers. The tracer rounds used normal construction (thick walls) but since the rear of projectile held the tracer composition there is less room for HE and so you might find HE tracer with perhaps 3.7 grams.
The 2.8 grams sounds like the content for the MG 151/15 HE/T projectile.

 

[Greyman]

Great chart tomo pauk - thanks.