Looking for 40 mm Bofors Projectiles as Used on AC-130
Dan
finding anything on Google. Most of the sites that sell such things tend
to not be up to date or don't respond to e-mail. Anyone know of sources?
Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired
Daryl
I believe you can find one that was used by the Navy on it's
destroyers, or an Army M19 AA gun. Just be careful, there are 3
different Bofors and 3 different shell casings and projectiles.
You want the 2lbers from the WWII Naval Destroyers.
Dan
There are more than 3 different Bofors. If you mean in 40 mm the
gunships use L60.
Dan, U.S. Air Force, retire
Daryl
I know. That's the same one that the WWII Destroyers used. In
fact, that's where they got the guns from.
Peter Skelton
service on the Kingston class and in other places. We have one Dad made
into a lamp (souvenir of BM2).
--
Peter
Dan
I'm sure I can find it, but I am having difficulty doing so. That's
why I asked for assistance.
Dave Kearton
news:7pCdnRYvEeIGRzXQ...@giganews.com...
Just announce that Osama bin Laden is hiding in a cave in your back yard.
Then just go visit the neighbours for an hour or two.
--
Cheers
Dave Kearton
Daryl
Sorry, Buddy, you can't have mine. Mine is from 1970, Chromed
with a wooden shell on top of the casing. Of course, the
inscription wouldn't quite to to your liking.
You had to be there.........
Dan
I wouldn't want it. I have the brass, just not the projectiles. I
used to get the 40 mm and 105 mm brass for free. As I said, I need the
projectiles.
Dan
Nice theory, but I am fond of my house. I live near the range, if I
wanted shrapnel or fragments I'd sneak out there after a training run. I
live near Duke and Hurlburt and hear AC-130 frequently.
I wonder if I can tell them Osama Bin Laden is hiding out at Jane
Fonda's home.
Dave Kearton
>
> I wonder if I can tell them Osama Bin Laden is hiding out at Jane Fonda's
> home.
>
> Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired
>
I feel your pain ...
--
Cheers
Dave Kearton
Peter Skelton
If you do that right, you'll keep the bloggers happy for years (but it
would be more fun with Jane hiding out at OBL's).
Brilliant.
--
Peter
Andrew Chaplin
57TPzXQnZ2d...@giganews.com:
> I need projectiles for AC-130 40 mm cannon. I haven't had any luck
> finding anything on Google. Most of the sites that sell such things tend
> to not be up to date or don't respond to e-mail. Anyone know of sources?
IIRC, it was HE with a shell-destroying tracer fitted with the Mark 259 SQ
fuse, most of which had been produced for naval use in the 1940s and '50s.
(We had the same ordnance as the AC-130, a 60-calibre 40mm, but adapted to
naval twin 20mm mounts installed around airfields, 18 guns at Lahr and 24
at Baden-Soelingen. I had Callsign 12 of A Troop, 129 Airfield Air Defence
Battery, RCA, in 1975. "Having a callsign" largely meant you got to clean
it most often.)
My course notes from the Boffin course were lost in a flood in the barracks
in 1977, otherwise I would give you more data.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
Dean
I've got a brass cartridge case from one of the 8" guns off USS
Newport News. I'd love to get my hands on an 8" projectile but I know
that isn't going to happen!
Dean
Daryl
Good luck on that. Have you tried to contact your friendly
neighborhood illegal arms dealer?
Dan
Very funny. Obviously I mean inert. I collect things like that, I know
the difference.
Daryl
I imagine if you go to the coast of Iwo and dig around, you
should find a few there that was a dud. But be very, very careful :)
coffelt2
>>> why I asked for assistance.
>>>
>>> Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired
>>>
over "Happy Valley", just south of the end of the runway at Danang Airfield.
They were so beautiful at night.
Old Chief Lynn
Dan
They are fun to watch. I don't get to see them often.
I have several projectiles up to 105 mm. My 105 mm was never loaded
so it's in basic green. I want to paint it to look like the AC-130
round. The yellow is easy, but the stenciling is beyond me. The Army
painting for it would be easier.
My Nazi 88 mm is a repaint, unfortunately, but accurate. As far as I
can tell it was also never loaded.
As for Bofors rounds the only projectiles I have are in a practice
round and one that was never loaded. Problem is they are L70 from Sgt. York.
I am primarily interested in type rather than variations. To give you
an idea what variations can do to a collection: I have several 20mm
dummy rounds, all different.
Andrew Chaplin
news:ebmdnVxdYLXS4zfQ...@giganews.com:
> On 4/16/2011 11:40 PM, coffelt2 wrote:
>>>>> I'm sure I can find it, but I am having difficulty doing so.
>>>>> That's why I asked for assistance.
>>>>>
>>>>> Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired
>>>>>
>> If there were many duds, there should be a xxxxpot load of them all
>> over "Happy Valley", just south of the end of the runway at Danang
>> Airfield. They were so beautiful at night.
Fitted with both a PD SQ fuse and SDT, few would have landed blind, I'd
wager. During all my time on the ranges of Shilo, Valcartier and Gagetown
where we had 40mm firing points, I never saw anything larger that a chunk
of driving band or tracer, and I saw a lot of ammo that had landed blind
in Gagetown's "dirty common danger area."
> They are fun to watch. I don't get to see them often.
>
> I have several projectiles up to 105 mm. My 105 mm was never loaded
> so it's in basic green. I want to paint it to look like the AC-130
> round. The yellow is easy, but the stenciling is beyond me. The Army
> painting for it would be easier.
>
> My Nazi 88 mm is a repaint, unfortunately, but accurate. As far as
> I can tell it was also never loaded.
>
> As for Bofors rounds the only projectiles I have are in a practice
> round and one that was never loaded. Problem is they are L70 from Sgt.
> York.
>
> I am primarily interested in type rather than variations. To give you
> an idea what variations can do to a collection: I have several 20mm
> dummy rounds, all different.
I think you'll find that you're trying to sled uphill. Few 40mm
projectiles escaped the manufacturer unfilled.
Dan
> I think you'll find that you're trying to sled uphill. Few 40mm
> projectiles escaped the manufacturer unfilled.
The same can be said for the 105 mm round. The round I have was
deliberately shipped unfilled. The armament people at Eglin used to melt
the explosives from them. They wanted to pour it out and load with their
own. Then a clever individual decided they could get never loaded
projectiles.
I don't know where a lot of the collectible stuff comes from, but if
you look online you can see many loads available for collectors. I
recently acquired fins for an unfired DU penetrator.
As for the Bofors rounds I may have to settle for practice rounds
painted as needed.
Andrew Chaplin
news:5_ednZeDJ47-kzbQ...@giganews.com:
> On 4/17/2011 8:37 AM, Andrew Chaplin wrote:
>> I think you'll find that you're trying to sled uphill. Few 40mm
>> projectiles escaped the manufacturer unfilled.
>
> The same can be said for the 105 mm round. The round I have was
> deliberately shipped unfilled. The armament people at Eglin used to
> melt the explosives from them. They wanted to pour it out and load
> with their own. Then a clever individual decided they could get never
> loaded projectiles.
>
> I don't know where a lot of the collectible stuff comes from, but if
> you look online you can see many loads available for collectors.
I have asked a master gunner if he knows of the whereabouts of any.
> I recently acquired fins for an unfired DU penetrator.
>
> As for the Bofors rounds I may have to settle for practice rounds
> painted as needed.
I never saw practice ammo for the 40. We did have blanks and a special
barrel for firing them--these were needed at Lahr and Baden to exercise
the lube system and seals of the mounts--and drill rounds, all one piece
with a rubber "primer" to cushion the blow for the firing pins and
fluted sides to allow easier extraction.
Dan
I have a 40 mm solid steel projectile. Not U.S. Bofors, but I don't
know what it's for.
I don't recall ever seeing any blue projectile for the gunships. The
only 40mm "drill round" such as you describe I have seen is the L/70
round for Sgt. York DIVAD. The one I have has an amber transparent point
with what looks like relieved re-bar inside and the tip painted gold. It
has never been chambered. I got it at McGreggor. I regret not getting
more and selling the plastic clip.
Andrew Chaplin
news:go2dnYqOBOEQqTbQ...@giganews.com:
The 40mm drill round in Canadian service had an unusual story. They were
sold off after the scrapping of Bonnie. When the decision was taken in
'74 or thereabouts to install the Boffins at Lahr and Baden-Soelingen,
it was discovered that there were no longer any drill rounds with which
to train. The Life-Cycle Materiel Manager--a dedicated civil servant
whose name is unfortunately lost to my memory--was told to have some
produced. He went to the usual suspects and the bids he got were
outlandishly expensive and would have left him no leeway in his budget
to do much else. He recalled the sale of the old drill rounds and,
posing as someone interested in their value for scrap, went around to
the yard that had bought them. There they were, all in a heap. For
several dollars a ton, he bought them all back, and they were still in
service when we turned the Boffins over to the navy for Op FRICTION in
1990 when they were mounted on the AORs to boost their AD fit. Since the
guns are now on KINGSTON and her sisters, I suspect the rounds are still
in use.
They were not the regular NATO gold or even the old dark blue, they were
brightly chrome-plated with red flutes.
Dan
I could make some dummy projectiles if I had dimensioned drawings,
but the markings are beyond me.
Andrew Chaplin
news:pKednQsIU6yYwjbQ...@giganews.com:
> I could make some dummy projectiles if I had dimensioned drawings,
> but the markings are beyond me.
I let some botanist studying craters on the Shilo ranges borrow my ammo TMs
and he never gave them back, otherwise I could help you out.
Jim Yanik
news:Xns9ECAB5AA9A...@216.196.109.144:
> Dan <B24...@AOL.COM> wrote in
> news:pKednQsIU6yYwjbQ...@giganews.com:
>
>> I could make some dummy projectiles if I had dimensioned drawings,
>> but the markings are beyond me.
>
> I let some botanist studying craters on the Shilo ranges borrow my
> ammo TMs and he never gave them back, otherwise I could help you out.
I really hate people that do that.
I've learned the hard way to not loan things to people without getting some
sort of security deposit.
--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com
Dave Kearton
news:Xns9ECAB12B1C...@216.196.109.144...
>
> The 40mm drill round in Canadian service had an unusual story. They were
> sold off after the scrapping of Bonnie. When the decision was taken in
> '74 or thereabouts to install the Boffins at Lahr and Baden-Soelingen,
> it was discovered that there were no longer any drill rounds with which
> to train. The Life-Cycle Materiel Manager--a dedicated civil servant
> whose name is unfortunately lost to my memory--was told to have some
> produced. He went to the usual suspects and the bids he got were
> outlandishly expensive and would have left him no leeway in his budget
> to do much else. He recalled the sale of the old drill rounds and,
> posing as someone interested in their value for scrap, went around to
> the yard that had bought them. There they were, all in a heap. For
> several dollars a ton, he bought them all back, and they were still in
> service when we turned the Boffins over to the navy for Op FRICTION in
> 1990 when they were mounted on the AORs to boost their AD fit. Since the
> guns are now on KINGSTON and her sisters, I suspect the rounds are still
> in use.
>
> They were not the regular NATO gold or even the old dark blue, they were
> brightly chrome-plated with red flutes.
> --
> Andrew Chaplin
How do you rate these guns against their expected threats ?
--
Cheers
Dave Kearton
Andrew Chaplin
news:4daba77c$0$21190$882e...@usenet-news.net:
> How do you rate these guns against their expected threats ?
Against surface threats with no more than light armour, effective.
Against an air threat with any sophistication, you cannot pick a target
up before it reaches its line of weapon release, so ineffective. Their
installation at the bases in Germany was a stop-gap measure (that lasted
14 years: 1974-'88). The installation on the Kingstons is useful as
they're really training ships that should not range beyond NORAD air
cover.
usmari...@aol.com
Daryl
> Dan, I can get you the ac-130 40mm shells, i have a couple, whats your email ill send pics
>
This is where the guns and ammo came from.
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David E. Powell
> Dan, I can get you the ac-130 40mm shells, i have a couple, whats your email ill send pics
Hal Murray
>You can also find them from stores of Destroyer 40mm Bofors from WWII.
>This is where the guns and ammo came from.
used in Vietnam? If so, how did it compare to new?
--
These are my opinions. I hate spam.
David E. Powell
> In article <m8oso9$u0l$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Daryl <dh...@nospammdroopyvids.com> writes:
>
> >You can also find them from stores of Destroyer 40mm Bofors from WWII.
> >This is where the guns and ammo came from.
>
> What's the shelf life of ammunation? Was WW II era ammunation
> used in Vietnam? If so, how did it compare to new?
The US had tons and tons of .30-06 and .30 Carbine Ammo, though as those guns were withdrawn it either went to allies or to the surplus market. The US Civilian Marksmanship Program still sells surplus .30-06 rounds to qualified buyers, I would not be surprised if some of that is still from WW2 stocks. Depending on conditions of storage, it usually lasts quite a while*.
A couple years ago I was shooting with an older friend, a WW2 ordnance guy/rear seat gunner in the USN, and he was firing some WW2 era .30-06 Ammo. It fired just fine though one round wasn't right at the shoulder and would not chamber properly. He said he was glad he didn't get that one back then!
*One exception was a case of 1950s "OJP" headstamped Austrian ammo I bought in the 1990s. I had no problems but I put it away as a "Collector set" when I heard rounds from that lot were generating massive chamber pressures and actually damaging rifles, bending operating rods. I had a bolt action but still did not feel like subjecting it to those pressures. The problem was that the sealant used on the case mouth of the rounds was hardening over time and setting the bullet in so hard that the chamber pressure was increased. They hadn't anticipated that being a factor 40 years down the road!
Daryl
> In article <m8oso9$u0l$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Daryl <dh...@nospammdroopyvids.com> writes:
>
>> You can also find them from stores of Destroyer 40mm Bofors from WWII.
>> This is where the guns and ammo came from.
>
> What's the shelf life of ammunation? Was WW II era ammunation
> used in Vietnam? If so, how did it compare to new?
>
noticed one case had the date of 1942 on it. Almost 30 years later.
Andrew Chaplin
news:K7idnU7RWvt3Py3J...@megapath.net:
> In article <m8oso9$u0l$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Daryl <dh...@nospammdroopyvids.com> writes:
>
>>You can also find them from stores of Destroyer 40mm Bofors from WWII.
>>This is where the guns and ammo came from.
>
> What's the shelf life of ammunation? Was WW II era ammunation
> used in Vietnam? If so, how did it compare to new?
of suitable storage conditions. I worked with L40/60 Boffins in the mid-
1980s. The ammunition was of either late 1940s or early 1950s manufacture.
Misfires resulting from ammunition defects were very rare; from gun part
failures, less so, but still bloody uncommon.