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Thanks for the info! Considering the amount of fired brass, it only makes sense to reload it! They must have had quite a tumbler to clean it .....
 
Sharps '74 said:
20 mm Lahti? They had a lot of faith in the mounting system on that little boat .....
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Actually, the gun is HEAVY enough to keep recoil tolerable.

Back in the day, the Lahti guns were available from Ye Olde Hunter and Golden State Arms, out of the US.

They were offered as field ready kits. Storage crate, 12 magazines, spare barrel, take down tools and replacement parts that were prone to breakage. I never purchased one though. A good friend of mine did and finding ammo at the time was next to impossible. I purchased a 20mm Solothurn instead, from Golden State. The recoil was substantial on both guns but as mentioned tolerable. Both guns kits had detachable muzzle brakes, not that they made much difference. Both were as new, unissued and both were very accurate, capable of punching holes through a piece of 24inX24in, 1 inch AR plate at 450 yards (400 meters) with the iron sights. The Solothurn had detachable 3X scope, which mounted on the left side and extended the reach very well.

I agree though, a lot of extended use could cause some grief where the mount base is installed to the hull.
 
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Tyler said:
Arguably, yeah. I recall a few accounts from vets stating that they preferred to use it inside 100 yards. Beyond that involved a lot of guesswork, and luck, and the early shells had a tendency to skip off the armour and not detonate if they didn't hit it near square-on.

As for the velocity, it's slow. Similar to a 60mm mortar on charge '0', when the light is right you can watch it tumble in the air at the apogee until it gets enough velocity for the fins to work again.
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Not to diss those vets but in my personal experience, anything over 50 yards away would take a lucky hit to destroy. The trajectory on those charges is sharp at best. In all reality, if you didn't hit your target straight on, likely the projectile would slough off and might explode while doing so, but not doing much if any damage to the target.

Everything we fired at was on the backside, where the engine compartments/radiators were. Most armor's sloped glacis would deflect the projectile unless the gods of luck were smiling on you and you managed to land a straight on hit.
 
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Chile used ex-Israeli Shermans until 2003.

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They modernized theirs with a 60mm gun that was apparently pretty good.

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Not much protection even from the smallest of the Me109 & FW 190 armament, the 13mm MG 131, as for the 20 & 30mm cannons..........


 
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"Tolerable" is a subjective word at best when it comes to recoil. In an annual issue of "Gun Digest" years ago there was an article on firing a 20mm antitank gun. Can't remember if it was a Solothurn or Lahti, but it had been captured from the Italian Army, if that's a clue.

Recoil pushed some shooters back 18"! No one wanted more than one shot.


QUOTE=bearhunter;16327151]Actually, the gun is HEAVY enough to keep recoil tolerable.

Back in the day, the Lahti guns were available from Ye Olde Hunter and Golden State Arms, out of the US. [/QUOTE]
 
Geezus, I had to look up why the Chileans needed armor and their army has 200 Leopard 2s among other things? They haven't had a war other than coups and mutinies since the early 1900s can anybody explain that?
I've only been there to ski and the military presence was visible for sure.
 
Chile has a number of very good reasons to keep decent military,people are just one and not often major one.

Look up wars Chile has been involved in and add commie thread present since 1930s till today (this one is common all over S.America).
 
donor said:
Chile has a number of very good reasons to keep decent military,people are just one and not often major one.

Look up wars Chile has been involved in and add commie thread present since 1930s till today (this one is common all over S.America).
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I did look up the "wars" it seems to be mostly coups and suppression.
 
Donny Fenn1 said:
Geezus, I had to look up why the Chileans needed armor and their army has 200 Leopard 2s among other things? They haven't had a war other than coups and mutinies since the early 1900s can anybody explain that?
I've only been there to ski and the military presence was visible for sure.
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Argentina.
Shares a HUGE border with Chile and they've never been very friendly........
 
Someone's about to enter the Recoil Olympics...

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The Sturmpistole was a flaregun with a shoulder stock that fired grenades.

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This from Wikipedia:

The Sturmpistole (Assault-Pistol) was an attempt by Nazi Germany during World War II to create a multi-purpose weapon which could be used by any infantryman. It consisted of a modified Leuchtpistole or flare gun in English which could fire a variety of grenades, including a 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) shaped charge Panzerwurfkörper 42 which could penetrate 80 mm of rolled homogeneous armor. The idea was not pursued wholeheartedly, and took second stage to the then current anti-tank rifles and later weapon developments, such as the Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck.

The Sturmpistole was a multi-purpose weapon for signaling, illumination, target marking, or concealment with a smoke grenade. Later during World War II, explosive rounds were developed to give German troops a small and lightweight grenade launcher for engaging targets from close range which could not be engaged satisfactorily by infantry weapons or artillery without endangering friendly troops. Conversions of both the Leuchtpistole 34 and Leuchtpistole 42 are reported to exist. The conversion included adding a buttstock and sights for the different grenades. Available projectiles included:

Multi-Star Signal Cartridge - This was a multi-star signal flare that contained three red and three green stars that could be set for six different color combinations.

Panzerwurfkörper 42 - This was a HEAT grenade that could be used against enemy armor. It had a range of 69 m (75 yd) and could penetrate 80 mm (3.1 in) of RHA. It was similar in layout to the Wurfkorper 361 and used a rifled cartridge case.

Wurfgranate Patrone 326 - This was a small, breech loaded, fin stabilized, explosive grenade, with a nose fuze that was designed for short range low angle direct fire missions. It was not recommended for use beyond 180 m (200 yd) due to inaccuracy or less than 46 m (50 yd) due to the risk from shell fragments.

Wurfkorper 361 - The Wurfkorper 361 was formed by screwing a bakelite or wooden stem into an Eierhandgranate 39 which allowed it to be fired from a Leuchtpistole. A brass or aluminum shell casing with propellant was first loaded into the breech of the gun. The stem was then slid down the muzzle until it slipped into the shell casing, the breech was then closed and the gun could be fired. The Wurfkorper 361 was used for high angle indirect fire where its shrapnel would be useful. The Wurfkorper 361 was not recommended for use at less than 46 m (50 yd) due to the risk from shrapnel and its maximum range was limited to around 78 m (85 yd) at 45° because the grenade had a 4.5 second time fuze.
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The recoil on firing the StG 57 with the rifle grenade seems rather worthy of a Gold medal at the Recoil Olympics.

See footage around 31:31 for a look.
 
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