WWII Exploding Sniper Ammunition
- Thread starter bp2626
- Start date
MauserMike
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- SW Ontario
A long account from some extracts from the memoirs of Sepp Ellenberger, a sniper on the eastern front: (full article at http://www.panzergrenadier.net/article-G43.php) I have a G43 - wish I had the ZF4 and mount for it to see how well it snipes.
"I accompanied one such group. The carbine with the optical sight interfered with movement during search and destroy missions of this kind. On my return from leave I had discovered that the regiment had a small stock of Model 43 semi-automatic rifles, and after trying out a couple had selected the best, which the weapons and supply NCO guarded with his life. Using explosive rounds over distances up to 100 meters, its performance was awesome. Within a few days the general area was cleared of Rumanian troops and the front stabilized"
"A soldier's chances for survival depend in no small degree on his feeling for what is possible. Here we were being asked to seek out and engage an infantry company that outnumbered us four-to-one and was occupying previously prepared positions, the locations of which we were not sure. I considered this to be a suicide mission and felt very bad about it. I went to the Waffen und Geraet Offizier or WuG (weapons and equipment officer) to exchange my Mauser carbine for a semi-automatic with optic and took another four magazines of explosive rounds with which I filled my tunic and trouser pockets. I then joined the others. That night an Opel Blitz lorry conveyed us to the endangered sector. We sat in the interior of the truck in silence, each man sunk in thought. We knew the dangers of what we faced. When the lorry stopped and the rear flap droppe d down to signal the beginning of the mission, we leapt down, got our bearing, the platoon sergeant issued a few brief instructions and then led us off into the darkness. I took up my position on the flank of the platoon to the rear, weapon at the ready. After an hour dawn began to show through the overcast sky to the each and we found ourselves ascending the gentle slope of a hillside. Suddenly a white star-shell hissed into the night sky and lit the area bright as day. At the same time our ranks received the continuous rattle of murderous MG-fire. The platoon sergeant and six Jager were hit, and fell to the ground groaning and writhing. Some eleven platoon survivors returned fire while five of the seven wounded were dragged out of sight into a shallow depression. The Russians now sprang up from their positions and attacked.
Apparently unnoticed I had thrown myself down some distance from the two wounded Germans remaining in the open, playing dead and hoping to gain for myself the element of surprise. I watched the first two waves of Soviets leave their dugouts, then arose zombie-like from the dead and began firing round after round of accurate fire over open sights at a range of about 80 meters. To be sure of the hit, and for the explosive round to do its work, I aimed for the area just above the hip. With devastating effect each bullet found its mark inside a Russian stomach, destroying a range of inner organs and intestines. The Soviets appeared stunned by having an unexpected apparition firing at them from an oblique angle on the flank, and then became visibly annoyed. Things were not going to plan for them. In the meantime my ten comrades had gathered their wits and were pouring towards the Russians a blistering fire. The magazine of my semi-automatic held ten rounds. Once the first clip was empty, every shot a hit, I swiftly fitted the second and continued firing. I could see the ground strewn with twenty or more Russian dead or writhing in terrible agony. After reloading with the third clip I became the target of a few desultory replies, but the awful screams of their wounded comrades had unsettled them so much that they aborted the attack and, apart from some withering fire in my direction, retired to their trench. I leapt up again and ran in wild zigzags to the two wounded Jager, throwing myself down beside them in an unevenness in the ground which offered very little cover. So far I had come through the action without a scratch, but the dangerous sprint through the hail of bullets to render first aid to my wounded colleagues was of no avail. One was already dead and the platoon sergeant, whose torso had been raked by a machine gun burst, died a few minutes later.
From their positions the Soviets were sweeping the foreground with small arms and light machine gun fire, pinning me down with no hope of escape. The corpses of my two former colleagues were now useful as a bullet trap. while the sergeant's thigh made an excellent rest for my rifle barrel. While the remainder of the platoon gave me supporting fire from the background, my hour had now come. The Soviet positions consisted of two light MG nests at either end of a long trench. I had the inestimable advantage of facing an enemy who seemed to have no idea how dangerous a sniper could be even the distance of a football field away. Through the rifle scope I concentrated on the nearer nest, which was about 100 meters off. They knew where I was, of course, and while MG-fire spattered into the two cadavers, with my first two carefully aimed rounds I exploded the heads of the MG-gunner and his belt-feeder. There seems to be no activity in the other nest, leaving the field clear for me to finish the rest of them at leisure.
During a table talk at his headquarters on 25 September 1941, Hitler said that whereas he had nothing but admiration for the fighting spirit of the Russians, it was characterized by stupidity. How true that statement was, we were now about to discover. There were eighteen Russians in a long trench, and I could only see individuals within it if they stood up or moved incautiously at the parapet. Every so often a Russian would show his head and I would shoot his brains out. It was just like a shooting gallery at the local amusement park.
.........After a few minutes the German infantry rose from their concealment and advanced with caution towards the enemy positions. Nothing stirred. Before us was a charnel ground upon which an entire Russian company had been wiped out to the last man. Over fifty dead littered the field, plus eighteen in the long trench and three machine gunners. It was a scene reminiscent of medieval impressionistic art depicting hell."
"I accompanied one such group. The carbine with the optical sight interfered with movement during search and destroy missions of this kind. On my return from leave I had discovered that the regiment had a small stock of Model 43 semi-automatic rifles, and after trying out a couple had selected the best, which the weapons and supply NCO guarded with his life. Using explosive rounds over distances up to 100 meters, its performance was awesome. Within a few days the general area was cleared of Rumanian troops and the front stabilized"
"A soldier's chances for survival depend in no small degree on his feeling for what is possible. Here we were being asked to seek out and engage an infantry company that outnumbered us four-to-one and was occupying previously prepared positions, the locations of which we were not sure. I considered this to be a suicide mission and felt very bad about it. I went to the Waffen und Geraet Offizier or WuG (weapons and equipment officer) to exchange my Mauser carbine for a semi-automatic with optic and took another four magazines of explosive rounds with which I filled my tunic and trouser pockets. I then joined the others. That night an Opel Blitz lorry conveyed us to the endangered sector. We sat in the interior of the truck in silence, each man sunk in thought. We knew the dangers of what we faced. When the lorry stopped and the rear flap droppe d down to signal the beginning of the mission, we leapt down, got our bearing, the platoon sergeant issued a few brief instructions and then led us off into the darkness. I took up my position on the flank of the platoon to the rear, weapon at the ready. After an hour dawn began to show through the overcast sky to the each and we found ourselves ascending the gentle slope of a hillside. Suddenly a white star-shell hissed into the night sky and lit the area bright as day. At the same time our ranks received the continuous rattle of murderous MG-fire. The platoon sergeant and six Jager were hit, and fell to the ground groaning and writhing. Some eleven platoon survivors returned fire while five of the seven wounded were dragged out of sight into a shallow depression. The Russians now sprang up from their positions and attacked.
Apparently unnoticed I had thrown myself down some distance from the two wounded Germans remaining in the open, playing dead and hoping to gain for myself the element of surprise. I watched the first two waves of Soviets leave their dugouts, then arose zombie-like from the dead and began firing round after round of accurate fire over open sights at a range of about 80 meters. To be sure of the hit, and for the explosive round to do its work, I aimed for the area just above the hip. With devastating effect each bullet found its mark inside a Russian stomach, destroying a range of inner organs and intestines. The Soviets appeared stunned by having an unexpected apparition firing at them from an oblique angle on the flank, and then became visibly annoyed. Things were not going to plan for them. In the meantime my ten comrades had gathered their wits and were pouring towards the Russians a blistering fire. The magazine of my semi-automatic held ten rounds. Once the first clip was empty, every shot a hit, I swiftly fitted the second and continued firing. I could see the ground strewn with twenty or more Russian dead or writhing in terrible agony. After reloading with the third clip I became the target of a few desultory replies, but the awful screams of their wounded comrades had unsettled them so much that they aborted the attack and, apart from some withering fire in my direction, retired to their trench. I leapt up again and ran in wild zigzags to the two wounded Jager, throwing myself down beside them in an unevenness in the ground which offered very little cover. So far I had come through the action without a scratch, but the dangerous sprint through the hail of bullets to render first aid to my wounded colleagues was of no avail. One was already dead and the platoon sergeant, whose torso had been raked by a machine gun burst, died a few minutes later.
From their positions the Soviets were sweeping the foreground with small arms and light machine gun fire, pinning me down with no hope of escape. The corpses of my two former colleagues were now useful as a bullet trap. while the sergeant's thigh made an excellent rest for my rifle barrel. While the remainder of the platoon gave me supporting fire from the background, my hour had now come. The Soviet positions consisted of two light MG nests at either end of a long trench. I had the inestimable advantage of facing an enemy who seemed to have no idea how dangerous a sniper could be even the distance of a football field away. Through the rifle scope I concentrated on the nearer nest, which was about 100 meters off. They knew where I was, of course, and while MG-fire spattered into the two cadavers, with my first two carefully aimed rounds I exploded the heads of the MG-gunner and his belt-feeder. There seems to be no activity in the other nest, leaving the field clear for me to finish the rest of them at leisure.
During a table talk at his headquarters on 25 September 1941, Hitler said that whereas he had nothing but admiration for the fighting spirit of the Russians, it was characterized by stupidity. How true that statement was, we were now about to discover. There were eighteen Russians in a long trench, and I could only see individuals within it if they stood up or moved incautiously at the parapet. Every so often a Russian would show his head and I would shoot his brains out. It was just like a shooting gallery at the local amusement park.
.........After a few minutes the German infantry rose from their concealment and advanced with caution towards the enemy positions. Nothing stirred. Before us was a charnel ground upon which an entire Russian company had been wiped out to the last man. Over fifty dead littered the field, plus eighteen in the long trench and three machine gunners. It was a scene reminiscent of medieval impressionistic art depicting hell."
The German explosive round was the B-Patronen. It is quite an interesting cartridge when you know how it works. Was intended for machine guns to see where their shots impacted but obviously was used for other purposes as well. I'd love to find a box in Canada.
Pretty sure they fall under prohibited ammo....
"3. Any projectile that is designed, manufactured or altered so as to explode on impact, where the projectile is designed for use in or in conjunction with a cartridge and does not exceed 15 mm in diameter."
- Location
- Tucson, Arizona
I guess if I lived north of the border, I couldn't shoot my Vickers, Lewis, Bren, and STEN.
Oh by the way, my Bren is Canadian
Oh by the way, my Bren is Canadian
I guess if I lived north of the border, I couldn't shoot my Vickers, Lewis, Bren, and STEN.
Oh by the way, my Bren is Canadian
D--m braggart, stop making me envy you.
I don't know if guys on video are saying this ( I'm deaf and there is no CC) but at least some of the exploding ammo used on the ground was actually meant for aircraft mounted guns.
Szkas -Russian MG was fed with ammo loaded to higher pressures and boxes of it where clearly marked as that.I think primer were red as well.
Shooting that ammo in the rifle for extended time wouldn't be safe but I guess war has different standarts.
Szkas -Russian MG was fed with ammo loaded to higher pressures and boxes of it where clearly marked as that.I think primer were red as well.
Shooting that ammo in the rifle for extended time wouldn't be safe but I guess war has different standarts.
wolf300H&H
CGN Regular
- Location
- Cabin in central Alberta
That's one of my fav books and have re read it about 2xs. Very scary. Hell on earth warfare.
I don't know about the russian stuff but Germans had high velocity ammo as well.
For aircraft. It has a green band on the bullet tip. Labeled for what it is but with a -v after. Ie: SmK L'Spur -v
The myth/misunderstanding about ЩКАС / ShKAS ammunition having higher pressure has been around for a long time, but what information I've come across that was at-all technical implies or specifically states that the difference from the normal versions of the various cartridges was not in ballistics but in stronger case head & rim design for reliable extraction from the belt and chamber, in heavier bullet and primer crimps, and in tighter allowable tolerances. Even with that rotary belt feed mechanism, a cyclic rate of ~1600rpm in a single-barrel MG puts one hell of a demand on the ammo. The quality of each lot was tested and indicated by primer/bullet sealant colour. The best was supposed to be for synchronized guns (primer consistency was especially important for this), 2nd class was for wing & flex guns, and 3rd class was any that failed Q.C. for ShKAS MG use and was issued for ground MG and rifle use. Supposedly, many Soviet and German (using captured 91/30 and SVT scoped rifles) snipers preferred to use ShKAS ammunition when they could scrounge it because the higher precision usually meant better accuracy, and specialty ammo like explosive(spotting) or API was sometimes sought out for demoralizing effect, regardless of the Hague convention.
Joel
