what the hell is this 30mm round?...err 1-Tony please look

[M.C.202]

Some hints to see if it is a 30mm ADEN/DEFA round:
1. Overall length case and projectile should be 200mm.
2. Base of case to end of case should be 113mm.
3. The rim (not the belt) should be 33.3mm across.

The British code for the letters RG are:
R=explosive
G=tracer

As to if that is what you have...???
Info from Janes Infantry Weapons 1988-89 (old but still useful)

[Tracer-15]

usually disarmed rounds have holes drilled in primer area and through side of case.....if they aint there and the primer is......carefull punting it....cause you might punt and your foot go boom

[AlphaTwo]

I sure am no munitions expert but that tip looks interesting, I've been handling lots of 5.56 and 7.62 rounds, never 30mm, anyway be careful, hope it ain't .D.U. Again that round's tip would keep me miles away.
You may play around with bullets, but only with the ones that already hit you, so get out there and get shot.

[AlphaTwo]

Nah, forget the D.U. thing, it's a british one, that'a pretty much sure.

[AlphaTwo]

Where did you find it, is a good question, try contacting somebody who knows.
This ammo is kinda round on the tip, the A-10's D.U. munition's tip is sharp.
I think it might be from an APC or AAA, but that's just a guess.
Hope that you'll give me more details about location and date of this rounds finding.

[BenDover]

well to me it looks like it has been fired or the round has been hit with a hammer, but wouldn't that make it explode?

As for the primer, as i said, it has one but there is no gunpowder in it.

And I don't know where my uncle got it, i guess i'll have to ask him next time i see him

[Tony Williams]

OK, I've spotted it at last (hint: it you want to catch my attention, put "gun" or "ammo" in the thread title - I don't have time to trawl through everything!)

Yes, it's a British Aden gun round. The RG76 means it was made at the Radway Green ordnance factory (not far from where I live) in 1976. It could have come from just about anything as Adens were used in a huge number of planes, but at the moment they remain in the RN's Harriers (not the RAF's) and the RAF's Jaguars.

No need to worry about it being live. The driving band has been engraved by the rifling, which measn the shell has been fired and recovered.

Incidentally, that round base to the shell means it was still a copy of the original German Minengeschoss, which introduced this feature. The Aden was of course closely modelled on the Mauser MK 213 revolver cannon developed at the end of the war.

Tony Williams
Author: "Rapid Fire: The development of automatic cannon, heavy machine guns and their ammunition for armies, navies and air forces"
Details on my military gun and ammunition website:
http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk
Military gun and ammunition discussion forum:
http://forums.delphiforums.com/autogun/messages/

[Puck]

Speaking of kicking rounds...

My dad was telling me about his younger days once long ago.  When they got ready for a flight (he was a nose gunner on B24s if anyone has successfully missed that bit of info) they'd have to get the belts ready for the guns and load up the ammo boxes.  To do that they'd lay segments out on the apron, then take a free 50 cal shell and use it to join the belts together to make one long chain.  In order to get that LIVE 50 cal round though all three links he's stand on the ends with one foot and drive the shell in by hitting with the heel of his other foot.

It's amazing what you can get away with at that age.

He knew a kid who wanted 50 cal brass for some reason, so he pried out the bullet, poured out the powder, then set the brass nose down on concrete and hit the primer with a nail and hammer.  Damn near lost an eye when the case blew off the concrete from the expanding primer gas.

Some of the stories he tells from his days in the Pacific are amazing.

Somewhere around here I have shell casings from the Phalanx.  20mm, DU sabot; don't have the bullets, just the case.  Primer is fired by RF, so there's not much of a dent in it.

[BenDover]

thanks Tony and everyone else