Originally posted by Dowding
Yeah but couldn't it be reloaded as it fired - like adding carrots to a blender?
The 20mm Flakvierling 38 L/112.5 was fed by box magazines, one per gun, each holding 20 rounds. The magazines are like the detachable magazines on assault rifles like the M-16 -- the only opening is at the top of the magazine, so to reload the magazine, you have to remove it from the gun. The normal 'ready load' of the Flakvierling 38 was 16 magazines, 8 in each of two magazine racks on the sides of the gun, plus the four magazines in the guns, with more ammunition carried in the towing vehicle, which could be broken out to restock the gun as needed.
The 37mm Flak 43 L/89 gun modelled for both field acks and the Ostwind had a tray ammunition feed -- the rounds were placed loose on a metal rack, which was angled so that the rounds slid into the feed mechanism; as long as the loader kept slapping fresh rounds onto the ammo feet tray, it could keep firing at its cyclical rate.
