Luftwaffe bullet?

[bill norman]

Can anyone identify this bullet, recently found in the ground in open countryside?. 13mm 17gr. inside appears to have been hollowed-out. 'Hole' near the tip is probably plough damage. All explanations re. use, markings (rifling?), etc appreciated. BN

[Jon]

Hello Bill

Looks more like a US .50 to me, obviously been fired, why do you think its a Luftwaffe round?

[von Lutz]

I think Jon is probably correct, the point is much longer than 13mm bullets and they have a rifling? band around the lower part. The hollowed out rear indicates that it was probably a tracer round.

[bill norman]

Thanks, Jon and von Lutz. The 'Luftwaffe' possibility was suggested to me because it was found near an old gun site that had once been strafed by a Ju88 - which is why I put the question.

[bill norman]

Jon and Lutz. The bullet is definitely 13mm - so how can it be a US .50?

[stephen f. polyak]

The US used at least five type-classified caliber .50 tracer cartridges in WW2. One was an armor-piercing type (M20). That bullet is 2.31 inches in length. Its weight without tracer filler is 610 grains. The rear end of this bullet tapers (like yours). The nose marking was a red tip followed by a silver band.

The other four bullets had a lead slug in the nose and carried more tracer filler in back. Those bullets were 2.4 inches in length. Their weight minus tracer fill was less than 500 grains. There is no taper to the ends of these four. Nose tips are painted red or orange.

From the picture you provide, the overall shape, end taper, and size and location of the cannelure (narrow circumferential grove) would indicate a US cal. .50 round. If the bottom's open and the diameter of the opening is less than 50 percent of the base diameter, an API-T would be a good bet.

[HARD_Sarge]

go to this site, part way down the page it has a photo of some ammo rounds

WWW.Inert-Ord.net/Luft02H/Index.html

your picture looks very much like a 50 Cal, the 13mm does not look like that

[Tony Williams]

Originally Posted by bill norman

Jon and Lutz. The bullet is definitely 13mm - so how can it be a US .50?

.50 inch is the bore diameter of the US .50 - the bullet diameter is .51, which is 12.95 mm.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum

[SMF144]

von Lutz,

That rifling you see comes from the rifling found inside of the barrel of the gun. It certainly doesn't look like a .5 to me.

Stephen

[Tony Williams]

Originally Posted by SMF144

von Lutz,

That rifling you see comes from the rifling found inside of the barrel of the gun. It certainly doesn't look like a .5 to me.

Stephen

It certainly does look like a .5 Browning to me, and I have lots of them on my shelf

Other cartridges loaded with bullets of similar size and shape were: 12.7mm Russian, 13mm T-Gewehr, 13.2mm Hotchkiss. However, the .50 Browning is the closest match (and by far the most likely in W Europe on the basis of the number used).

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum