Bullets

Can anyone give me some details of what kind of bullets (type, lenght etc) there were used in airplanes. Did the pilots only use bullets or did they use other armor to bring downplanes and balloons.

greetings

Wout

Hi,

I'm not sure about the French or Germans, but the British used .303 calibre, same as their rifles. These were roughly two inches, or 5CM long. They also used used tracer rounds of the same calibre in, think, a ratio of about 1 tracer round for every 3 ordinary. I also recall from a 1917 reference, I can't remember the exact date, that an RFC squadron reported being fired on by German
aircraft that seemed to be firing explosive bullets that detonated in the air: so I'd assume they had time fuses. Fortunately, at least for the RFC, they didn't hit anyone on that occasion. I'll try to find the reference if it's important to you. Let me know.

Bob

There were a variety of bullet types available, the individual combination and quantity of type being the choice of the pilot or gunner. Standard types included the military ball ammunition, a nickel-jacketed lead bullet, plus tracer ammunition, which left a trail of burning phosphorus (or a mix of magnesium and barium peroxide) from a hollow core. The later was not only cruel if it struck a victim while still burning, but would usually fragment on contacting a hard surface. This caused tracers to be frequently mistaken for some form of exploding bullet.

Armour-piercing rounds, similar to ball but with a steel core, were also available.

On the British side, pilots also had Buckingham and Pomeroy bullets, both of which were particularly nasty. The Buckingham was designed originally for balloon-busting, with a blunt nose to tear through the fabric and an incendiary mix in the bullet. The Pomeroy had a more conventional shape and an explosive interior. Although you could technically be shot on the spot if found by the enemy with such ammunition in your guns, by 1918 these bullets were in common use, with 26 million Buckingham bullets alone produced during the war.

Hope this helps.

Ed

There was also Brock incendiary, which was used against Zepplins, and balloons, it is said that this mixture with Pomeroy was used to bring down Z-36, I not positive on that Zepplin number, it has been a while since I read the Zepplin Attacks which closed nearly three years ago, now I can't get the thing to surface.

[Ginger.]

heres one for the anoraks .303 mk7z was used in the rifle .303 mk8z in the vickers and lewis guns both types chambered in all three weapons but before firing mk8z from a rifle check your life insurance after firing count surviving fingers and eyeballs 8z was a pokier round now scuttle off and check your brass to make sure you've not been sold a Pup.

I only can tell you details about bullets used in german aircrafts.The german airforce in WW I used in the spandau machine guns an in the so called
08/15 machine gun bullets of 7.92 mm full metal jacket.it has been the same bullet / cartridge that has been used in the mauser infantry carbine 98 k .even today this type of ammunition is in germany quite common,for sports and for hunting.here some further datas about the 8x57 is.

caliber:8mm (or 7.92 mm )

[stevedrew]

No one seems to have mentioned another means of downing balloons, the French made Le Prieur rockets. They were fitted to the struts of the attacking aircraft and were fired electrically by the pilot.

Steve Drew

[Shooter]

In earlier threads, as well as in other documentation, it has been stated that a Vickers gun was used aboard Allied a/c for balloon attacks that had a caliber of 11mm and used blunt nosed incindiary projectiles. Were these the Buckingham bullets described above? If not, than what was the caliber of the Buckingham projectiles?

Shooter sends

The 'BUCKINGHAM' was, indeed a .303. The 11 m/m round was very much the same, with blunt nose to cut large hole and also (and I suspect, a more viable reason for the flat nose) to hold more incendiary material. The 11 m/m balloon buster round was based on the earlier French blackpowder round, the 11 m/m Gras, using its case. This French cartridge was originally used in the same era as the US 45/70 Gov't. But it was a necked case thus allowing, I suspect, more room for a larger propellent charge than the straight cased 45/70.
Regards,
Steve