German 7.92 Cutaways

#1

Some more German 7.92mm cutaways, from left:

sme - aux/st+/14/44, type one steel core
sme - avu-/st+/2/45, type two steel core
AP/T - P/S*/36/36
Werkzeug - P/S*/24/39
Werkzeug - RLM/P/39, solid zinc shaft length of case
Werkzeug - P/S*/24/39
SMKH - P/S*/3/40, tungsten core wt. 8.29g
SMKH - P/s*/36/36, tungsten core wt. 8.4g
Does anyone know what kind of tungsten was used in the German projectiles? Its not the same as the magnetic, newer modern day ceramic alloy tungsten that’s sintered. The SMKH core is non magnetic. Thanks for any help. kevin

#2

Kevin,

The germans used a Tungsten-carbide alloy in the S.m.K.H, and the typical weight for the core was 8.25g

Complete breakdown of the alloy:

Wolframcarbid : 93,3% (Tungstencarbide)
Kohlenstoff : 1,65 % (Carbon)
Titan : 1,55 % (Titanium)
Nickel : 1,55 % (Nickel)
Eisen : 0,45 % (Iron)

#3

Production of tungsten cores created a lot of variation. The specification of 1936 (TL 13/2010) defined the following weight classes:
8.00 - 8.16 g
8.16 - 8.34 g
8.34 - 8.50 g
(I know these ranges overlap, but that is what was specified).
Because the cores at the same time had two length classes (22.25 - 22.50 mm; 22.50 - 22.70 mm), each core was assigned one of six classes.

#4

Kevin,

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

Joe

#5

These cutaways are a really great way to learn about the make-up of these projectiles - I have the books with cutaway drawings and diagrams, but these certainly put the materials into a more comprehensible format.

Thank you, I suspect there is a lot of work goes into making them look so clean and tidy.

Pit.