Army Projectiles: Part 2
Type 99 (Rimless) 7.7mm Ammunition
Continuing the tradition of the 6.5mm round, the 7.7mm cartridge has several different sizes based on what type of projectile is used.
There are 5 listed variants:
Ball round with CuNi jacket and lead core;
Tracer round with CuNi jacket and lead core;
A.P. round with CuNi jacket and Hard Steel core;
Blank round with Paper or Wooden projectile.
Type 99 (Rimless) 7.7mm Ammunition Characteristics
Ball A.P. Tracer Wooden
Overall Length (inches) 3 and 9/54 3 and 9/54 3 and 9/54 3 and 9/54
Length of Case (inches) 2 and 1/4 2 and 1/4 2 and 1/4 2 and 1/4
Length of Projectile (inch) 2 and 17/54 2 and 17/54 2 and 17/54 2 and 17/54
Weight of Projectile 181 grams 5 grams
The rimless 7.7mm round was used in:
Rifles: Type 99 rifle, Type 2 rifle, Type 4 rifle
LMGs: Type 99 LMG, Type 97 LMG
HMGs: Type 92 HMG, Type 1 HMG
To differentiate the ammunition, color bands were used similar to the 6.5mm Arisaka round.
Type | Band
-----------------
Ball - Pink
Tracer - Green
A.P - Black
Blank - Wood
Blank - Paper (purple)
Notes:
The heavy machine guns use feed strips of 30 rounds. When used in light machine guns and the rifle, this ammunition is packed in 5-round clips. In addition to the usual brass cartridge cases, ammunition with a steel case has been found.
Type 92 (Semi-rimmed) 7.7mm Ammunition
While the varied Type 92 rounds have different lengths in some cases, the interesting part is that it did not have a blank variant in wood or paper.
That being said, there were still 5 variants, all using a CuNi jacket:
Ball round with lead core;
Tracer round with lead core;
A.P. round with Hard Steel core;
Incendiary round with W.P. and lead core;
H.E. round with P.E.T.N. and lead core.
The semi-rimmed rounds were used in the Type 89, used by the Army Air Force, and the Type 92 HMG used by the Army.
To differentiate the ammunition, color bands were used similar to the 7.7mm Arisaka round.
Type 92 (Semi-Rimmed) 7.7mm Ammunition Characteristics
Ball A.P. Tracer Incendiary H.E.
Overall Length (inch) 3 and 9/54 3 and 9/54 3 and 9/54 3 and 9/54 3 and 9/54
Length of Case (inch) 2 and 1/4 2 and 1/4 2 and 1/4 2 and 1/4 2 and 1/4
Length of Projectile (inch) 2 and 25/54 2 and 25/54 2 and 1/2 2 and 1/2 2 and 1/2
Weight of Projectile 203 grams 162 grams 155 grams 162 grams 162 grams
The semi-rimmed rounds were used in the Type 89, used by the Army Air Force, and the Type 92 HMG used by the Army.
To differentiate the ammunition, color bands were used similar to the 7.7mm Arisaka round.
Type | Band
-----------------
Ball - Pink
Tracer - Green
A.P - Black
Incendiary - Magenta
H.E. - Purple
Notes
The type 92 HMG uses feed strips of 30 rounds. When used for aircraft flexible machine guns, this ammunition is packed in 5-round clips in a manner corresponding to the packing of rimless, rifle ammunition; but the clip is of larger size to accommodate the larger bore of the semi-rimmed type. The P.E.T.N. in the H.E. round is set off by the heat of the impact.
7.92mm Aircraft Machine Gun Ammunition
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The manual mentions a few oddities here. It mentions that the 7.92mm round was used in 3 different guns: Bren type LMG, Type 98 flexible ACMG, and Type 100 flexible ACMG. The Bren's would've been captured examples produced by the Chinese chambered in 8x57mm IS (7.92x57mm Mauser) and the Type 100 twin-barrelled design. The Type 98 was a direct copy of the German MG-15.
Only 4 different rounds were used:
Ball round with Gilding metal jacket and lead core;
A.P. round with CuNi jacket and Hard Steel core;
Incendiary round with CuNi jacket and W.P. and lead core;
H.E. round with CuNi jacket and P.E.T.N. and lead core.
7.92mm Aircraft Machine Gun Ammunition Characteristics
Ball A.P. Incendiary H.E.
Overall Length (inch) 3 and 5/32 3 and 5/32 3 and 5/32 3 and 7/54
Length of Case (inch) 2 and 7/32 2 and 7/32 2 and 7/32 2 and 7/32
Length of Projectile (inch) 1 and 7/16 1 and 25/54 1 and 25/54
Weight of Projectile 180 grams 182 grams 182 grams
Another oddity is the Ball type round did not have a color marking.
Type | Band
-----------------
A.P - Black
Incendiary - Magenta
H.E. - White
Notes:
The Bren type LMG uses a box-type magazine similar to the US BAR LMG. The Type 98 and type 100 ACMGs use saddle-type magazines.
Next Time: 8mm and 9mm Ammunition
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