8×63mm patron m/32

8×63mm

Two military cartridges.
Type Rifle
Place of origin  Sweden
Service history
In service 1932–1975
Used by Sweden
Wars UN intervention in Kongo 1960-1964
Production history
Designer KAF, AB Bofors
Designed late 1920s, early 1930s
Manufacturer AB Bofors
Specifications
Case type Rimless, bottleneck
Bullet diameter 8.20 mm (0.323 in)
Neck diameter 9.10 mm (0.358 in)
Shoulder diameter 11.51 mm (0.453 in)
Base diameter 12.43 mm (0.489 in)
Rim diameter 12.18 mm (0.480 in)
Rim thickness 1.42 mm (0.056 in)
Case length 62.81 mm (2.473 in)
Overall length 84.62 mm (3.331 in)
Primer type Large rifle
Ballistic performance
Bullet weight/type Velocity Energy
9.72 g (150 gr) FMJ 930 m/s (3,100 ft/s) 4,203 J (3,100 ft·lbf)
11.0 g (170 gr) FMJ 860 m/s (2,800 ft/s) 4,068 J (3,000 ft·lbf)
14.1 g (218 gr) m/32 FMJ 760 m/s (2,500 ft/s) 4,072 J (3,003 ft·lbf)
14.6 g (225 gr) FMJ 747 m/s (2,450 ft/s) 4,073 J (3,004 ft·lbf)
Test barrel length: 609 mm (24 in)
Source(s): [1]

The 8×63mm patron m/32 was a bottlenecked centerfire cartridge with a slightly (0.25 mm (0.0098 in)) rebated rim for Swedish heavy and medium machine guns. It was used from 1932 to the finalization of the rechambering process of these machine guns to 7.62×51mm NATO in 1975.

In the late 1920s, the common service cartridge in Swedish use was the 6.5×55mm skarp patron m/94 projektil m/94 (live cartridge m/94 projectile m/94) service ammunition loaded with a 10.1 grams (156 gr) long round-nosed m/94 (B-projectile) bullet which was not considered effective enough for anti-aircraft and indirect fire so the Royal Army Administration tasked AB Bofors to manufacture a larger rifle cartridge to meet these needs. The 8×63mm patron m/32 round had the same overall length as the .30-06 Springfield cartridge, which allowed it to fit in the standard Browning receiver, but used a larger diameter case and uncommon 12.2 mm (0.480 in) diameter bolt face which together with the larger bullet diameter and heavier bullet weight allowed longer effective range.[2] The 8×63mm patron m/32 maximum range was approximately 5,500 m (6,015 yd) when fired from a kulspruta m/36.[3]

The 8×63mm cartridge was used in the following machine guns:[4]

The 8×63mm was also used in the gevär m/40 bolt-action rifle. These were Karabiner 98ks rechambered in Sweden for the 8×63mm and issued to the machine gun troops so their rifles would fire the same round. These rifles were sold to Israel after the end of WWII.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 8x63 Swedish / 8x63 Bofors (in Russian)
  2. ↑ Sammanfattning av rapport Till Kungl. Arméförvaltningens artilleridepartement (in Swedish)
  3. ↑ Swedish Kulspruta m/36 at forgottenweapons.com
  4. ↑ Arméplanch för utbildning fotograferad av Göta Vapenhistoriska Sällskap (in Swedish)

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.