Re: 7 x 33 mm Kurz


peterwezeman@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Accounts of the development of German assault rifles mention that they
> first thought to use a 7 x 33 mm Kurz cartridge, but changed this to
> the well-known 8 x 33 to expedite production. I would appreciate any
> additional information about the 7 x 33 mm Kurz, such as muzzle
> velocity, ballistic coefficients and weight of bullets, operating
> pressure, drawings or images of cases, etc. How were the case
> dimensions arrived at, in particular, why so short?

The story is a lot more complicated than that. Many different case
shapes, lengths and calibres were tried before the 8x33 was decided on.
It is true, however, that the designers felt that 7mm would be a better
calibre, but they had all that machinery for making 8mm barrels and
ammo...

That also explains why the case is so short. To save time and money,
they kept the case width of the standard 8x57, which meant that it only
needed to be that short to hold the quantity of propellant required.
Ideally, they would have gone for a longer and slimmer case (as the
Russians did with the 7.62x39).

For an account of the development of assault rifle ammo, see:
http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/Assault.htm

Tony Williams
Military gun and ammunition website: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk


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