German 7.62mm vs 7.62mm AP ammunition

[dontpanic!]

Just a basic question. The German halftracks carry 7.62mm AP ammunition which their on board MG42 uses. Infantry can "acquire" this 7.62mm AP ammo to add to their load out. It is the listed as a seperate ammo load to the normal 7.62mm ammo. Can this AP ammo be used by infantry HMG MG42 teams as well ? I presume the AP is "armour piercing" ?

Could not find anything in the manual or searching the forums.

Thanks

[chuckdyke]

Suppose you mean the 7.92 Mauser round. The AP round had a core of tungsten carbide. Scarce and expensive I can't imagine it was for standard machine gun use. It would chamber Halftracks had to protect themselves against allied light AFVs

[Erwin]

FWIW in the game I usually load up the HMG's (and most inf units) with a few hundred AP rounds.  I think they get used, but have never really paid attention and assumed they would use the AP rounds when useful/appropriate.

[RockinHarry]

3 hours ago, chuckdyke said:

Suppose you mean the 7.92 Mauser round. The AP round had a core of tungsten carbide. Scarce and expensive I can't imagine it was for standard machine gun use. It would chamber Halftracks had to protect themselves against allied light AFVs

not quite so. For german 7.92mm, hardenend lead core was standard, while hardened steel core (not tungsten) the very coomon AP variant.

[RockinHarry]

2 hours ago, Erwin said:

FWIW in the game I usually load up the HMG's (and most inf units) with a few hundred AP rounds.  I think they get used, but have never really paid attention and assumed they would use the AP rounds when useful/appropriate.

valid tactic. If encountering thinly armored vehicles they get used quite effectively at close ranges, up to ~300m IIRC.

[akd]

7 hours ago, RockinHarry said:

not quite so. For german 7.92mm, hardenend lead core was standard, while hardened steel core (not tungsten) the very coomon AP variant.

S.m.E. = mild steel core; standard ammo

S.m.K. = hardened steel core; standard AP ammo

Edited May 30, 2021 by akd

[dontpanic!]

Oops, My mistake, I misread the numbers and I do mean the 7.92mm rounds.

In the scenarios I am playing in, the halftracks are loaded with 7.92mmAP rounds and the trucks 7.92mm rounds. Just wanted to check if they are both usable by infantry HMG teams. If the AP round have more penetrating power, I would like my HMG teams to have some on hand by acquiring them from there HT instead of trucks.

 

Thanks everyone.

[Erwin]

14 minutes ago, dontpanic! said:

if they are both usable by infantry HMG teams

Yes.

 

14 minutes ago, dontpanic! said:

would like my HMG teams to have some on hand by acquiring them from there HT instead of trucks.

That's what I do.

[RockinHarry]

5 hours ago, akd said:

S.m.E. = mild steel core; standard ammo

S.m.K. = hardened steel core; standard AP ammo

In more detail:

7.92mm s.S lead core standard until 1940
7.92mm S.m.E soft iron core introduced in 1940 and from 1942 about to replace the s.S production wise.

Huge numbers of both remained standard use until end of the war.

[Redwolf]

How do you harden lead?

[chuckdyke]

43 minutes ago, Redwolf said:

How do you harden lead?

Alloys (lead, tin and antimony). For casting bullets, I have not done any since 1990. Not very good for your health. 

[akd]

5 hours ago, Redwolf said:

How do you harden lead?

Doesn’t matter because that is not what was done.  Iron (mild steel) core was used with lead outer casing to save on lead.