20 Mm Caliber - Wikipedia

Firearm caliber "20mm" redirects here. For the model scale, see List of scale model sizes.

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20 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. The dividing line between smaller-caliber weapons, commonly called "guns", from larger-caliber "cannons" (e.g. machine gun vs. autocannon), is conventionally taken to be the 20 mm round, the smallest caliber of autocannon. All 20 mm cartridges have an outside projectile (bullet) diameter and barrel bore diameter of approximately 0.787 inches (20.0 mm). These projectiles are typically 75 to 127 mm (3–5 in) long, cartridge cases are typically 75 to 152 mm (3–6 in) long, and most are shells, with an explosive payload and detonating fuze.

Weapons using this caliber range from anti-materiel rifles and anti-tank rifles to aircraft autocannons and anti-aircraft guns.

Usage

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Twenty millimeter caliber weapons are generally not used to target individual soldiers, but rather objects such as vehicles, buildings, or aircraft.

Types of ammunition

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• High explosive (HE)
• High explosive incendiary (HEI)
• Armor-piercing (AP)
• Semi-armor-piercing high explosive incendiary (SAPHEI)
• Armour-piercing discarding sabot (APDS)
• High explosive fragmentation tracer (HEF-T)
• High explosive high capacity (HE-M)
• Penetrator with enhanced lateral effect (PELE)
• Target practice - inert projectile (i.e., PGU-27A/B)[1] Used for training (TP)
• Target practice tracer - inert projectile with tracer material in base for visual trajectory tracking (i.e., PGU-30A/B) (TP-T)

20 mm weapons

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Each weapon is listed with its cartridge type appended.

Current weapons

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Weapon	Country of origin	Cartridge	Notes
Neopup PAW-20	South Africa	20×42mm
Denel NTW-20	South Africa	20×82mm Mauser
Denel Vektor GA-1	South Africa
Vidhwansak	India
Anzio 20mm rifle	United States	20×102mm
Arash anti-materiel rifle	Iran
M61 Vulcan	United States
M197 electric cannon	United States
M39 cannon	United States
GIAT M621	France
ZVI PL-20 Plamen	Czech Republic
Nexter Narwhal 20A	France		Based on the M621
Şahi 20-102	Turkey		[2]
XM301	United States
Denel NTW-20	South Africa	20×110mm Hispano
Metallic RT-20	Croatia
Truvelo CMS 20x110mm	South Africa
Yugoimport-SDPR M71/08	Serbia		Single barrel development of Zastava M55
Oerlikon KAE (KAA/KAB)	Switzerland	20×128mm	Formerly known as Oerlikon 204GK/5TG
Meroka CIWS	Spain
Oerlikon KAD	Switzerland	20×139mm	Formerly known as Hispano-Suiza HS.820
GIAT M693/20 mm modèle F2	France
Rheinmetall Rh 202	Germany
Denel Land Systems GI-2	South Africa
Nexter Narwhal 20B	France		Based on the 20 mm F2

Historical weapons

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Weapon	Country of origin	Cartridge	Notes
Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon	German Empire	20×70mmRB
Oerlikon FF	Switzerland	20×72mmRB
Type 99 cannon, model 1	Japan
Ikaria-Werke Berlin MG FF/M cannon	Nazi Germany	20×80mmRB
Mauser MG 151/20	Nazi Germany	20×82mm
Ho-5 cannon	Japanese Empire	20×94mm
Berezin B-20	Soviet Union	20×99m R[3]
ShVAK	Soviet Union
Helenius RK-20 APH	Finland		Derivative of the Helenius RK-97 12.7 mm anti-materiel rifle
Ghan-Krnka fortress rifle	Russian Empire	20.3×95mmR	Bullet diameter 21 mm
Type 99 cannon, model 2	Japanese Empire	20×101mmRB
Solothurn S-18/100	Switzerland	20×105mmB
Automatkanon m/45	Sweden	20×110mm	Aircraft autocannon
Automatkanon m/49	Sweden		Aircraft autocannon
Hispano-Suiza HS.404 and derivatives	Switzerland
Oerlikon F, FFL	Switzerland	20×110mmRB
Polsten	Poland	20×110mmRB
Colt Mk 12 cannon	United States	20×110mm USN	Advanced derivative of the HS.404
Madsen 20 mm anti-aircraft cannon	Denmark	20×120mm
Type 97 automatic cannon	Japanese Empire	20×124mm
Mauser MG 213	Nazi Germany	20×135mm
Solothurn S-18/1000 anti-tank rifle	Switzerland	20×138mmB
Solothurn S-18/1100 anti-tank rifle	Switzerland
ST-5 20 mm AA gun	Switzerland
FlaK 30 and FlaK 38 single-barrel AA	Nazi Germany		Forerunner of Hispano-Suiza HS.820's post-war 20×139mm round
Flakvierling quadruple-barrel AA	Nazi Germany
MG C/30L aircraft gun	Nazi Germany
Rheinmetall KwK 30 and KwK 38	Nazi Germany
Cannone-Mitragliera da 20/65 modello 35 (Breda)	Kingdom of Italy
Cannone-Mitragliera da 20/77 (Scotti)	Kingdom of Italy
Lahti L-39 anti-tank rifle	Finland		Solothurn Long
Lahti L-40 anti-aircraft gun	Finland
Nkm wz.38 FK anti-tank vehicle-mounted gun	Poland		Designated "heaviest machine gun", or "Najcięższy karabin maszynowy, Nkm", AA/AT (actually an autocannon)
Type 98 20 mm AA machine cannon and Type 4 20 mm twin AA machine cannon	Japan	20×142mm
Automatkanon m/40	Sweden	20×145mmR	Autocannon
Pansarvärnsgevär m/42	Sweden	20×180mmR	Recoilless anti-tank rifle

Cartridges

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(incomplete list)

Dimensions	Name	Date	Bullet diameter	Case length	Rim	Base	Shoulder	Neck	Cartridge length
20.3х95R Ghan	21 (.827)	95 (3.74)	-	-	-	-	-
20х150R	~21 (~.827)	150 (5.9)	-	-	-	-	-

Naming conventions

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The usual nomenclature of ammunition indicates the diameter of projectile and the length of the cartridge that holds it; for example, 20×102mm is a 20 mm projectile in a 102 mm long case.

Though this designation is often assumed to be unique, this is not always the case, e.g. there are three different 20×110mm types which are not compatible. These may be distinguished in that some cartridge designations may include additional letters or names as a suffix, e.g. the various different types of 20×110mm might be distinguished as 20×110mm Hispano, 20×110mmRB and 20×110mm USN.

Common suffixes

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• B e.g. 20×138B: the cartridge has a belt which is used for headspacing, i.e. it helps ensure the correct positioning within the gun's chamber.
• R e.g. 20×145R: a rimmed cartridge: the diameter of the rim forming the base is larger than that of the cartridge case itself.
• RB e.g. Oerlikon 20×110RB: rebated rim, one where the rim is a smaller diameter than the case head allowing the extractor to follow it into the chamber, facilitating advanced-primer ignition, a recoil-moderating system.

References

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1. ^ PGU-27A/B TP/ PGU-28A/B SAPHEI / PGU-30A/B TP-T
2. ^ "Otomatik Orta Kalibre Top". 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
3. ^ Williams, Anthony G (January 4, 2021). "Ammunition Data Tables - 20 mm Calibre Cartridges". Military Guns & Ammunition. Solo Publications. Archived from the original on March 30, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2022.

External links

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• FAS: 20 mm Cannon Ammunition
• ATK produced 20, 25 & 30 mm caliber ammunition
• Rapid Fire: 20 mm Cartridge Data Table
• Rapid Fire: 20 mm Antitank Rifle Cartridges image
• Rapid Fire: 20 mm Autocannon Cartridges WWII image 1
• Rapid Fire: 20 mm Autocannon Cartridges WWII image 2
• Rapid Fire: 20 mm Autocannon Cartridges Post-WWII image

v t e Firearm cartridge calibers
By size (rifle caliber)	2 mm (.079 in) 3 mm (.118 in) 4 mm (.157 in) 5 mm (.197 in) 6 mm (.236 in) 7 mm (.276 in) 8 mm (.315 in) 9 mm (.354 in) 10 mm (.394 in) 11 mm (.433 in) 12 mm (.472 in) 13 mm (.512 in) 14 mm (.552 in) 15 mm (.590 in) 16 mm (.630 in) 17 mm (.669 in) 18 mm (.707 in) 19 mm (.748 in)
By size (cannon caliber)	20 mm caliber 23 mm caliber 25 mm caliber (ca 1.0 in) 30 mm caliber 35 mm caliber 37 mm caliber 40 mm caliber 45 mm caliber 50 mm caliber 57 mm caliber (ca 2.0 in) 75 mm caliber 76.2 mm caliber (ca 3.0 in) 88 mm caliber 90 mm caliber 100 mm caliber 120 mm caliber 122 mm caliber 125 mm caliber 130 mm caliber 149 mm caliber 152 mm caliber 155 mm caliber
Lists	List of cartridges by caliber List of handgun cartridges List of rifle cartridges List of rebated rim cartridges List of rimfire cartridges