I spoke to a P-47 pilot recently who showed me a spent sniper round they plucked from his parachute pack after a mission over France. The round was made of aluminum instead of lead. His theory, with shortages and transportation issues, the Germans resorted to aluminum from downed aircraft. Is that the case?

I had never heard of projectiles made of light metals before. They may have increased muzzle velocity for same size charge, but must lose speed quickly along the trajectory. This is very strange. Why sniper round?

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I too have never heard of such a thing.

The Germans used various alternatives for bullets ( eg sintered iron ore ) and scrap aluminium from downed aircraft was certainly used - to make more aircraft ! It was far too valuable to use as munitions.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Sniper round, because he suspected the source was a sniper. Certainly is an oddity. I’ll get a photo of it if I can schedule to see him again.

Sounds to me more like the stray piece of fragment from the aircraft that lodged there as a result of some hit on it.

It's definitely a spent shell. He also has some shrapnel they dug out of the instrument panel that had pierced the canopy.

Yes a photo would be nice, try and get a photo with a ruler beside. It's a pity our resident ammunition expert Tony Williams does not visit as often as he used to.

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