The military rifle cartridges of Burma/Myanmar.

The region of Southeast Asia previously known as Burma has been settled, conquered and re-conquered by various different group of peoples since 1st century B.C. While sometimes unified under a powerful leader, in general the region consisted of small kingdoms generally based upon ethnicity that often warred upon each other. In the late 13th century, the Mongols conquered most of the region but these horsemen from the steppes did not adapt to the tropical climate and their reign was short-lived.

Different groups--the Arakan, Ava, Khmer, Konbaung Shan and Tuongoo--established kingdoms and it was not until the 18th century that a semblance of order was established. Attempts to expand northward and eastward led to repeated wars with China and Siam that Burma usually lost. The Burmese then attempted to expand to the west where they came to blows with the British East India Company, which then controlled India.

During the Anglo-Burmese Wars of 1824-1826, 1852 and 1885 the British repeatedly defeated Burma, annexing more and more of its territory to their Indian domains.

As did most native kingdoms in the region, the Burmese were quick to accept firearms and in the 1870s began purchasing breechloading rifles for their forces. Their less than amicable interaction with the British army led to them showing a preference for English weapons and the entrepreneurial arms dealers of Birmingham, Calcutta, Singapore and Hong Kong were only too happy to provide them with what they wanted.

In addition, the infamous gunrunners of the era were only too happy to get in on the deal sometimes with the connivance of foreign governments who wanted to see their English rivals discomforted. Thus it was that the Burmese warriors that the British army faced in 1885 were armed with a bewildering assortment of obsolete muskets and modem metallic cartridge rifles of British, French and American origin. The latter included various Snider-Enfields, Martini-Henrys, Gras, Winchesters and Rolling Blocks.

* .577 Snider--the Snider's Cartridge S.A. Ball B.L. Mark III used a case made up of overlapping, flat brass strips and was encased in a brown heavy paper tube and attached to a drawn brass base cup with an iron rim and a centerfire primer. A charge of 70 grains of blackpowder gave its 480-grain hollow-based bullet a muzzle velocity of 1200 fps.

* .450 Martini--the Martini-Henry was chambered for the "450 Cartridge S.A. Ball for B.L. Martini-Henry" which used a bottlenecked, Boxer-type cartridge with a coiled brass body attached to a brass base. Its 480-grain paper-patched bullet was driven to 1350 fps by 85 grains of blackpowder.

* 1lmm Balle Modele 1874--the Gras fired a cartridge with a rimmed, bottlenecked case 59mm long loaded with a round nosed 387-grain paper-patched lead bullet that an 81-grain charge of blackpowder propelled to a velocity of 1490 fps.

Many of the Rolling Block rifles encountered in South-east Asia came from French sources and were usually chambered for either the .56-50 Spencer or the 1lmm Remington Spanish cartridges.

* .56-50 Spencer--used a copper, rimfire case .875" long loaded with a 350-grain lead bullet that 45 grains of blackpowder pushed to approximately 1200 fps.

* 1lmm Remington Spanish--consisted of a rimmed, bottlenecked case 58mm long, whose 375-grain lead bullet was propelled to 1380 fps by 78 grains of blackpowder.

As they were around the world, Winchester's lever-action repeaters were popular in Southeast Asia, with the Model 1866 and 1873 being much in demand although their cost prevented them from being too widely used.

* .44 Henry--the Model 1866 Winchester's cartridge consisted of a copper rimfire case .815" long topped with a 200-grain flat-nosed lead bullet that 28 grains of black-powder propelled to 1200 fps.

* .44 WCF--also known as the .44-40, it consisted of a rimmed, tapered case 1.3 inches long containing 40 grains of blackpowder that pushed its 200-grain flat-point lead bullet to 1325 fps.

The Third Anglo-Burmese War (1890) ended after only a few weeks, although resistance continued among the northern tribes until the British resorted to the destruction of villages and crops to defeat the last holdouts. In 1896 Burma became a province of British India.

During this period British companies controlled - al-Most all trade, transport and the best agricultural lands while most civil servants and police were Indian migrants.

Most of the military and police units in the country were composed of Indian troops. As was also the policy, these units were armed with obsolete weaponry, including the aforementioned Snider and, later; Martini-Henry rifles. In the: early 20th century the British began rearming their Indian army units with various models of the Lee-Metford and "Long" Lee-Enfield Rifle firing the smokeless .303 cartridge.

* .303. Mark I Cordite--consisted of a rimmed, bottlenecked case 56mm long loaded with 30 grains of Cordite which propelled its 215-grain round nosed, full metal jacketed (FMJ) bullet to a velocity of 1990 fps.

* .303 Mark VI adopted in 1904, the Mirk-VI used the same case but was topped with a 215-grain ENV bullet that a. 32.5-grain charge of Cordite drove to a velocity of 2050 fps.

In 1916 it was decided. to form a military unit; the Burma Rifles. While the British accepted recruits from all ethnic groups, most were drawn from the so-called hill tribes, the Chin, Kachins, Karens and Shan. All of the officers were British while many noncoms were Indians. The unit saw service in the Middle East during World War I.

After the war, the entire Indian army was reequipped with the No. 1 Mk. III Lee-Enfield, which would remain its primary weapon well into the 1960s.

* .303 Mark VII--approved for service in 1910, it used the same case as the earlier .303s but was loaded with a 174-grain FMJ spitzer bullet that 37 grains of Improved Cordite drove to a velocity of 2440 fps. During World War II it was loaded with nitrocellulose powder and rechristened the Mark VII Z.

During the 1920s and 1930s Burmese nationalists organized a series of anti-British strikes that hurt the economy. There were also a number of armed uprisings, the worst being the Galon rebellion, which took thousands of British troops more than two years to defeat.

In 1942 the Japanese invaded Burma in order to cut off the strategic Burma Road supply line to China. The Japanese formed the Burmese Independence Army (BIA) from nationalist volunteers who served mainly as security units and saw little action against the British.

* 6.5mm Type. 38--some BIA units were equipped with Type 38. Arisaka rifles. These fired a cartridge with a semi rimmed, bottle-necked case 50mm long whose 139-grain FMJ spitzer achieved a muzzle velocity of 2500 fps. [Cont. to page 161 Cartridges used in Burma from 1885 to the 1960s included: .577 Snider, .450 Martini, .303 Mark I Cordite (.303 Mark VI looks identical) and the .303 Mark. VII.

Special forces, known as the Chindits, were formed from British, Indian and Australian units conducted operations behind Japanese lines in Burma and armed the aforementioned hill tribes so they could operate as anti-Japanese guerillas. American forces under Gen. Joseph Stillwell, including "Merrill's Marauders," and Chinese troops were also active in the campaign. The U.S. supplied the guerilla armies with small arms including M1 carbines, BARs, M1903 and M1917 rifles.

* Cartridge, .30 Caliber, M2--the M1903, M1917 and BAR fired the famous .30-'06, which consisted of a rimless bottlenecked case 63mm long, whose 150-grain FM!, spitzer bullet was propelled to a muzzle velocity of 2800 fps.

* 30 Carbine--consisted of a rimless, tapered case, 33mm in length, loaded with a round nosed, 110-grain FMJ bullet moving at 1970 fps.

In March of 1944 a Japanese invasion of India was repulsed by Commonwealth and U.S. forces. A series of Allied land and sea attacks into Burma captured Rangoon and destroyed the Japanese forces in Burma.

Britain recognized the independence of Burma in 1947, where up-on fighting soon broke out between competing nationalists, communists and ethnic groups. Since then, Burma has been ruled by nationalistic dictators and military juntas that have attempted to suppress ethnic and religious groups. This oppression has led to guerilla warfare in the north and south of the country. In 1988 the government changed the name of the country to the Union of Myanmar.

The Burmese army continued to use No. 1 and No. 4 Lee-Enfield rifles, although a small number of Armalite AR-10 rifles were purchased in the early 1960s, along with surplus West German GIs (FN-FAL). In the 1970s, several factories were established around Rangoon that produced unlicensed copies of the Heckler & Koch G3A3 (BA-63) and G33 (MA-11) rifles.

* 7.62mmm NATO--the AR-10, Gewehr 1 and G3A3 were all chambered for the 7.62mm NATO cartridge, which uses a rimless, bottlenecked case 51mm long and a 148-grain boattail, FM.I bullet at a velocity of 2750 fps.

To counter an international arms embargo that resulted from their ongoing oppression of minorities, a fairly efficient local arms industry, the Myanmar Heavy Industries Organization (MHIO), was established.

The Myanmar army and police and the various guerilla armies have obtained significant numbers of AK type weapons, primarily the Chinese Type 56 and Type 81 assault rifles. The army obtained numbers of AK-74 rifles from Russia, although whether for trials or limited issue is not known.

* 7.62mm Type 43--the Chinese version of the Soviet patron 7.62mm obr. 1943g consists of: a rimless, bottlenecked case 39mm long whose 122-grain FMJ, spitzer bullet is pushed 2330 fps.

* 5.45mm patron 5N7--the AK-74's cartridge was designed to counter the 5.56mm NATO and uses a rimless, 39mm bottlenecked case topped with a 49-grain. FMJ spitzer bullet moving at 3000 fps.

Ethnic guerillas have obtained large numbers of U.S. M16A1 rifles via neighboring Thailand. The Chinese firm of Norinco sup-plied Myanmar with samples of the QBZ-95 (5 8mm) and QBZ-97 (5.56x45) assault rifles for trial purposes.

* 5.8mm DPB 87--the new Chinese service cartridge consists of a rimless, bottlenecked case (usually of lacquered steel) 42mm long loaded with a 62-grain FMJ spitzer bullet that has a muzzle velocity of 3100 fps.

Not wishing to be condenined for helping a repressive government, the Chinese forbade further sales. MHIO responded by de-signing a rifle combining characteristics of the QBZ-97 and Israeli Galil. The EMERK-3 rifle and MA-1 carbine are both chambered for the 5.56mm SS109 as this is standard issue of the country's neighbors, India and Thailand.

* 5.56mm SS109--also known as the 5.56mm NATO, it uses a rimless, bottlenecked case 45mm topped with a 62-grain FMJ boattail bullet, moving at 3000 fps. The bullet has a steel insert in its tip for improved penetration of body armor and light vehicles.

I would like to thank Bill Woodin, Woodin Labs and Lou Behling for providing photos used in this report.

By Paul Scarlata * Photos by: Nathan Reynolds & James Walters

Article Details

Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Author:	Scarlata, Paul
Publication:	Shotgun News
Geographic Code:	9MYAN
Date:	May 1, 2012
Words:	1796
Previous Article:	SIG Sauer's venerable P220 gets an "extreme" facelift: the original SIG double-action has long been a favorite of the connoisseur, and now there's a...
Next Article:	Judgment matters more than a gun.
Topics:	Computer action games Military aspects