Hungarian Shell types.

Hungarian tank shells

Since she was a part of Austria-Hungary factories which produced explosives - especially TNT - were built in the territories of Hungary which stayed in the region even after the Treaty of Trianon, not to mention that after WW1 a huge amount of explosives were stocked too. During WW1 all the industries which manufactured explosives were considered to be defense plants therefore the art of explosive production didn't get out to the civilian life, after the Great War the Treaty of Trianon forbid Hungary to have medium or heavy artillery, AA artillery and an Air Force, so it's right to assume that the Entente kept a close eye on Hungary and forbid the production of any explosives which are stronger than TNT and could be used by the military. Because of this the main explosive of Hungary at the beginning of WW2 was still the TNT or the Amatol (mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate, Hungary used a 60% TNT - 40% AN mixture) but some artillery shells and mines used nitrostarch too.

It's not clear when but before WW2 Hungary was able to produce pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), probably after the Entente Committee left Hungary in 1927, but the amount of produced PETN was not enough for the whole Hungarian Armed Forces, still some armor-piercing high-explosive shells were filled with this explosive at the beginning of WW2. We also have datas that after the German occupation of Hungary in March 1944, the Hungarian Nitrokémia Zrt. produced PETN and tetryl after the German Meissner works' patent.

From August 1942 Hungary started to use pentolite 50/50 (known as NPT in Hungary during WW2) in armor-piercing high-explosive shells. Originally the Hungarian Ministry of Defense wanted an explosive which could be used in modern anti-tank mines since the ones Hungary used at that time were filled with nitrostarch and were not effective enough. They wanted an explosive which was 30-40% more effective than TNT but at that time they didn't know anything better than PETN or RDX, but since the production of RDX in Hungary was out of the question - because it was too complicated - they started to make experiments with PETN and other explosives. That's when they found out about the pentolite 50/50 and realized that it could be used not just in mines but also in shaped charges and armor-piercing high-explosive shells too. Of course it was not without danger: on March 26, 1942 a fatal accident happened at the Nitrokémia Zrt. where the experiments were carried out, one worker died and 7 more were injured when they tried to fill land mines and aerial bombs.

It should be mentioned too that the lack of minerals also affected the tank shell production. At the beginning of the war Hungary had enough materials to make shells from CrNi material, but from August 1941 the tank shells were made out of Manganese-Carbon Steel material.

List of tank shells

ARMOR-PIERCING HIGH-EXPLOSIVE SHELLS

20 mm 36.M páncélgránát - The name means "20 mm 1936 patterned armor-piercing grenade", the word "páncélgránát" comes from the German panzergranade and implies that it's a shell with a bursting charge. The shell had a tracer but didn't have a ballistic cap, its bursting charge was TNT or PETN, later it was pentolite 50/50. This shell was used by the 36.M Csaba armored cars and 38.M Toldi light tanks

40 mm 36.M páncélgránát - The name means "40 mm 1936 patterned armor-piercing grenade".

Equipped with tracer and ballistic cap, its burting charge was TNT or PETN, later pentolite 50/50. This shell was used by the 38/42.M Toldi (a.k.a. Toldi IIa) and 43.M Toldi (a.k.a. Toldi III) light tanks, the 40.M Turán (a.k.a. Turán I) medium tanks and untill 1943 the 36/40.M Nimród SPAAGs. Before 1943 the Nimród SPAAGs were used as tank-hunters AND self-propelled anti-aircraft guns but from that date they were stoped being used as tank-hunters and focused mainly on anti-aircraft role, therefore this shell was not needed anymore for the Nimród.

7.5 cm 42/36.M páncélgránát - The name means "7.5 cm 1936 patterned armor-piercing grenade modified in 1942". This grenade was similar in construction to the 40 mm 36.M. Since it was produced from 1942 the bursting charge of this shell was pentolite 50/50 from the start. It was used by the 41.M Turán (a.k.a. Turán II) medium tanks.

7.5 cm 43.M páncélgránát - The name means "7.5 cm 1943 patterned armor-piercing grenade". It was the shell of the 43.M tank gun which was used by the 43.M Turán (a.k.a. Turán III) tank and 44.M Zrínyi (a.k.a. Zrínyi I) tank-hunter. Since the 43.M tank gun was a licence built tank gun variant of the German 7.5 cm PaK 40 anti-tank gun (and NOT the KwK 40 tank gun) the shell itself was a licence built version of the German Panzergranate 39.

HIGH-EXPLOSIVE SHELLS

20 mm 36.M repeszgránát - The name means "20 mm 1936 patterned high-explosive grenade". The shell didn't have a tracer and its bursting charge was TNT. It was used by the 36.M Csaba armored cars and 38.M Toldi light tanks.

40 mm 39.M légvédelmi repeszgránát -

The name means "40 mm 1939 patterned anti-aircraft high-explosive grenade". This shell had a self-destroying fuse in it too since it was used against aircrafts. The self-destroying fuse detonated the shell in mid-air if it didn't hit anything and the head fuse didn't blew up the shell. The shell was used by the 36/40.M Nimród SPAGGs. The bursting charge of the shell was TNT, the fuse lasted 11 seconds

40 mm 39.M repeszgránát -

The name means "40 mm 1939 patterned high-explosive grenade". It was identical to the anti-aircraft variant but it didn't have a self-destroying fuse since it was used by tank guns and anti-tank guns. Since it was not used by AA artillery and the crew didn't need to follow its trace by eye - since it was use against infantry and soft armored targets in close range - this shell didn't have a tracer and could be filled with around twice as much TNT. This shell was used by the 38/42.M Toldi (a.k.a. Toldi IIa) and 43.M Toldi (a.k.a. Toldi III) light tanks, and the 40.M Turán (a.k.a. Turán I) medium tanks.

7.5 cm 42/38.M repeszgránát -

The name means "7.5 cm 1938 patterned high-explosive grenade modified in 1942". The 38.M repeszgránát was originally a 40 mm high-explosive shell for the 40 mm Bofors AA autocannon, produced in Hungary for export to the UK. The 38/42.M was a variant of this shell and was quite similar to the 40 mm 39.M repeszgránát. It didn't have a tracer and was filled with TNT. It was used by the 41.M Turán (a.k.a. Turán II) tanks.

7.5 cm 43.M repeszgránát -

The name means "7.5 cm 1943 patterned high-explosive grenade", a licence built version of the German Sprenggranatpatrone 34. It was used by the 43.M Turán (a.k.a. Turán III) tank and by the 44.M Zrínyi (a.k.a. Zrínyi I) tank-hunter.

8 cm 14/29.M légvédelmi repeszgránát -

The name means "8 cm 1914 patterned anti-aircraft high-explosive grenade modified in 1929". Although it's displayed as a 8 cm shell its true caliber was 76.5 mm. This shell was used by the 5/8.M cannon of the Rába Vr self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. It had a timed fuse so it didn't blew up on impact but it was equipped with a tracer. Its bursting charge was TNT.

10.5 cm 38/33.M repeszgránát -

The name means "10.5 cm 1933 patterned high-explosive grenade modified in 1938". This grenade was an artillery shell and as such didn't have a tracer. Most commonly it was filled with TNT or Amatol (60%TNT-40%AN). It was used by the 40/43.M Zrínyi (a.k.a. Zrínyi II) assault howitzer.

15 cm 43.M repeszrakéta -

The name means "15 cm 43.M high-explosive warhead". This rocket warhead was the high-explosive warhead of the 43.M rakéta sorozatvető which was a licence built version of the German 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41.

The rocket itself was the licence built variant of the 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 Spr. This rocket was used by the experimental Zrínyi I tank-hunter which had 6 rocket launcher tubes.

Zápor rakéta - The name means "Downpour warhead". This rocket warhead was the high-explosive warhead of the Hungarian 44.M Buzogányvető. It was filled with around 4 kg TNT. It was used by the experimental Toldi light tank which was armed with a 44.M Buzogányvető rocket launcher.

ARMOR-PIERCING SHELLS

40 mm 43.M magvas páncélgránát -

The name means "40 mm 1943 patterned steel cored shell".

Originally it was developed for the 40 mm Bofors AA autocannon to have an effective shell which could counter hostile armored aircrafts. Because of this the shell had an incendiary powder mix in its head, so in reality it's an armor-piercing incendiary shell. All we know that the powder mix had barium peroxide in it and the ballistic cap of the shell was made out of aluminium, perhaps the two materials reacted with each other on impact. Because it was developed for the Bofors AA autocannon the ballistic characteristics of the shell matched with the 40 mm 39.M anti-aircraft high-explosive shell's and the two were used in mixed clips, therefore the AP shell had a tracer which lasted for 2 seconds.

However because its armor-piercing capabilities surpassed the 40 mm 36. armor-piercing high-explosive shell's the 43.M armor-piercing shell was issued to all 40 mm tank guns and anti-tank guns too. Therefore this shell was used by the 38/42.M Toldi (a.k.a. Toldi IIa) and 43.M Toldi (a.k.a. Toldi III) light tanks, the 40.M Turán (a.k.a. Turán I) medium tanks and the 36/40.M Nimród SPAAGs

Hungary also used the German Panzergranate 40-an armour-piercing, composite rigid (APCR) projectile with a sub-calibre tungsten core, but these shells were not manufactured in Hungary, not even as a licence built variant since Hungary didn't have the proper industrial capacities to produce tungsten.

The PzGr. 40 shells which Hungary recieved from Germany were used by the 7.5 cm anti-tank guns (also recieved from Germany), and by the 43.M Turán (a.k.a. Turán III) tank and the 44.M Zrínyi (a.k.a. Zrínyi I) tank-hunter. The Hungarian designation of the German shell was 7.5 cm 40.M különleges német páncélgránát, meaning "7.5 cm 1940 patterned special German armor shell".

SHAPED CHARGES (HEAT)

40 mm 42.M páncélrobbantó gránát - HeatFinStabilized

The name means "40 mm 1942 patterned armor-demolition grenade".

It was a Hungarian shaped charge, fin-stabilized shell, used with the

40 mm Bofors AA autocannon or the 40mm 40.M anti-tank gun. It had two variants, the 42.M (left) and the 42/a.M (right). The difference between the two is that the 42/a.M is more wider and because of that the muzzle brake on the 40 mm Bofors AA gun wasn't need to be removed, while in the case of the 42.M it had to be removed otherwise it would not fit. The explosive around the conical liner was TNT while the detonator was pentolite 50/50. This shell was used by the 36/40.M Nimród SPAAGs. The armor penetration was 180 mm at 90° from horizontal.

7.5 cm 42.M páncélrobbantó gránát -

The name means "7.5 cm 1942 patterned armor-demolition grenade".

This shaped charge was a licence built version of a German Hohl-Ladung shell.

Its explosive around the conical liner was TNT while the detonator was pentolite 50/50, it had a tracer. It was used by the 41.M Turán (a.k.a. Turán II) tanks. The armor penetration was 90 mm at 60° from horizontal

7.5 cm 43.M páncélrobbantó gránát - The name means "7.5 cm 1943 patterned armor-demolition grenade". This shaped charge was a licence built version of the German Panzergranate 38 Hohl Ladung/C shell.

Its explosive around the conical liner was TNT while the detonator was pentolite 50/50, it had a tracer.

It was used by the 43.M Turán (a.k.a. Turán III) tank and by the 44.M Zrínyi (a.k.a. Zrínyi I) tank-hunter. The armor penetration was 90 mm at 60° from horizontal.

10.5 cm 42.M páncélrobbantó gránát - The name means "10.5 cm 1942 patterned armor-demolition grenade". A bigger version of the 7.5 cm shaped charge. Its explosive around the conical liner was TNT while the detonator was pentolite 50/50, it was equipped with tracer. This shell was used by the 40/43.M Zrínyi (a.k.a. Zrínyi II) assault howitzer. The armor penetration was 80 mm at 60° from horizontal.

Buzogány rakéta - The name means "Mace warhead". This rocket warhead was the shaped charge warhead of the Hungarian 44.M Buzogányvető. It had a double bursting charge with 1,75 kg TNT and 2,32 kg pentolite 50/50, the detonator was 0,142 kg PETN or pentolite 50/50. It was used by the experimental Toldi light tank which was armed with a 44.M Buzogányvető rocket launcher.

Hungarian 40mm tank gun shells' cutaways

Sources:

Hebime, War Thunder Community Helper,Blog editor

Bíró Ádám-Sárhidai Gyula: A Magyar Királyi Honvédség hazai gyártású páncélos harcjárművei 1914–1945 (Hungarian literature)
Bonhardt Attila-Sárhidai Gyula-Winkler László: A Magyar Királyi Honvédség fegyverzete (Hungarian literature)
Dr. Barczy Zoltán-Sárhidai Gyula: A Magyar Királyi Honvédség légvédelme 1920-1945 (Hungarian literature)
A magyar harc- és gépjárműfejlesztések története (Hungarian literature)
Haditechnika magazine (modern day Hungarian magazine about military technology)
Természet Világa magazine (Hungarian magazine)
Magyar Katonai Szemle (archive Hungarian source)