14.5x114mm cartridge
The 14.5x114mm (.57 cal) is a heavy machine gun and anti-materiel rifle cartridge used by the Soviet Union, the former Warsaw Pact, modern Russia, and other countries.
It was originally developed for the PTRS and PTRD anti-tank rifles, but was later used as the basis for the KPV heavy machine gun that formed the basis of the ZPU series anti-aircraft guns that is also the main armament of the BTR series of armored personnel carriers from the BTR-60 to the BTR-80.
Cartridge dimensions[]
The 14.5x114mm has 42.53 ml cartridge case capacity. The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt action rifles and machine guns alike, under extreme conditions.
According to the official guidelines, the 14.5x114mm case can handle up to 360 MPa piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries, every cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to customers.
Ammunition types[]
- BS: Armor-piercing incendiary original anti-tank round. The projectile weighs 64.4 grams and is 51mm long with a 38.7 gram core of tungsten carbide with 1.8 grams of incendiary material in the tip. The overall round weighs approximately 200 grams and is 155mm long. The projectile has a muzzle velocity of approximately 1,006 meters per second and can penetrate 40mm of steel at an incidence of 60 degrees at a range of 100 meters, or 32mm at a range of 500 meters.
- KKV: Armor-piercing incendiary (for Armored Personnel Carrier use) 66.5 g projectile with tungsten core, explosive, and incendiary components. Capable of penetrating 50 mm rolled steel equivalent armor. Could be used against aircraft as well as ground targets.
- B-32: Armor-piercing incendiary full metal jacket with a hardened steel core. Projectile weight is 64g and muzzle velocity is 1,006 m/s. Armor penetration at 500 m is 32 mm of RHA at 90 degrees.
- BZT: Armor-piercing incendiary tracer full metal jacket round with a steel core. Projectile weight is 59.56 g and muzzle velocity is 1,006 m/s. Tracer burns to at least 2,000 meters.
- MDZ: High-exposive incendiary bullet of instant action. Projectile weight is 59.68 g.
- ZP: Incendiary tracer round.
- ZSX: Dummy round used for training purposes.
ZSX dummy round
Cartridges use lacquered steel cases and a percussion primer. Some countires also use brass cartridge cases. The propellant consists of 28.8 g smokeless powder with seven tubes, designated as 5/7NA powder. Two different versions of bullet series are known, the earlier a conventional bullet jacket with boat-tail. These has a long engraving portion that caused considerable barrel wear. The newer bullet types have a smaller engraving portion with a rounder boat-tail and were used from about 1957 on.
14.5x114mm ammunition has been manufactured in Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Hungary, Iraq, North Korea, Poland, Russia, and the former Czechoslovakia.