Original Item: Only One Available. This is a completely INERT example of a WWII Japanese 25mm Cannon Round, and is in compliance with the current BATF standards on inert ordnance. Not Available For Export.

This example has a central explosives cavity and a fuse that still unscrews, identifying this as a High Explosive round. There is no cavity on the base of the round, so it is not a tracer round, however none of the original color remains on the body, so we cannot tell if it is high explosive, or high explosive incendiary. It measures approximately 9” in length with a 1 ⅝” base. The round is complete (minus explosive content) and comes with the original removable fuze on the end. There are no markings anywhere on the round.

Comes more than ready for further research and display.

The Type 96 25mm Gun was an automatic cannon used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. A locally-built variant of the French Hotchkiss 25 mm anti-aircraft gun, it was designed as a dual-purpose weapon for use against armored vehicles and aircraft, but was primarily used as an anti-aircraft gun in fixed mounts with one to three guns.

The Type 96 cartridge case was a rimless type design with a deep extraction groove at the base. The projectiles fired by the weapon were slightly unusual in that they had two rotating bands. The forward band was slightly smaller in diameter than the rear band. It was believed that this was to reduce wear on the rifling near the chamber. The case of the cartridge was crimped around the rear rotating band. The complete round weighed approximately 820 g (1.81 lb) with the projectile weighing 320 g (0.71 lb).

The propellant was 102 grams of single-perforated, graphited grains of nitrocellulose approximately 2 millimeters in diameter and between 2.5 and 4.5 millimeters in length.
Normally one tracer round was added every four or five rounds to aid laying.
High-explosive shells. Orange body.
High explosive incendiary. Green body.
High explosive tracer. Orange or red body.
High explosive tracer self-destroying. Orange or red body.
Armor-piercing. Black, white or smoky blue body. Approx 42mm penetration at 0-100m and 0 degrees from normal.