INERT DEACTIVATED. 1938 Dated, Swiss Made Hispano-Suiza (20x110) HS 404 Aircraft Cannon DRILL Ball Round. - O 1809 INERT DEACTIVATED. 1938 Dated, Swiss Made Hispano-Suiza (20x110) HS 404 Aircraft Cannon DRILL Ball Round. - O 1809 Other Ammunition

INERT DEACTIVATED. The HS.404 is a cannon was originally designed and produced by Spanish/French company Hispano-Suiza in the mid-1930s. The guns also referred to as Birkigt type 404, after its designer Marc Birkigt and later versions based on British development are known as 20 mm Hispano. In 1938, an aircraft based version of the HS.404 was produced at the request of the French government which was installed on a wide range of pre-war French fighter aircraft, notably in installations firing through the propeller shaft of the Hispano-Suiza 12Y engine. The HS.404 was fed by drum magazines which held 60 rounds of ammunition. Later on in 1940, the HS404 cannon was adopted by the Royal Air Force and entered service arming the Bristol Beaufighter and the Westland Whirlwind which carried 4 of the guns internally. The gun was also used in Spitfires in the Battle of Britain. The gun however with its original 60 round drum feed although very effective in combat was mechanically unreliable. The gun was later modified to a belt feed which was reliable and served in many aircraft throughout WW2 including the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, Westland Whirlwind, Bristol Beaufighter, Hawker Typhoon and Tempest as standard equipment or an upgrade of the Browning .303 machine gun as an effective hard hitting gun. The round was later used in the De Havilland Vampire and Gloster Meteor fighter aircraft World War 2 and after. This is a very early 20mm HS 404 drill ball round made in 1938 and is headstamped PF (Patronenfabrik Solothurn A/G, Solothurn, Switzerland) N 4 38 (April 1938 manufacture date). The round is fitted with a blunt ball projectile with a steel driving band. The price for this early Swiss production drill round includes U.K. delivery and no licence is required to possess inert rounds in the UK if retained as part of a collection or display. O 1809