INERT DEACTIVATED. British, 1949 Dated, 20mm Hispano-Suiza (20x110) HS 404 Aircraft Cannon Brass Weighted Dummy Round. - O 1873 INERT DEACTIVATED. British, 1949 Dated, 20mm Hispano-Suiza (20x110) HS 404 Aircraft Cannon Brass Weighted Dummy Round. - O 1873 Other Ammunition

INERT DEACTIVATED. The British 20mm Hispano-Suiza (20x110) HS 404 aircraft cannon which first entered service experimentally in the Battle of Britain in 1940 arming several Supermarine Spitfires and also in the Bristol Beaufighter which carried 4 of the guns internally. 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 after World War 2. This is a Hispano HS 404 aircraft inspection round manufactured in 1940, the first year of use. Aircraft rounds at this time used the full date code, eg 1940 as opposed to other services using the last two numbers, eg. 40. The solid brass cartridge case has three cast in flutes 2 inches long which have traces of the original red paint that would have filled them. The round is headstamped 20MM RML 49 (1949 date). The price 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 1873