Mega-Sized 14.5x114mm Round — Russia’s Colossal Cartridge « Daily Bulletin (2024)

January 19th, 2023

Photo courtesy Elardus de Lang, Truvelo Manufacturers Armoury, South Africa.

Believe it or not, here is a cartridge that makes a .338 Lapua Magnum look like a toy. The 14.5x114mm cartridge was designed as a MG and rifle-fired anti-materiel round. To translate from the metric system to caliber and inches, the round is a mammoth .57 caliber which measures 4.49 inches to the case mouth, and 6.13 inches overall. That jumbo-sized case holds a whopping 655 grains of powder. Commonly-loaded projectiles weigh 920-1030 grains. The 993gr armor-piercing projectile has a muzzle velocity of approximately 1006 meters per second (3300 fps) and can penetrate 30-32 millimeters of RHA steel at a range of 500 meters.

The top photo comes from Elardus De Lang, a Forum member who works at the Truvelo Manufacturers Armoury in South Africa. Elardus also provided an impressive video showing the massive 14.5x114mm being shot from prone with a Truvelo-built bolt-action rifle. Elardus tells us: “Here is a video, with a slow-motion ending, of our 14.5x114mm anti-materiel rifle being fired in our indoor testing facility. This caliber is a true beast! It propels a 993gr Armor-Piercing Incendiary bullet to 3300 fps, burning 480 grains of powder in the process. [This shows] that rifles of that power level can actually be shootable. The concussion indoors is something to experience……every shot feels like you are being punched in the face, and the heat from the muzzle flash actually hits you like a wave!”

14.5x114mm Cartridge Design and Dimensions
The 14.5×114mm has 42.53 ml (655 grains H2O) 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. Cartridges typically use lacquered steel cases, but some countries also use brass cases for the 14.5x115mm.

All dimensions are in millimeters (mm). Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2, or 22.5 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 455 mm (1:17.91″) with eight lands/grooves. According to official guidelines, the 14.5×114mm can handle up to 360 MPa (52,213 psi) piezo pressure.

14.5x114mm Cartridge History
The 14.5×114mm (.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 armoured personnel carriers from the BTR-60 to the BTR-80 and for heavy anti-material sniper rifles. The cartridge was designed in 1939 and first issued in 1941.

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Tags: 14.5x114 mm, 50 BMG, Anti-Tank Round, Heavy Machine Gun, Russian anti-tank, ZPU anti-aircraft

Permalink Bullets, Brass, Ammo, Tactical

One Response to “Mega-Sized 14.5x114mm Round — Russia’s Colossal Cartridge”

1. Neil says:

   January 20, 2023 at 9:37 am

   Just a few notes, the 14.5×114’s grooves are nominally 14.93 mm in diameter, so 0.588 inches; 0.5878″ if you want to be pedantic. The weapons that fire the 14.5×115 have a bore that is nominally 14.5 mm, so 0.571″ (0.5709″). The bullets of the 14.5×115 are nominally 14.905 mm (0.5868″) in diameter before firing, but all dimensions vary around that nominal value. After firing the bullet will not be 14.5 mm/0.571″ calibre, but around 0.587″ calibre. This as their maximum diameter will be near that of the grooves in the weapon’s barrel.

   The muzzle velocity of the B-32 and BS-41 API rounds is regulated to 1,012 m/s (3,320 ft/s), which is from official Russian manual data. The lower figure of 1,006 m/s (3,300 ft/s) that is commonly seen is for the observed velocity at 25 m, not the muzzle velocity.

   The mass of the B-32 API projectile is 62.6-64.6 g (966-997 gr), whilst the BS-41’s API (hard core) projectile is 65.5-66.0 g (1,011-1,018 gr). As such neither API projectile weighs the 993 gr (64.3 g) as stated, though the figure is close to the B-32.

   Finally, rounds such as the BZT API-T series, BST API-T (hard core), PZ observing, and the MDZ-series HEI all have different projectile weights and velocity ranges.

   A slightly earlier version of this info was posted on another ammunition related site, where it was pooh-poohed. I’m just tired of seeing misinformation posted about the 14.5×114, and hence have posted it here too. Feel free to ignore it, though that would be a shame. Anyway, one can only try to pass on knowledge, one can’t expect it to be taken notice of.