High explosive 20mm Shells and convergence

[ParaB]

Originally Posted by Chips86

I think he's talking about the fact that the shells seem to explode a few hundred yards in front of you or so...I was wondering about this aswell, because I didnt realise they did that.

The 20mm HE ammo from spring of 1940 (don't know the exact date) on used a "zerleger"-fuse in addition to the impact fuse, so the round would detonate after a specific distance. This was to eliminate the danger of rounds hitting civilians or own troops and had nothing to do with air-to-air effectiveness, it was basically a timed self-destruct mechanism.