AMMUNITION HOLDER FOR AUTOMATIC CHARGE

An automatic loading arrangement of a gun barrel weapon. An ammunition holder is provided having a portion which is adapted to be pivotally connected to another ammunition holder and so on to form a band magazine, for the purpose of holding thin-walled cartridged ammunition units, preferably tank and armored vehicle ammunition having a combustible casing, which ammunition can be transported and guided to a loading tray or chamber without being damaged by outside influences, for example travel shocks, vibrations, etc. The ammunition holder has a semi-circular arcuately shaped tray adapted to conform with the shape of the cartridged ammunition, which tray has a small inner diameter region to matingly receive the projectile head and a relatively larger inner diameter region adapted to matingly receive the cartridge bottom. Pivotally mounted holding clamps are mounted in the small and large inner diameter regions so as to encompass the ammunition at a longitudinal side thereof, which holding clamps includes corresponding opening and closing mechanisms which are adapted to be connected to each other via formlocking means. The formlocking means coact with the opening and closing mechanism and an ammunition expeller for purposes to provide, on the one hand, a uniform joint opening of the holding clamps and an ammunition sparing unloading process, as well as, on the other hand, a mutual independent reverse stroke of the holding clamps so that the thin-walled cartridged ammunition can be held in a soft-locking safety position in the ammunition holder in a radial play-free manner when exterior disturbing influences occur.