The 2A42 30mm auto cannon barrel for the BMP/BMD series vehicles. This is a excellent barrel to replace the one found in any of the various kits of the BMP-2 (DML, Zvezda, Italeri, Esci/Ertl/AMT) or the BMD-2 from Eastern Express.

The barrel is made from machined brass in a single part. All of the machining is crisp without any marring from the lathing process. There is a drilled hole to give the illusion of a properly hollow barrel.

The barrel is 48.6mm long from barrel end to “lock nut” connection and has some very nice machine work done to it, even the thin baffle on the barrel end has a delicate look to it and is properly squared both from the sides and the top with the baffle correctly hollowed in accordance with my references. Really impressive metal work in it own right. The barrel will require a .039 or #61 drill bit hole about 6.3mm deep to mount properly. A small amount of “surgery” may be required depending on the kit you are adding it to because of the way the 2A42 is mounted to its receiver.

While I do not have proper measurements, the barrel looks correct compared to my resources. It has the nice slender feel only machined metal seems to be able to capture. The barrel is both shorter (by 5mm) and more slender than the DML or Esci/Ertl/AMT offerings, and while the Eastern Express barrel is similar in length, it is in need of replacement the most, being the crudest plastic barrel.

The only criticism of this piece would be its price, (about the same as the kit it is added to), but it has been steadily dropping over the past few years. Still, you do get your moneys worth in the finely detailed baffle, a main identification point of the BMP-2/BMD-2 and an attention getter.

Thanks to my wallet for providing the review sample.