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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PIG-POL |
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PLATINUM WIRE INSULATION PERCUSSION CAP For howitzers, variable charges are used, and are made up so that the weight can be readily altered. The following typical instance (fig. 22) will serve to show the general method of making 2 oz rra//oonng of cordite covered _ , with sh r-- 8 .. . up such charges, whether for B.L. or Q.F. howitzers. Small size cordite is used, and the charge is formed of a mushroom-shaped core, made up in a shalloon bag; on the stalk, so as to be easily removed, three rings of cordite are placed. The bottom of the core contains the primer, and the rings can be attached to the core by two silk braids. The weight of the rings is graduated so that by detaching one or more the varying charges required can be obtained. For quick
inserted into the gun, and when fired slightly expands and tightly fits the chamber of the gun, thus acting as an obturator and preventing any escape of gas from the breech. This class of ammunition is especially useful for the smaller calibres of guns, such as 3-pr., 6-pr. and field guns, but Messrs Krupp also employ metallic cartridge cases for the largest type of gun, probably on account of the known difficulty of ensuring trustworthy obturation by any other means practicable with sliding wedge guns. The charges for these cases are made up in a very similar manner to those already de- Lubricating Lid scribed for B.L. guns. Where , . Felt wed necessary, distance , pieces formed of papier-mache tubes III h iih -- silk Braids and felt wads are used to fill up the space in the case and so prevent any movement
thus loaded by separate operations. (A. G. H.) The Bullet. The original musket bullet was a spherical leaden ball two sizes smaller than the bore, wrapped in a loosely fitting paper patch which formed the cartridge. The loading was, therefore, easy with the old smooth-bore Brown arms am-Bess and similar military muskets. The original munition. muzzle-loading rifle, on the other hand, with a closely fitting ball to take the grooves, was loaded with difficulty, particularly when foul, and for this reason was not generally used for military purposes. In 1826 Delirque, a French infantry officer, invented a breech with abrupt shoulders on which the spherical bullet was rammed down until it expanded and filled the grooves. The objection in this case was that the deformed bullet had an erratic flight. The Brunswick rifle, introduced into the British army in the reign of William IV., fired a spherical bullet weighing 557 grs. with a belt to fit the grooves. The rifle was not easily loaded, and soon fouled. In 1835 W. Greener produced a new expansive bullet, an oval ball, a diameter and a half in length, with a flat end, perforated, in which a cast metallic taper plug was inserted. The explosion of the charge drove the plug home, expanded the bullet, filled the grooves and prevented windage. A trial of the Greener bullet in August 1835, at Tynemouth
Between 1854 and 1857 Sir Joseph Whitworth conducted a long series of rifle experiments, and proved, among other points, the advantages of a smaller bore and, in particular, of an elongated bullet. The Whitworth bullet was made to fit the grooves of the rifle mechanically. The Whitworth rifle was never adopted by the government, although it was used extensively for match purposes and target practice between 1857 and 1866, when 6 I N4 oz CwT +.~ . ize 5 BATCH J. i N.90 C-wf` is Silk braid 35 z~*c+Qo _~- wide stitched 71y~~ 5~to649 balloon R F. C' Powder 4 oz. ring of cordite round & wee Si/k twist Silk twist for r to bottCmPof cordite lonier or Primer "----" Percussion Cep Secl,on ,0riving Band -1r= '.. ..Cap \ Need/e '. Oaring , eV/et of Lead Body ---..Silk Braid -*-Cordite Charqe 5/b. 7oz. Size 20 --Cordite Cylinder ....Powder Igniter --She/loon Beg Electric Primer it was gradually superseded by Metford's system mentioned below. The next important change in the history of the rifle bullet occurred in 1883, when Major Rubin, director of the Swiss Laboratory at Thun, invented the small-calibre rifle, one of whose essential features was the employment of an elongated compound bullet, with a leaden core in a copper envelope. About 1862 and later, W. E. Metford had carried out an exhaustive series of experiments on bullets and rifling, and had invented the important system of light rifling with increasing spiral, and a hardened bullet. The combined result of the above inventions was that in December 1888 the Lee-Metford small-bore .303 rifle, Mark I., was finally adopted for the British army. The latest development of this rifle is now known as the 303 Lee-Enfield, which fires a long, thin, nickel-covered, leaden-cored bullet 1.25 in. long, weighing only 215 grs., while the Martini-Henry bullet, 1.27 in. in length and 45 in. in diameter, weighed 48o grs. The adoption of the smaller elongated bullet, necessitated by the smaller calibre of the rifle, entailed some definite disadvantages. The lighter bullet is more affected by wind. Its greater relative length to diameter necessitates a sharper pitch of rifling in order properly to revolve the bullet (one turn in 10 in. for the .303 rifle as compared with one turn in 22 in. for the Martini-Henry). This, in its turn, necessitates a hard nickel envelope for the leaden bullet in order to prevent its "stripping," or being forced through the barrel without rotation. The general result is that, while the enveloped bullet has a much higher penetrative power than one of lead only, it does not usually inflict so severe a wound, nor has it such a stunning effect as the old lead bullet. It cuts a small clean hole, but does not deform. This fact is of some military importance, as, for example, in warfare with savages, in which the chief
Bullets for target and sporting-rifles have, in the main, followed, or occasionally preceded, the line of progress of military rifle bullets. In 1861 Henry introduced a modification of the grooving of the cylindrical Whitworth bullet, and in 1864 and 1865 the Rigby mechanically fitting bullet was used with success at the National Rifle Association meeting, and in the second stage of the Queen's prize. The bullets of sporting rifles, and particularly those of Express rifles, are often lighter than military bullets, and made with hollow points to ensure the expansion of the projectile on or after impact. The size and shape of the hollow in the point vary according to the purpose required and the nature of the game hunted. If greater penetration is needed, the leaden bullet is hardened with mercury or tin, or the military nickel-coated bullet is used with the small-bore, smokeless-powder rifles. Explosive bullets filled with detonating powder were at one time used in Express and large-bore rifles for large game. The use of these bullets is now practically abandoned owing to their uncertainty of action and the danger involved in handling them. Their use in warfare is prohibited by inter-national law. The nickel-covered bullet, when used in a modern small-bore rifle for sporting purposes, is made into an expanding bullet, either by leaving the leaden core uncovered at the nose of the bullet, with or without a hollow point, or by cutting transverse or longitudinal nicks of varying depth in the point or circumference of the bullet. A cone-shaped sharp
Springfield
The Cartridge.The original cartridge for military small arms dates from 1586. It consisted of a charge of powder and a bullet in a paper envelope. This cartridge was used with the muzzle-loading military firearm, the base of the cartridge being ripped or bitten off by the soldier, the powder poured into the barrel, and the bullet then rammed home. Before the invention of the fire-lock or flint-lock, about 1635, the priming was originally put into the pan of the wheel-lock and snaphance muskets from a flask containing a fine-grained powder called serpentine powder. Later the pan was filled from the cartridge above described before loading. The mechanism of the flint-lock musket, in which the 4 0.322} German Lee Metford Rumanian S"bullet .303 in. a56 in. pan was covered by the furrowed steel struck by the flint, rendered this method of priming unnecessary, as, in loading, a portion of the charge of powder passed from the barrel through the vent into the pan, where it was held by the cover and hammer
The next important advance in the method of ignition was the introduction of the copper percussion cap. This was only generally applied to the British military musket (the Brown Bess) in 1842, a quarter of a century after the invention of percussion powder and after an elaborate government test at Woolwich in 1834. The invention which made the percussion cap possible was patented by the Rev. A. J. Forsyth in 1807, and consisted of priming with a fulminating powder made of chlorate of potash, sulphur and charcoal, which exploded by concussion. This invention was gradually developed, and used, first in a steel cap, and then in a copper cap, by various gunmakers and private individuals before coming into general military use nearly thirty years later. The alteration of the military flint-lock to the percussion musket was easily accomplished by replacing the powder pan by a perforated nipple, and by replacing the cock or hammer
4.0.311'1. British 303 bullet n has been successfully applied to all descriptions of firearms, and has produced a new and important industrythat of cartridge manufacture. Its essential feature is the prevention of all escape of gas at the breech when the weapon is fired, by means of an expansive cartridge case containing its own means of ignition. Previous to this invention shot guns and sporting rifles were loaded by means of powder flasks and shot flasks, bullets, wads and copper caps, all carried separately. The earliest efficient modern cartridge case was the pin-fire, patented, according to some authorities, by Houiller, a Paris gunsmith, in 1847; and, according to others, by Lefaucheux, also a Paris gunsmith, in or about 185o. It consisted of thin weak shell made of brass and paper which expanded by the force of the explosion, fitted perfectly into the barrel, and thus formed an efficient gas check. A small percussion cap was placed in the middle of the base of the cartridge, and was exploded by means of a brass pin projecting from the side and struck by the hammer. This pin also afforded the means of extracting the cartridge case. This cartridge was introduced in England by Lang, of Cockspur Street, London, about 18J5. The central-fire cartridge was introduced into England in 1861 by Daw. It is said to have been the invention of Pottet of Paris, improved upon by Schneider, and gave rise to much litigation in respect of its patent rights. Daw was subsequently defeated in his control of the patents by Eley Bros. In this cartridge the cap in the centre of .the cartridge base is detonated by a striker passing through the standing breech to the inner face, the cartridge case being withdrawn, or, in the most modern weapons, ejected by a sliding extractor fitted to the breech end of the barrel, which catches the rim of the base of the cartridge. This is practically the modern cartridge case now in universal use. In the case of shot guns it has been gradually inproved in small details. The cases are made either of paper of various qualities with brass bases, or entirely of thin brass. The wadding between powder and shot has been thickened and improved in quality; and the end of the cartridge case is now made to fit more perfectly into the breech chamber. These cartridges vary in size from 32 bore up to 4 bore for shoulder guns. They are also made as small as '410 and 36o gauge: their length varies from I! in. to 4 in. Cartridges for punt guns are usually 12 in. in diameter and 91 in. in length. In the case of military rifles the breech-loading cartridge case was first adopted in principle by the Prussians about 1841 in the needle-gun (q.v.) breech-loader. In this a conical bullet rested on a thick wad, behind which was the powder, the whole being enclosed in strong lubricated paper. The detonator was in the hinder surface of the wad, and fired by a needle driven forward from the breech, through the base of tht cartridge and through the powder, by the action of a spiral spring set free by the pulling of the trigger.In 1867 the British war office adopted the Eley-Boxer metallic central-fire cartridge case in the Enfield rifles, which were converted to breech-loaders on the Snider principle. This consisted of a block
block
drawn
Central-fire cartridges with solid- drawn
AMOEBA 875 For revolvers, pistols, rook and rabbit rifles, and for Morris tubes, cartridges vary from '22 in. to '301 in. in gauge. All miniature cartridges with light charges are made for breech adapters to enable 303 military rifles to be used on miniature rifle ranges. All the above cartridges are central-fire. Rim-fire cartridges for rifles, revolvers and pistols vary from 22 in. to 56 in. gauge according to the weapon for which they are required. The cartridge for the British war office miniature rifle is 22 calibre, with 5 grs. of powder and a bullet weighing 40 grs. Most modern military rifles are supplied with clip or charger loading arrangements, whereby the magazine is filled with the required number of cartridges in one motion. A clip is simply a case of cartridges which is dropped into the magazine; a charger is a strip of metal holding the bases of the cartridges, and is placed over the magazine, the cartridges being pressed out into the latter. Both clips and chargers, being consumable stores, may be considered as ammunition. (H. S.-K.) End of Article: PLATINUM WIRE INSULATION PERCUSSION If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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