MODULE 7

DIFFERENT CARTRIDGE DESIGN

CARTRIDGE – a term used to describe a complete unfired unit consisting of bullet, primer,
cartridge case and gunpowder. Derived from Greek word “Charta/Cartouche”.

PARTS OF A CARTRIDGE CASE AND BULLET

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CLASSIFICATION OF CARTRIDGE ACCORDING TO RIM CONSTRUCTION

1. RIMMED TYPE – the diameter of the rim is greater than the diameter of the body of the
cartridge case. E.g. caliber .38 special. Cal .22 short

2. SEMI-RIMMED TYPE – the diameter of the rim is slightly greater than the diameter of the
body of the cartridge case. E. g. caliber .25, .32 auto, super.38.

3. RIMLESS TYPE – the diameter of the rim is equal with the diameter of the body of the
cartridge case. E. g. caliber .5.56mm, .30. .9mm, .45 auto

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 RIMLESS BOTTLE NECK – it is designed for rifle ammunition.

4. REBATED TYPE – the diameter of the rim is smaller than the body of the cartridge case.
E. g. caliber 8mm x 59

5. BELTED TYPE – there is a protruding metal around the body of the cartridge case near
the rim. E. g. caliber 338 magnum, 13.9 x 99

The belted case - often used in so-called "Magnum" cartridges - is a third type of
design frequently encountered. The "belt" is in effect a rim moved to the front of the head
rather than being at the rear.

Straight vs bottleneck
Straight walled cases were the standard from the beginnings of cartridge arms. With
the low burning speed of black powder, the best efficiency was achieved with large, heavy
bullets, so the bullet was the largest practical diameter. The large diameter allowed a short,
stable bullet with high weight, and the maximum practical bore volume to extract the most
energy possible in a given length barrel. There were a few cartridges that had long, shallow
tapers, but these were generally an attempt to use an existing cartridge to fire a smaller
bullet with a higher velocity and lower recoil. With the advent of smokeless powders, it was
possible to generate far higher velocities by using a slow smokeless powder in a large volume
case, pushing a small, light bullet.

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TYPES OF CARTRIDGES ACCORDING TO LOCATION OF PRIMER

1. PIN-FIRE CARTRIDGE – the pin extends radially through

the head of the cartridge case into the primer this type of
cartridge is no longer used. A pinfire firearm cartridge is an
obsolete type of brass cartridge in which the priming
compound is ignited by striking a small pin which protrudes
radially from just above the base of the cartridge. Invented
by Casimir Lefaucheaux in 1828 but not patented until
1835, it was one of the earliest practical designs of metallic
cartridge. However, the protruding pin was vulnerable to
damage, displacement and accidental ignition. Moreover,
the pin had to be positioned carefully in a small notch when
loading, making the pinfire's use in repeating or self-loading
weapons impossible. The pinfire survives today only in a
few very small blank cartridges designed as noisemakers and in novelty miniature guns.

2. RIM-FIRE CARTRIDGE – the priming mixture is placed in the

cavity formed in the rim of the head of the cartridge case. E. g.
.22 short, .22 long, .22 magnum.

A rimfire is a type of firearm cartridge. It is called a

rimfire because instead of the firing pin of a gun striking the
primer cap at the center of the base of the cartridge to ignite it
(as in acenterfire cartridge), the pin strikes the base's rim.

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3. CENTER-FIRE CARTRIDGE – the primer cup is forced into
the middle portion of the head of the cartridge case. The
identifying feature of centerfire ammunition is the primer --
a metal cup containing primary explosive inserted into a
recess in the center of the base of the cartridge. The
firearm firing pin crushes this explosive between the cup and
an anvil to produce hot gas and a shower of
incandescent particles to ignite the powder charge. Berdan
and Boxer cartridge primers are both considered "centerfire".
Various priming mixtures have been used in different sized
primers to effect prompt ignition of the powder charge. Particles with relatively high heat
capacity are required to promptly ignite smokeless powder deterrent coatings.

4. PERCUSSION – a means of ignition of the propellant charge by a mechanical blow against

the primer or percussion cap.

FUNCTIONS OF CARTRIDGE CASES

1. It holds the bullet, gunpowder and primer.
2. It serves as a waterproof container for the gunpowder.
3. It prevents the escapes of gases to the rear.

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 PRIMER
PRIMER

Is one of the most important components of a complete cartridge that contains a

priming mixture or explosive. The ignition components of cartridge primers are used for
igniting propellant. A blow from the firing pin on the primer cup compresses the priming
composition to distance. This detonation produces flame which passes through the vent or
flash hole in the cartridge case, igniting the gunpowder.

THE COMPOSITION OF A PRIMER

1. Potassium Chlorate - 45%

2. Antimony Sulfide - 23%

3. Fulminate of Mercury - 32%

ILLUSTRATED PARTS OF A PRIMER

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 DIFFERENT SIZES AND TYPES OF PRIMER

TWO TYPES OF CARTRIDGE PRIMER

1. Boxer Type – only one hole

2. Berdan Type – more than one holes

Boxer or American Berdan

Berdan Boxer

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Note: The picture show the hole of the cartridge case inside the primer pocket. This is known
as the flash hole or vent where the flame pass through after the ignition of the priming
mixture, cause by the blow of the firing pin of the firearm on the primer cup.

Caplock

The next major leap in ignition technology was the invention of the chemical primer,
or "cap", and the mechanism which used it, called the "caplock". Percussion ignition was
invented by Scottish clergyman Rev. Alexander John Forsyth in 1807 but needed further
refinements before it was gradually accepted in the 1820s to 1830s. By the middle of the
19th century the percussion or caplock system was well established.

Single-shot caplock pistol used to assassinate

Abraham Lincoln … this type of small handgun is known as
a Derringer

Rimfire

Rimfire cartridges use a thin brass case with a hollow bulge, or rim, around the back
end. This rim is filled during manufacture with an impact-sensitive primer. In the wet state,
the primer is stable; a pellet of wet primer is placed in the shell and simply spun out to the
full extremes of the rim. Rimfire cartridges are single-use and normally cannot be reloaded.
Also, since the rim must be thin enough to be easily crushed, the peak pressure possible in
the case is limited by the strength of this thin rim.

Peripheral primer
This unique system, much like a refined combination of the pinfire and rimfire, uses
a firing pin that strikes a ring of priming compound in the center of the cartridge as described
in U.S. Patent 4,848,237. Despite its being successful, only experimental batches of the
cartridge were made. The primary advantage is that it is struck from the side, which allows
the operating system of the firearm to be moved forward allowing a more compact action.
Electrical
A very small but growing number of civilian and military arms are switching to
electrical triggers. These use an electrical charge, powered by a battery, to detonate the
primer and decrease the time between pulling the trigger and ignition of the charge. The
control circuitry attendant with electrical triggers also offers opportunities for biometric
safety locks, remote trigger mountings, and remote or computer-controlled operation of the
weapon. Modern Gatling-type mini guns and aircraft cannon use electrical-primed
ammunition due to the high rates of fire they achieve. The mechanical system of firing the
primers cannot operate reliably at these extreme speeds, which reach 1,500 to 6,000 rounds
per minute. These weapons have electric motors that rotate multiple barrels. As each barrel

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comes to the firing position, the primer passes an electrode that initiates the explosive train
to the propellant, firing the cartridge.

DEVELOPMENT OF GUNPOWDER

GUNPOWDER – Any of various powder used in firearms as propellant charge.

History

Early Chinese rocket

A Mongol bomb thrown against a charging Japanese

samurai during the Mongol invasions of Japan after
founding the Yuan Dynasty, 1281.

Gunpowder was invented, documented, and used

in Jin Dynasty(1115–1234) in China where the Jurchen
military forces used gunpowder-based weapons
technology (i.e. rockets, guns, cannons), and explosives (i.e. grenades and different types of
bombs) against the Mongols when the Mongols attempted to invade and breach the Jurchen
city fortifications on the northern borders of Jin Dynasty. After the Mongols conquered Jin
Dynasty of Jurchen's and founded the Yuan Dynasty, they used the Manchurian gunpowder-
based weapons technology in their invasion of Japan. Jurchens also used gunpowder to fuel
rockets. However, it has also been argued that, like the wheel, gunpowder was "coinvented"
or "co-discovered" prior to, simultaneously or slightly after the Chinese, by cultures
separated from the Chinese by vast distances, with minimal direct contact between one
another.
By the 9th century Taoist monks or alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality
had serendipitously stumbled upon gunpowder.

The Chinese "Wu Ching Tsung Yao", written by Tseng Kung-Liang in 1044, provides
encyclopedia references to a variety of mixtures which included petrochemicals, as well as
garlic and honey. A slow match for flame throwing mechanisms using the siphon principle
and for fireworks and rockets are mentioned. Academics argue the Chinese wasted little time
in applying gunpowder to warfare, and they produced a variety of gunpowder weapons,

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including flamethrowers, rockets, bombs, and mines, before inventing guns as a projectile
weapon.

A common German folk-tale is of the German priest/monk named Berthold Schwarz

who independently invented gunpowder, thus earning it the German name Schwarzpulver
or in English Schwarz's powder. Schwarz is also German for black so this folk-tale, while
likely containing elements of truth, is considered problematic.
Berthold Schwartz, (real name is Constantin Anklitzen) a Franchiscan monk in the
town of Freiburg in Germany. He is also known as inventor of gunpowder but there are no
conclusive literatures acknowledging Constantin Anklitzen as the first person invent
gunpowder.

TWO TYPES OF GUNPOWDER

1. BLACK POWDER

Gunpowder
Gunpowder (Black powder) is a finely ground, pressed and granulated mechanical
mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate orsodium nitrate. It can be produced in a
range of grain sizes. The size and shape of the grains can increase or decrease the
relative surface area, and change the burning rate significantly. The burning rate of black
powder is relatively insensitive to pressure, meaning it will burn quickly even without
confinement, making it also suitable for use as a low explosive. However, it is a very poor
explosive compared to modern high explosives because it has a very slow decomposition
rate, and therefore a very low brisance. It is not, in the strictest sense of the term, an
explosive, but a "deflagrant", as it does not detonate but decomposes by deflagration due to
its subsonic mechanism of flame-front propagation.

The Composition are:

1. Potassium Nitrate - 75%

2. Charcoal - 15%
3. Sulphur - 10%

2. SMOKELESS POWDER – a mixture of nitrocellulose 60%, nitroglycerine 35% and

Vaseline 5%. These substances are almost entirely smokeless in action.

They are all given the generic term of nitro powders and are legion in number. All
nitro powders used in rifles, pistols and revolvers are gelatinized powders, which are made
by forming dough into sticks or grains.

Beyond 36” from the target, there is no blackening and unburnt gunpowder.

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Smokeless powder
Is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which
produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder (black powder) which
they replaced. The basis of the term smokeless is that the combustion products are mainly
gaseous, compared to around 55% solid products (mostly potassium carbonate, potassium
sulfate, and potassium sulfide) for black powder. Despite its name, smokeless powder is not
completely smoke-free and does not take the form of a true powder (see granular material).

19th century improvements

In 1884, Paul Vieille invented smokeless gunpowder called Poudre B, made from
gelatinized guncotton mixed with ether and alcohol. It was passed through rollers to form
thin sheets, which were cut into flakes of the desired size. The resulting propellant, today
known as pyrocellulose, contains somewhat less nitrogen than guncotton and is less volatile.
A particularly good feature of the propellant is that it will not detonate unless it is
compressed, making it very safe to handle under normal conditions.
Meanwhile, in 1887, Alfred Nobel developed smokeless gunpowder called Ballistite.
A modified form of this was devised by Sir Frederick Abel and James Dewar which eventually
became known as Cordite, leading to a lengthy court battle between Nobel and the other two
inventors over alleged British patent infringement. In the USA, in 1890, a patent for
smokeless powder was obtained by Hudson Maxim.

Chemical variations
"Double base" redirects here. For the musical instrument, see double bass.

These newer propellants were more stable and thus safer to handle than Poudre B,
and also more powerful. Today, propellants based on nitrocellulose alone (typically an ether-
alcohol colloid of nitrocellulose) are described as single-base powder whereas cordite-like
mixtures using nitroglycerin to dissolve the nitrocellulose are known as double-base
powder. Single and double-base smokeless powders now make up the vast majority of
propellants used in firearms. They are so common that most modern references to
gunpowder refer to a smokeless powder, particularly when referring to small arms
ammunition. A triple-base powder including nitroguanidine was developed as a flashless
cordite primarily for large naval guns, but also used in battle tank ammunition.

References:

Buchanan. "Editor's Introduction: Setting the Context", in Buchanan 2006, Early 1978,
Chapter 2: The Development of Gunpowder

Julian S. Hatcher, Hatcher's Notebook, Military Service Publishing Company, 1947. Chapter
XIII Notes on Gunpowder, pages 300-305.

"Gunpowder", Encyclopedia Britannica, London, 1771 . "frier Bacon, our countryman,

mentions the compofition in exprefs terms, in his treatife De nullitate magiæ, publifhed at
Oxford, in the year 1248."

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"Fireworks," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007 © 1997-2007 Microsoft
Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Archived 2009-10-31.

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