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AMMUNITION
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AMMUNITION , a military See also:term (derived, through the See also:French, from See also:Lat. munire, to provide), for consumable stores used in attack or See also:defence, such asrifle cartridges, cartridges, projectiles, igniting tubes and primers for See also:ordnance, &c. The components of ammunition intended for rifles and ordnance may be divided into (a) See also:explosives and See also:propellants (see Ex-See also:PLOSIVES and GtNPOwnER), (b) projectiles of all kinds, and (c) cartridges. The military See also:classification of explosives differs some-what from that of the Explosives See also:Act 1875, but, broadly speaking, they are divided into two See also:groups. The first of these comprises explosives in bulk, made-up cartridges for See also:cannon, and filled See also:quick-firing cartridges; See also:Group II. contains small-See also:arm cartridges, fuzes, primers, tubes, filled shells (fuzed or unfuzed), &c. Each group is subdivided, and arrangements are made for storing certain divisions of Group I. in a See also:magazine in See also:separate compartments. All the divisions of Group II, are, and the remaining divisions of Group I. (comprising wet See also:gun-See also:cotton, picric See also:acid and Q.F. cartridges) may be, stored in ammunition stores. These See also:general conditions apply to the storage of ammunition in fortresses. Here the positions for the magazine and ammunition stores are so chosen as to afford the best means of See also:protection from an enemy's See also:fire. Huge See also:earth parapets See also:cover these buildings, which are further strengthened, where possible, by traverses protecting the entrances. For the purpose of filling, emptying and examining cannon cartridges and See also:shell, a laboratory is generally provided at some distance from the magazine. The various stores for explosives are classified into those under magazine conditions (viz. magazines, laboratories and See also:cartridge stores) and those with which these restrictions need not be observed (viz. ammunition and shell stores). The interior walls of a magazine are lined and the floors laid so that there may be no exposed See also:iron or See also:steel. At the entrance there is a See also:lobby or barrier, inside which persons about to enter the magazine See also:change their clothes for a See also:special suit, and their boots for a pair made without nails. In an ammunition or shell See also:store these precautions need not be taken except where the shell store and the adjacent cartridge store have a See also:common entrance; persons entering may do so in their See also:ordinary clothes. A large See also:work may have a See also:main magazine and several subsidiary magazines, from which the stock of cartridges is renewed in the cartridge stores attached to each group of guns or in the expense cartridge stores and cartridge recesses. The same applies to main ammunition stores which See also:supply the shell stores, expense stores and recesses. The supply of ammunition may be divided roughly into (a) that for guns forming the movable armament, (b) that for guns placed in permanent positions. The movable armament will consist of guns and howitzers of small and.See also:medium calibre, and it is necessary to arrange suitable expense cartridge stores and shell stores in See also:close proximity to the available positions. They can generally be constructed to See also:form See also:part of the permanent work • in the projected See also:face of traverses or other strong formations, and should be arranged for a twenty-four See also:hours' supply of ammunition. These stores are refilled from the main magazine every See also:night under cover of darkness. See also:Light See also:railways join the various positions. The guns mounted in permanent emplacements are divided into groups of two or three guns each, and usually each group will require but one calibre of ammunition. A cartridge store, shell store and a general store, all well ventilated, are arranged for the especial service of such a group of guns. In the cartridge store the cylinders containing the cartridges are so placed and labelled that the required See also:charge, whether reduced or full, can be immediately selected. In the shell store also for the same See also:reason the common shell are separated from the See also:armour-piercing or shrapnel. Each nature of projectile is painted in a distinctive manner to render See also:identification easy. The 'fuzes, tubes, &zc., are placed in the general store with the tools and accessories belonging to the guns. The gun group is distinguished by some See also:letter and the guns of the group by numerals; thus, f is No. x gun of group A. The magazine and shell stores are also indicated by the group letter, and so that mistakes, even by those unaccustomed to the fort, may be avoided, the passages are pointed out by See also:finger posts and direction boards. For the immediate service of each gun a few cartridges and projectiles are stored in small receptacles—called cartridge and shell recesses respectively—built in the See also:parapet as near the gun position as practicable. In some cases a limited number of projectiles may be placed close underneath the parapet if this is conveniently situated near the See also:breech of the gun and not exposed to hostile fire. In See also:order to supply the ammunition sufficiently rapidly for the efficient service of See also:modern guns, See also:hydraulic, electric or See also:hand-See also:power hoists are employed to raise the cartridges and shell from the cartridge store and shell store to the gun See also:floor, whence they are transferred to a See also:derrick or loading See also:tray attached to the mounting for loading the gun. Projectiles for P.L. guns above 6-in. calibre are stored in shell stores ready filled and fuzed See also:standing on their bases, except 1.shrapnel and high-explosive shell, which are fuzed only when abou t to be used. Smaller sizes of shells are laid on their sides in layers, each layer pointing in the opposite direction to the one below to prevent injury to the See also:driving bands. Cartridges are stored in See also:brass corrugated cases or in See also:zinc cylinders. The corrugated cases are stacked in layers in the magazine with the mouth of the See also:case towards a passage between the stacks, so that it can be opened and the cartridges removed and transferred to a See also:leather case when required for transport to the gun. Cylinders are stacked, when possible, vertically one above the other. The charges are sent to the gun in these cylinders, and See also:provision is made for the rapid removal of the empty cylinders.
The number and nature of rounds allotted to any fortress depends on questions of policy and location, the degrees of resistance the nature of the See also:works and personnel could reasonably be expected to give, and finally on the nature of the armament. That is to say, for guns of large calibre three See also:hundred to four hundred rounds per gun might be sufficient, while for light Q.F. guns it might amount to one thousand or more rounds per gun. (A. G. H.)
With every successive improvement in military arms there has necessarily been a corresponding modification in the method of supplying ammunition and in the quantity required to supply of be supplied. When hand-to-hand weapons were the ammuniprincipal implements of See also:battle, there was, of course, no See also:aeon in
such need, but even in the See also:middle ages the archers and the See also: Captured material is, of course, utilized whenever possible, at the See also:present See also:time, and in the Chino-See also:Japanese War the Japanese went so far as to prepare beforehand spare parts for the See also:Chinese guns they expected to See also:capture (Wei-See also:Hai-Wei, 1895), but it is rare to find a modern See also:army trusting to captures for arms and ammunition; almost the only instance of the practice is that of the Chilean See also:civil war of 189x, in which the army of one belligerent was almost totally dependent upon this means of replenishing stores of arms and cartridges. But what was possible with weapons of comparatively rough make is no longer to be thought of in the case of modern arms. The See also: ..'r : :.i:::i:' " %tip : 1~: •~.:: .s. .:-,
the See also:Martini-See also: Artillery.—The many vehicles which accompany batteries (see ARTILLERY) carry a large quantity of ammunition, and with the contents of two wagons and the See also:limber each gun may be considered as well supplied, more especially as fresh rounds can be brought up with relatively small See also:risk, owing to the See also:long range at which artillery fights and the use of cover. Each brigade of artillery has its own ammunition See also:column, from which it draws its reserve in the first instance. Ammunition Columns.—An ammunition column consists of military vehicles carrying gun and S.A. ammunition for the combatant unit to which the column belongs. Thus the am-munition columns of a See also:division, forming part of the brigades of field artillery, carry reserve ammunition for the guns, the machine guns of the infantry and the rifles of all arms. Generally speaking, the ammunition column of each of the artillery brigades furnishes spare ammunition for its own batteries and for one of the brigades of infantry. All ammunition columns are officered and manned by the Royal Artillery. They are not reserved exclusively to their own brigades, divisions, &c., but may be called upon to furnish ammunition to any unit requiring it during an action. The See also:officers and men of the R.A. employed with the ammunition column are, as a matter of course, immediately available to replace casualties in the batteries. Teams, wagons and materiel generally are also available for the same purpose. The See also:horse artillery, See also:howitzer and heavy brigades of artillery have each their own ammunition columns, organized in much the same way and performing similar duties. The ammunition column of the heavy brigade is divisible into three sections, so that the three batteries, if operating independently, have each a See also:section at hand to replenish the ammunition expended. The horse artillery brigade ammunition columns carry, besides S.A.A. for all See also:corps troops other than artillery, the reserve of pom-pom ammunition. In action these columns are on the battlefield itself. Some See also:miles to the See also:rear are the divisional and corps troops columns, which on the one hand replenish the empty wagons of the columns in front, and on the other draw fresh supplies from the depots on the line of communication. These also are in artillery charge; a divisional column is detailed to each division(i.e. to replenish each set of brigade ammunition columns), and the corps troops column supplies the columns attached to the heavy, howitzer and horse artillery brigades. The ammunition thus carried includes ordinarily seven or eight kinds at least. S.A.A., field, horse, howitzer and heavy gun shrapnel, howitzer and heavy gun lyddite shells, cartridges for the four different guns employed and porn-porn cartridges for the See also:cavalry,—in all twelve distinct types of stores would be carriedfor a See also:complete army corps. Consequently the rounds of each See also:kind in charge of each ammunition column must vary in accordance with the work expected of the combatant unit to which it belongs. Thus porn-pom ammunition is out of See also:place in the brigade ammunition columns of field artillery, and S.A.A. is relatively unnecessary in that attached to a heavy artillery brigade. Under these circumstances a column may be unable to meet the particular wants of troops engaged in the vicinity; for instance, a cavalry See also:regiment would send in vain to a heavy artillery ammunition section for pom-pom cartridges. The point to be observed in this is that the fewer the natures of weapons used, the more certain is the ammunition supply. (C. F. A.) The first projectiles fired from cannon were the darts and stone shot which had been in use with older weapons. These darts (" garros ") had iron heads or were of iron wrapped Shot. with leather to See also:fit the See also:bore of small guns, and See also:con- tinued in use up to nearly the end of the 16th See also:century. Spherical stone shot were chosen on See also:account of cheapness; forged iron, See also:bronze and See also:lead balls were tried, but the expense prevented their general See also:adoption. Further, as the heavy See also:metal shot necessitated the use of a correspondingly large propelling charge, too great a demand was made on the strength of the feeble guns of the See also:period. Stone shot being one-third the weight of those of iron the See also:powder charge was reduced in proportion, and this also effected an See also:economy. Both iron and stone shot were occasionally covered with lead, probably to preserve the interior of the bore of the gun. See also:Cast iron, while known in the Toth century, was not sufficiently common to be much used for the manufacture of shot, although small ones were made about that time. They were used more frequently at the latter part of the following century. Towards the end of the 16th century nearly all shot were of iron, but stone shot were still used with guns called Petrieroes (hence the name) or Patararoes, for attacking weak targets like See also:ships at See also:short range. Case shot are very nearly as See also:ancient as spherical shot. They can be traced back to the See also:early part of the 15th century, and they have practically retained their orig- M nTh'sinal form up to the present date. They are intended for use at close quarters when a volley of small shot is required. With field guns they are not of much use at ranges exceeding about four hundred yards; those for heavy guns are effective up to one thousand yards. In the earlier forms lead or iron shot were packed in See also:wood casks or in See also:canvas bags tied up with twine like the later quilted shot. In the present (fig. 2) type small shot are placed in a cylindrical case of See also:sheet iron, with iron ends, one end being provided with handles. For small guns the bullets are made of lead and See also:antimony
larger calibres they are of cast
iron weighing from two ounces to three and a See also:half pounds
each.
See also:Grape shot is now obsolete. It consisted generally of three tiers of cast-iron balls separated by iron plates and held in place by an iron See also:bolt which passed through the centre of the plates.
There was also another type called quilted shot which consisted of a number of small shot in a canvas covering tied up by rope. See also:Chain shot, in the days of sailing ships, was much in favour as a means of destroying See also:rigging. Two spherical shot were fastened together by a short length of chain. On leaving the gun they began gyrating around each other and made a formidable missile.
Red-hot shot were invented in 1579 by See also:Stephen Batory, See also: See also: The copper band, on being forced through the gun, gives rise to considerable resistance, which allows the propelling charge to See also:burn properly and thus to exert its enormous force on the projectile. The See also:laws which govern the designs of projectiles are not well defined. Certain formulae are used which give the thickness of the walls of the shell for a known chamber pressure in the gun, and for a particular stress on the material of the shell. The exact proportions of the shell depend, however, greatly on experimental knowledge. Armour-piercing Shot and Shell.—On the introduction of iron ships it was found that the ordinary cast-iron projectile readily pierced the thin plating, and in order to protect the vital parts of the vessel wrought-iron armour of considerable thickness was placed on the sides. It then became necessary to produce a projectile which would See also:pierce this armour. This was effected by See also:Sir W. Palliser, who invented a method of hardening the See also:head of the pointed cast-iron shot. By casting the projectile point downwards and forming the head in an iron See also:mould, the hot metal was suddenly chilled and became intensely hard, while the See also:remainder of the mould being formed of See also:sand allowed the metal to cool slowly and the body of the shot to be made tough. These shot proved very effective against wrought-iron armour, but were not serviceable against See also:compound and steel armour. A new departure had, therefore, to be made, and forged steel shot with points hardened by See also:water, &c., took the place of the Palliser shot. At first these forged steel shot were made of ordinary See also:carbon steel, but as armour improved in quality the projectiles followed suit, and, for the attack of the latest type of cemented steel armour, the projectile is formed of steel—either forged or cast—containing both See also:nickel and See also:chromium. See also:Tungsten steel has also been used with success. Armour-piercing shot or shell are generally cast from a special mixture of chrome steel melted in pots; they are afterwards forged into shape. The shell is then thoroughly annealed, the core bored and the exterior turned up in the See also:lathe. The shell is finished in a similar manner to others described below. The final or tempering treatment is very important, but details are kept strictly See also:secret. It consists in hardening the head of the projectile and tempering it in a special manner, the rear portion being reduced in hardness so as to render it tough. The cavity of these projectiles is capable of receiving a small bursting charge of about 2 % of the weight of the complete projectile, and when this is used the projectile is called an armour-piercing shell. The shell, whether fuzed or unfuzed, will burst on striking a medium thick-ness of armour. Armour-piercing shells, having a bursting charge of about 3 % of the weight of the complete projectile, are now often fitted with a soft steel cap (fig. 3) for the perforation cf hard steel armour. For the theory of the action of the cap see ARMOUR PLATES. Even with these improvements the projectile cannot, with a reasonable velocity, be relied upon to pierce one calibre in thickness of modern cemented steel armour. Explosive shells do not appear to have been in general use before the middle of the 16th century. About that time hollow balls of stone or cast iron were fired from mortars. The She// balls were nearly filled with See also:gunpowder and the remain- See also:ing space with a slow-burning See also:composition. This plan was unsatisfactory, as the composition was not always ignited by the flash from the See also:discharge of the gun, and moreover the amount of composition to burn a stipulated time could not easily be gauged. The shell was, therefore, fitted with a hollow forged iron or copper plug, filled with slow-burning powder. It was impossible to ignite with certainty this See also:primitive See also:fuze simply by firing the gun; the fuze was consequently first ignited and the gun fired immediately after-wards. This entailed the use of a See also:mortar or a very short piece, so that the fuze could be easily reached from the muzzle without unduly endangering the See also:gunner. Cast-iron spherical common shell (fig. 4) were in use up to 1871. For guns they were latterly fitted with a wooden disc called a sabot, attached by a copper See also:rivet, intended to keep the fuze central when loading. They were also supposed to reduce the rebounding tendency of the shell as it travelled along the bore on discharge. Mortar shell (fig. 5) were not fitted with sabots. Cast iron held its own as the most convenient material for projectiles up to See also:recent years, steel supplanting it, first for projectiles intended for piercing armour, and afterwards for common shell for high-velocity guns where the See also:shock of discharge has been found too severe for cast iron. Common shell is essentially a material destructor. Filled with ordinary gunpowder, the larger natures are formidable projectiles for the attack of fortifications and the unarmoured portions of warships. On bursting they break up into somewhat large pieces, which carry destruction forward to some distance from the point of burst. For the attack of buildings common shell are See also:superior to shrapnel and they are used to attack troops posted behind cover where it is impossible for shrapnel to reach them; their effect against troops is, however, generally insignificant. When RIVET IFuZE HOLE filled with lyddite, melinite, &c., they are called high-explosive (H.E.) shell (see below). Common shell for modern high-velocity guns may be made of cast steel or forged steel; those made of cast iron are now generally made for practice, as they are found to break up on impact, even against earthworks, before the fuze has time to act; the bursting charge is, therefore, not ignited or only ignited after the shell has broken up, the effect of the bursting charge being lost in either case. So long as the shell is strong enough to resist the shocks of discharge and impact against earth or thin steel plates, it should be designed to contain as large a bursting charge as possible and to break up into a large number of medium-sized pieces. Their effect between decks is generally more far-reaching than lyddite shell, but the purely See also:local effect is less. Light structures, which, at a short distance from the point of burst, successfully resist lyddite shell and confine the effect of the See also:explosion, may be destroyed by the shower of heavy pieces produced by the burst of a large common shell. To prevent the premature explosion of the shell, by the See also:friction of the grains of powder on discharge, it is heated and coated intern-ally with a thick See also:lacquer, which on cooling presents a smooth See also:surface. Besides this the bursting charge of all shell of 4-in. calibre and upwards (also with all other natures except shrapnel) is contained ,in a See also:flannel or canvas bag. The bag is inserted through the fuze hole and the bursting charge of pebble and See also:fine See also:grain powder gradually poured in. The shell is tapped on the out-side by a wood See also:mallet to See also:settle the powder down. When all the powder has been got in, the See also:neck of the bag is tied and pushed through the fuze hole. A few small shalloon primer bags, filled with seven drams of fine grain powder, are then inserted to fill up the shell and carry the flash from the fuze through the burster bag. In the See also:United States specially long common shell called See also:torpedo shell, about 4.; calibres in length, are employed with the See also:coast artillery i z-in. mortars. They were made of cast steel, but owing to a premature explosion in a mortar, supposed to be due to weakness of the shell, they are now made of forged steel. The weight of the usual projectile for this mortar is 85o lb. The torpedo shell, however, weighs moo lb and contains 137 lb of high explosive; it is not intended for piercing armour but for producing a powerful explosion on the armoured See also:deck of a war-ship. The See also:compression, and consequent See also:generation of See also:heat on discharge of the charge in these long shell, render them liable to premature explosion if fired with high velocities. Some inventors have, therefore, sought to overcome this by dividing the shell transversely into compartments and so making each portion of the charge comparatively short. Cast-steel common shell (fig. 6) are cast in sand moulds head downwards from steel of the required composition to give the proper tenacity. A large head, which is subsequently removed, is cast on the base to give solidity and soundness to the castings. The castings are annealed by placing them in a See also:furnace or See also:oven until red hot, then allowing them to cool gradually. The See also:process of casting is very similar to that for the old cast- iron common shell, which, however, were cast base downwards. The steel cast- ings after being annealed are dressed and carefully examined for defects. The exterior of the body is generally ground by an See also:emery See also:wheel or turned in a lathe; the groove for the driving band is also turned and the fuze hole fitted with a gun-metal See also:bush. Forged- steel common shell are made from solid steel billets. These are heated to red- Flo. 6.-Pointed See also:Corn- ness and shaped by a See also:series of punches which force the heated metal through steel See also:dies by hydraulic pressure. If the shell is intended for a See also:nose fuze the base end is shaped by the See also:press and the head subsequently formed by a properly shaped See also:die, or, in the case of small shell, the head can, when red hot, be spun up in a lathe by a properly formed See also:tool. For a base fuze shell the head is produced by the punches and dies, and the base is subsequently formed by pressing in the metal to the desired shape. The shell is then completed as described above. High-explosive shell (fig. 7), as used in the English service, are simply forged-steel common shell filled with lyddite and having a special nose fuze and exploder. The base end of lyddite shell is made solid to prevent the possibility of the gas pressure in the gun producing a premature explosion. In filling the shell great precautions are necessary to prevent the melted lyddite (picric acid) from coming in contact with certain materials such as combinations of lead, soda, &c.,which produce sensitive picrates. The shell are consequently painted externally with a special non-lead paint and lacquered inside with special lacquer. The picric acid is melted in an oven, the temperature being carefully limited. The melted material is .poured into the shell by means of a bronze See also:funnel, which also forms the space for the exploder of picric powder. On cooling, the material solidifies into a dense, hard See also:mass (See also:density 1.6), in which See also:state it is called lyddite. The fuze on striking ignites the exploder and in turn the lyddite. When properly detonated a dense See also:black See also:smoke is produced and the projectile is broken up into small pieces, some of which are almost of the fineness of grains of sand. The See also:radius of the explosion is about 25 yds., but the local effect is intense, and hence on light structures in a confined space the destruction is complete. The shell is only of use against thin plates; against modern armour it is ineffective. When detonation has not been complete, as sometimes happens with small shells, the smoke is yellowish and the pieces of the exploded shell are as large as when a powder burster is used. The French high-explosive shell obus torpille or obus d melinite was adopted in 1886. The melinite was originally filled into the ordinary cast-iron common shell (obus ordinaire) with thick walls, but soon afterwards a forged-steel thin-walled shell (obus See also:allonge) was introduced. To explode the shell a steel receptacle (called a See also:game) is screwed into the nose of the shell. It is filled with explosive and fitted with a detonator which is exploded by a percussion fuze. Except for the means adopted to ensure detonation this shell is practically the same as the lyddite shell. Picric acid in some form or other is used in nearly all countries for filling high-explosive shell. In some the explosive is melted and poured into cardboard cases instead of being poured directly into the shell. The cases are placed in the shell either by the head of the shell unscrewing from the body or by a removable base plug. The French melinite and the See also:Italian pertite are believed to be forms of picric acid. See also:Russia and the United States use compressed wet gun-cotton (density 1.2) as the charge for their high-explosive shell. The gun-cotton is packed in a thin zinc or copper case and is placed in the shell either by the head or base of the shell being removable. The gun-cotton is detonated by a powerful exploder, the form of which differs in each See also:country. Ammonal is also used in high-explosive shell, but owing to its light density it is not in great favour. For field-gun and other small high-explosive shells, ordinary smokeless powder is often used. Double shell is a term given to a common shell which was made abnormally long, so as to receive a large bursting charge. They were intended to be fired with a reduced charge at short range. They are now practically obsolete; their place with modern B.L. guns has been taken by high-explosive shell. See also:Star shell are intended for See also:illuminating the enemy's position. They are very similar to shrapnel shell, composition stars made up in cylindrical See also:paper cases taking the place of the bullets. The shell on bursting, Driving Band - Base Plug mon Shell (cast steel). blows off the head and scatters the ignited stars. This shell is only supplied to See also:mountain guns and howitzers, and takes the place of the older types of illuminating shell, viz. the ground light See also:ball and the See also:parachute light ball. Hand grenades were used at the See also:assault of entrenchments or in See also:boat attacks. Although generally regarded as obsolete, they were much used by the Japanese at the siege of See also:Port See also:Arthur, 19o4. In the British service they were small, thin, spherical common shell weighing 3 lb for See also:land service and 6 lb for See also:sea service, filled with powder. They were fitted with a small wood time fuze to burn 7•5 seconds. The See also:grenade was held in the hand and \ RIVET. the fuze lighted by a port-fire. It was then thrown some 20 to 30 yds. at the enemy's works or boats. Sometimes a number were fired from a mortar at an See also:elevation of about 30° SO that none should strike the ground too near the mortar. New types of grenades filled with high explosives detonated by a percussion fuze have been produced of late years, and it is probable that they will be again introduced into most countries. - Shrapnel shell were invented by Lieu-See also:tenant (afterwards See also:Lieutenant-General) Henry Shrapnel, R.A. (1761-1842), in 1784. They were spherical common shell with lead bullets mixed with the bursting charge. Although far superior to common shell in See also:man-killing effect, their action was not altogether satisfactory, as the shell on bursting projected the bullets in all directions, and there was a liability of premature explosion. In order to overcome these defects See also:Colonel Boxer, R.A., separated the bullets from the bursting charge by a sheet-iron diaphragm—hence the name of " See also:diaphragm shell " (fig. 8). The bullets were hardened by the addition of antimony, and, as the bursting charge was small, the shell was weakened by four grooves made inside the shell extending from the fuze hole to the opposite side. Shell. altered, but its See also:character remained. The body of the shell was still made of cast iron with a cavity at the base for the bursting charge; on this was placed a thick steel diaphragm with a hollow brass See also:tube which communicated the flash from the nose fuze to the bursting charge. The body was filled with hard lead bullets, and a wood head covered869 with sheet iron or steel surmounted it and carried the fuze. By making the body of toughened steel (fig. 9) and by slightly reducing the diameter of the bullets, the number of bullets contained was much increased. In the older field shrapnel, bullets of 18 and 34 to the lb were used; for later patterns see a. "See also:Ili I„a Is -',iz« See also:Im table in ORDNANCE: Field Equipments. Thus with the cast-iron body the percentage of useful weight, i.e. the proportion of the weight of the bullets to the See also:total weight of Points s; y the shell, was from 26 to 28 %, while with Burst : -y __ss modern steel shell it is from 47 to 53 %. [Fig. to shows in plan the different effects of (a) shrapnel and of (b) high-explosive, burst in the See also:air with a time fuze in the usual way. It will be seen that the shrapnel bullets sweep an See also:area of about 250 yds. by 3o yds., half the bullets falling on the first 50 yds. of the beaten See also:zone. With the high-explosive shell, however, the fragments strike the ground closer to the point of burst and See also:beat a shallow, but broad, area of ground (about 7 yds. by 55 yds.). These areas show the calculated performance of the See also:German field gun (96 N.A.), firing at a range of 3300 yds. In the case of the high-explosive shell, the concussion of the burst is highly dangerous, quite apart from the actual See also:distribution of the fragments of the shell.] The term " See also:shooting shrapnel " is given to certain howitzer shraps nel, which are designed to contain a large bursting charge for the purpose of considerably augmenting the velocity of the bullets when the shell bursts. High-explosive shell of a corn-See also:pound type have also lately appeared. Messrs See also:Krupp have made a kind of See also:ring shell with a steel body; a central tube conveys the flash from the fuze to a base magazine containing a smoke-producing charge, while surrounding the central tube is a bursting charge of ordinary smokeless nitro-powder. A shrapnel on somewhat similar lines has been made by Ehrhardt; in form (fig. 11). it is an ordinary shrapnel with base burster, but near the head is a second magazine filled with a high-explosive charge; this is attached to the end of the fuze and is so arranged that when the shell is burst as time shrapnel the flash from the fuze passes clear of the high-explosive magazine and ignites only the base magazine, the bullets being blown out in the usual manner. When, however, the fuze acts on graze, the percussion part detonates the high-explosive charge and the bullets are blown out sideways and thus reach men behind See also:shields, &c. (fig. zo). There is some loss of bullet capacity in this shell, and it appears likely that the bullets will be materially Shrapnel (Ehrhardt). deformed when detonation occurs; the advantages may, how-ever, counterbalance their objections. Segment and ring shell are varieties of shrapnel, the interior of the shell being built up of cast-iron segments or rings (which break up into segments) about a tinned-iron See also:cylinder which formed the magazine of the shell. The shell was completed by a cast-iron body formed around the segments or rings. The German army in 187o employed ring shell almost exclusively against the French. The French found that common shell (obus ordinaire) when made of cast iron broke up on bursting into a small number of irregularly shaped pieces, and in order to obtain a systematic fragmentation for small shells they adopted a variety of projectiles of the segment and shrapnel types. With the improvements made latterly these have become obsolete, and the French system does not now materially differ from that employed in See also:England and other countries. The old shell are, however, of sufficient See also:interest to be enumerated; thus the " double-walled shell " (obus a double paroi) was built up of two shells, the See also:internal portion had a cylindrical chamber for the bursting charge, but on the outside it was so shaped as to break up into well-defined pieces; the See also:external portion of the shell was cast around the internal part, and also broke up into a number of pieces; this shell was liable to premature explosion. The obus d couronnes de balles (1879) was practically a segment shell with cast-iron balls in lieu of segments; thin iron partitions separated each layer, and the balls were flattened where they came in contact with the plates. The obus d balles litres, adopted in 188o, were of the same type, but there were no separating plates. The obus d anneaux was simply a ring shell of the same type as used in England. The obus d mitraille adopted in 1883 for field and siege guns had a cast-iron disc for its base with the body built up of segments and steel balls; a hollow ogival head surmounted this and a thin steel envelope See also:bound all together. The head was filled with powder and fitted with a fuze; on explosion,the head burst and rupturing the envelope set See also:free the balls and segments. It is of importance in firing shrapnel shell that the position of the burst shall be plainly seen. With the larger patterns of shell this presents no difficulty, but with the shrapnel for field guns which contain a small bursting charge only, and at long range in certain states of the See also:atmosphere, the difficulty becomes pronounced. The problem has been solved in some cases by packing the bullets in fine grain black powder (instead of See also:resin) and compressing both bullets and powder in order to prevent the generation of heat when the bullets set back on the discharge of the gun. In See also:Germany a mixture of red amorphous See also:phosphorus and fine grain powder is used for the same purpose and produces a dense See also: The British base percussion fuze (fig. 12) illustrates type (1). In this, before firing, the See also:needle pellet is held back by a central spindle with a pressure See also:plate attached to its rear end. For additional safety a .See also:Spring centrifugal bolt is added which is re-leased by the rotation of the shell. On discharge, the gas pressure pushes the pressure plate in, the central --Spindle spindle is carried . Pressure Plate forward with it and unlocks the centrifugal bolt; this is withdrawn by the rotation of the shell, and the needle pellet is then free to move forward and explode the detonating cap when the shell strikes. Type (2) is that usually adopted in small base fuzes and in the percussion part of " time and percussion " fuzes. Here the See also:ferrule, on shock of discharge, moves back relatively to the percussion pellet by collapsing the See also:stirrup spring; this leaves the pellet free to move forward, on the shell striking, and its detonator to strike the needle fixed in the fuze body. A spiral spring prevents any See also:movement of the pellet during See also:flight. The direct-action or impact fuzes of type (3) are very See also:simple (see fig. 13 of direct-action fuze). They are made of such a strength that during dis- charge nothing happens, but on striking an object the needle disc is crushed in and the needle explodes the detonating composition and thence the powder. The action of all time fuzes is started by the discharge of the gun. By this the pellet strikes the detonator and so ignites a length of slow-burning composition which is pressed into a wood tube or into a channel formed in a metal ring. To regulate the time of burning of the wood fuze, a hole is bored through into the composition as before stated, so that when it has burnt down to this hole one of the side channels filled with powder is ignited and explodes the shell. Wood fuzes are now only used for R.M.L. guns. With modern long-burning fuzes (fig. 14), two composition time rings are used. The See also:lower of these rings is made movable so that it can be turned to bring any desired place over a hole in the body of the fuze, which is filled with powder and communicates with the magazine. On the gun being fired the detonator is exploded and its flash ignites the upper time ring. This See also:burns See also:round to a passage made in the lower ring, when the lower ring begins to burn and continues to do so until the channel to the magazine is reached. The gases from the ignited composition escape from an external hole made in each time ring. See also:Mechanical time fuzes depending on the rotation of the shell to give a regular See also:motion to clockwork have been tried, but so far no practicable form of these fuzes has been found. It is important that all fuzes should be rigidly guarded against dampness, which tends to lengthen their time of burning; hence they are protected either by being kept in hermetically sealed tins holding one or more fuzes, or by some similar means. Tubes and Primers.—In ancient times various devices were adopted to ignite the charge. Small guns were fired by thrusting a hot See also:wire down the vent into the charge, or slow-burning powder was poured down the vent and ignited by a hot wire,
•--- Holes for See also: The common friction tube is a copper tube, driven with powder, having at the upper end a short See also:branch (called a nib piece) at right angles. This branch is filled with friction composition in which a friction See also:bar is embedded. On the friction bar being sharply pulled out, by means of a lanyard, the composition is ignited and sets fire to the powder in the long tube; the flash is conveyed through the vent and explodes the gun charge. For f/a/f round copper wire See also:twisted and roughened Garb y/ugshe//aced She/See also:lac See also:cement See also:naval purposes, in order that the sailors should not be cut about the face or hurt their feet, tubes of See also:quill instead of copper were used. If friction tubes are employed when See also:cordite or other smokeless powder charges are used, the erosion of the vent is very rapid unless the escape of the gas is prevented; in this case T-headed tubes (fig. 15) are used. They are similar in action to 871 the ordinary type, but are fixed to the vent by the head fitting a See also:bayonet See also:joint formed with the vent. The explosion blows a small ball upwards and blocks the coned hole at the See also:top of the tube and so prevents any See also:rush of gas. o The vent-sealing tube accurately fits into a chamber formed at the end of the vent, and is held in place by the gun See also:lock or some similar means. The force of the explosion expands the tube against the walls of its chamber, while the internal structure of the tube renders it gas-tight, any escape of gas through the vent being thus prevented. In the English service electric tubes (in the United States called " primers ") are mostly used, but percussion or friction tubes are in most favour on the See also:continent, and electric tubes are seldom or never used. There are two types of electric tube, one .. See also:Cork Plug with long wires (fig. 16) for joining up with the electric See also:circuit and the other without external wires. The first type has two insulated wires led into the interior and attached to two insulated Copper wire insulated with See also:silk --Brass body Ebonite _Copper poles coaled with pure /in See also:Platinum See also:silver wire -Sheet Ebonite --Composition priming ,~ Paper discs __Cork disc Top composition ring Ho/der /or percussion arrang! Shearing wire See also:tin and antimony Soft copper bait 3Ho/es Gun See also:Meta/ Head _Contact disc --insulated Wire ----Brass Body _ _ Ebonite /nsu/a/See also:ion _- Brass See also:Cone ___Composihon Priming _ - Platinum Sitter See also:Bridge _ Paper Disc 17.—Wireless Tube. 872 brass cones which are connected by a wire " bridge " of platinum silver. This bridge is surrounded by a priming composition of gun-cotton dust and mealed powder and the remainder of the tube is filled with powder. On an electric current passing, the bridge is heated to incandescence and ignites the priming composition. In the wireless tube (fig. 1'7) the lock of the gun makes the electric contact with an insulated disc in the head of the tube. This disc is connected by an insulated wire to a brass cone, also insulated, the bridge being formed from an edge of the cone to a brass wire which is soldered to the mouth of the tube. Priming composition surrounds the bridge and the tube is filled with powder. The electric circuit passes from the gun lock to the disc, thence through the bridge to the body of the tube, returning through the metal of the gun and tnount'ng. The percussion tube (fig. i8) has a similarly shaped body to the wire- less electric tube, but the internal construction differs; it is fitted with a striker, below which is a percussion cap on a hollow brass See also:anvil, and the tube is filled with powder. With Q.F. guns (that is, strictly, fine Grain Powder those using metallic cartridge cases) the case itself is fitted with the igniting medium; in England these are called primers. For small guns the case contains a percussion primer, usually a copper cap filled with a chlorate mixture and resting against an anvil. The striker of the gun strikes the cap and fires the mixture. For larger guns an electric primer (fig. la) is used, the internal construction and action of which are precisely similar to the wireless tube already described; the exterior is screwed for the case. For percussion .–Waterproof Cement Glaze See also:board Oise Gun-cotton Dust and Mee/ad Powder P/etinum silver wire .a Tuft of gun-cotton See also:yarn ___,.Pure tin _Crown meta/ See also:pole ...Brass See also:screw See also:collar ,Ebonite washer ..Oiled Si/A _. Brass Cone Black Thread Copper wire insulated wit/1 silk, bared at end with one turn in head Section FUf1 Size firing an ordinary percussion tube is placed in an adapter screwed into the case. In some See also:foreign services a combined electric and percussion primer is used; the action of this will be understood from fig. 20. The first cartridges for cannon were made up of gunpowder packed in a paper bag or case. For many years after the intro- duction of cannon the powder was introduced into the bore by means of a See also:scoop-shaped ladle fixed to the end of a long stave. The ladle was made of the tame diameter as the shot, and it had a definite length so that it was filled once for the charging of small guns but for larger guns the ladle had to be filled twice or even thrice. The See also:rule was to make the powder charge the same weight as that of the shot. Cartridges made up in paper or canvas bags were after-wards used in forts at night-time or on board ship, so that the guns could be more rapidly loaded and with less risk than by using a ladle. Before loading, a piece of the paper or canvas covering had to be cut open immediately under the vent; after the shot had been rammed See also:home the vent was filled with powder from a priming See also:horn, and the gun was then fired by means of a hot iron, quick match or port-fire. The ancient breech-loading guns were not so difficult to load, as the powder chamber of the gun was removable and was charged by simply filling it up with powder and ramming a See also:wad on top to prevent the escape of the powder. Paper, canvas and similar materials are particularly liable to smoulder after the gun has been fired, hence the See also:necessity of well sponging the piece. Even with this precaution accidents often occurred owing tc a cartridge being ignited by the still glowing debris of the previous round. In order to prevent this, bags of non-smouldering material, such as flannel, serge or silk loth are used; combustible material such as See also:woven gun-cotton See also:cloth has also been tried, but there are certain disadvantages attending this. All smokeless powders are somewhat difficult to ignite in a gun, so that in order to prevent hang-fires every cartridge has a primer or igniter, of ordinary fine grain gunpowder, placed so as to intercept the flash from the tube; the outside of the bag containing this igniter is made of shalloon, to allow the flash to penetrate with ease. The charge for heavy guns (above 6 in.) is made up in separate cartridges containing half and See also:quarter charges, both for convenience of handling, and to allow of a reduced charge being used. The cartridges are made of a bundle of cordite, or other smoke-less powder, tightly tied with silk, placed in a silk cloth bag with the primer or igniter stitched on the unclosed end; the exterior is taped with silk cloth tape so as to form a stiff cartridge. For f Mil/board Disc ' '- steeped in She/lac ___ Si, m hoard d,sc Plan of Top shewinq disc a be torn off Si/k See also:braid braid See also:becket same of the longer guns, the exterior of the cartridge is conveniently fnade of a coned shape, the coned form being produced by See also:building up layers outside a cylindrical core. In these large cartridges a silk See also:cord becket runs up the centre with a See also:loop at the top for handling (fig. 21). _ _ Brass Body BrassSMiker _ _ Percussion Cap ... Anvil cartridges. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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