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PLATINUM WIRE INSULATION PERCUSSION

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 875 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also:

PLATINUM See also:WIRE INSULATION PERCUSSION CAP For howitzers, variable charges are used, and are made up so that the See also:weight can be readily altered. The following typical instance (fig. 22) will serve to show the See also:general method of making 2 oz rra//oonng of See also:cordite covered _ , with sh r-- 8 .. . up such charges, whether for B.L. or Q.F. howitzers. Small See also:size cordite is used, and the See also:charge is formed of a See also: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 See also:silk braids. The weight of the rings is graduated so that by detaching one or more the varying charges required can be obtained. For See also:quick-firing guns the charge is contained in a See also:brass See also:case to which is fitted a primer for igniting the charge. This case is inserted into the See also:gun, and when fired slightly expands and tightly fits the chamber of the gun, thus acting as an obturator and preventing any See also:escape of See also:gas from the See also:breech. This class of See also:ammunition is especially useful for the smaller calibres of guns, such as 3-pr., 6-pr. and See also:field guns, but Messrs See also:Krupp also employ metallic See also:cartridge cases for the largest type of gun, probably on See also:account of the known difficulty of ensuring trustworthy obturation by any other means practicable with sliding See also: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 , .

See also:

Felt wed necessary, distance , pieces formed of See also: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 See also:movement of the charge. The mouth of the case is closed either by the See also:base end of the projectile (fig. 23), in which case it is called " fixed ammunition " or " simultaneous loading ammunition," or by a metallic cap (fig. 24), when it is called " See also:separate loading ammunition," the projectile and charge being thus loaded by separate operations. (A. G. H.) The See also:Bullet.— The See also:original See also:musket bullet was a spherical leaden See also:ball two sizes smaller than the See also:bore, wrapped in a loosely fitting See also:paper patch which formed the cartridge. The loading was, therefore, easy with the old smooth-bore See also:Brown arms am-Bess and similar military muskets. The original munition. muzzle-loading See also:rifle, on the other See also:hand, with a closely fitting ball to take the grooves, was loaded with difficulty, particularly when foul, and for this See also:reason was not generally used for military purposes. In 1826 Delirque, a See also:French See also:infantry officer, invented a breech with abrupt shoulders on which the spherical bullet was rammed down until it See also:expanded and filled the grooves. The objection in this case was that the deformed bullet had an erratic See also:flight. The See also:Brunswick rifle, introduced into the See also:British See also:army in the reign of See also:William IV., fired a spherical bullet weighing 557 grs. with a See also:belt to See also:fit the grooves.

The rifle was not easily loaded, and soon fouled. In 1835 W. Greener produced a new expansive bullet, an See also:

oval ball, a See also:diameter and a See also:half in length, with a See also:flat end, perforated, in which a See also:cast metallic See also:taper plug was inserted. The See also:explosion of the charge drove the plug See also:home, expanded the bullet, filled the grooves and prevented windage. A trial of the Greener bullet in See also:August 1835, at See also:Tynemouth, by a party of the both (now See also:King's Royal) Rifles, proved successful. The range and accuracy of the rifle were retained, while the loading proved as easy as with a smooth-bore musket. The invention was, however, rejected by the military authorities on the ground that the bullet was a See also:compound one. In 1852 the See also:government awarded Minie, a Frenchman, £20,000 for a bullet of the same principle, adopted into the British service. Subsequently, in 1857, Greener was also awarded £See also:i000 for " the first public See also:suggestion of the principle of expansion, commonly called the Minie principle, in 1836." The Minie bullet contained an See also:iron See also:cup in a cavity in the base of the bullet. The See also:form of the bullet was subsequently changed from conoidal to cylindro-conoidal, with a hemispherical iron cup. This bullet was used in the See also:Enfield rifle introduced into the British army in 1855. It weighed 530 grs., and was made up into cartridges and lubricated as for the Minie rifle.

A See also:

boxwood plug to the bullet was also used. The bullet used in the breech-loading See also:Martini-See also:Henry rifle, adopted by the British government in 1871 in See also:succession to the Snider-Enfield rifle, weighed 48o grs., and was fired from an Eley-Boxer cartridge-case with a See also:wad of See also:wax See also:lubrication at the base of the bullet. Between 1854 and 1857 See also:Sir See also:Joseph See also:Whitworth conducted a See also:long See also: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 See also:target practice between 1857 and 1866, when 6 I N4 oz CwT +.~ . ize 5 BATCH J. i N.90 C-wf`— is Silk See also:braid 35 z°~*c+Qo _~- wide stitched 71y~~ 5~to649 See also:balloon R F. C' See also:Powder 4 oz. See also:ring of cordite See also:round & wee Si/k twist Silk twist for r to bottCmPof cordite lonier or Primer "----•" Percussion Cep Secl,on ,0riving See also:Band -1r= '.. ..Cap \ Need/e '. Oaring , eV/et of See also:Lead See also:Body -•--..Silk Braid -*•-•Cordite Charqe 5/b. 7oz. Size 20 --Cordite See also:Cylinder ....Powder Igniter --She/loon Beg Electric Primer it was gradually superseded by Metford's See also:system mentioned below. The next important See also:change in the See also:history of the rifle bullet occurred in 1883, when See also:Major Rubin, director of the Swiss Laboratory at See also: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 See also: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 See also:

light rifling with increasing See also:spiral, and a hardened bullet. The combined result of the above inventions was that in See also:December 1888 the See also:Lee-Metford small-bore .303 rifle, See also: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, See also: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 See also: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 See also:wind. Its greater relative length to diameter necessitates a sharper See also:pitch of rifling in See also: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 See also:barrel without rotation. The general result is that, while the enveloped bullet has a much higher penetrative See also:power than one of lead only, it does not usually inflict so severe a See also: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 See also:chief danger is usually a See also:rush of large See also:numbers at See also:close quarters.

The advantages, however, of the smaller calibre and the lighter bullet and ammunition are considered to outweigh the disadvantages, and they have been universally adopted for all military rifles. Bullets for target and sporting-rifles have, in the See also:

main, followed, or occasionally preceded, the See also: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 See also:Rigby mechanically fitting bullet was used with success at the See also:National Rifle Association See also:meeting, and in the second See also:stage of the See also:Queen's See also:prize. The bullets of sporting rifles, and particularly those of See also: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 See also:game hunted. If greater penetration is needed, the leaden bullet is hardened with See also:mercury or See also: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 See also: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 See also:action and the danger involved in handling them. Their use in warfare is prohibited by inter-national See also:law. The nickel-covered bullet, when used in a See also:modern small-bore rifle for sporting purposes, is made into an expanding bullet, either by leaving the leaden core uncovered at the See also:nose of the bullet, with or without a hollow point, or by cutting transverse or See also:longitudinal nicks of varying See also:depth in the point or circumference of the bullet. A See also:cone-shaped See also:sharp-pointed bullet, named the Spitzer bullet, has been tried in the See also:United States under the auspices of the See also:Ordnance See also:Department, in a See also:Springfield rifle, which is practically identical with the British service •303 Lee-Enfield. This bullet is lighter than the Lee-Enfield bullet (150 grs. as against 215 grs.), and when fired with a heavier charge of powder (51 grs. as against 31 grs.) gives, it is claimed, better results in muzzle-velocity, trajectory, deflexion from wind and See also:wear and See also:tear of rifling, than the See also:present universally used cylinder-shapedbullet.

In 1906 details of its prototype, the See also:

German " S " bullet (Spitzgeschoss), and of the French " D " bullet, were published. The Cartridge.—The original cartridge for military small arms See also: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 See also:fire-See also:lock or See also:flint-lock, about 1635, the priming was originally put into the See also:pan of the See also:wheel-lock and snaphance muskets from a See also:flask containing a See also:fine-grained powder called See also: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 See also: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 See also:cover and See also: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 See also:quarter of a See also:century after the invention of percussion powder and after an elaborate government test at See also: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, See also:

sulphur and See also:charcoal, which exploded by concussion. This invention was gradually See also: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 See also: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 See also:cock or hammer which held the flint by a smaller hammer with a hollow to fit on the nipple when released by the trigger. On the nipple was placed the copper cap containing the detonating See also:composition, now made of three parts of chlorate of potash, two of fulminate of mercury and one of powdered See also:glass. The detonating cap thus invented and adopted, brought about the invention of the modern cartridge case, and rendered possible the general adoption of the breech-loading principle for all varieties of rifles, shot guns and pistols. Probably no invention connected with fire-arms has wrought such changes in the principle of gun construction as those effected by the expansive cartridge case. This invention has completely revolutionized the See also:art of gunmaking, 4.0.311'1. British 303 bullet n has been successfully applied to all descriptions of firearms, and has produced a new and important See also:industry—that 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 See also:

pin-fire, patented, according to some authorities, by Houiller, a See also:Paris gunsmith, in 1847; and, according to others, by Lefaucheux, also a Paris gunsmith, in or about 185o. It consisted of thin weak See also: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 See also:middle of the base of the cartridge, and was exploded by means of a brass pin projecting from the See also:side and struck by the hammer. This pin also afforded the means of extracting the cartridge case. This cartridge was introduced in See also:England by See also:Lang, of Cockspur See also:Street, See also: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 See also:Schneider, and gave rise to much litigation in respect of its patent rights. Daw was subsequently defeated in his See also:control of the See also:patents by Eley Bros. In this cartridge the cap in the centre of .the cartridge base is detonated by a striker passing through the See also:standing breech to the inner See also: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 See also:

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 See also:shoulder guns. They are also made as small as '410 and •36o See also:gauge: their length varies from I! in. to 4 in. Cartridges for See also: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 See also: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 See also: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 See also:spring set See also:free by the pulling of the trigger. In 1867 the British See also:war See also: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 See also:block opening on a See also:hinge, thus forming a false breech against which the cartridge rested. The detonating cap was in the base of the cartridge, and was exploded by a striker passing through the breech block. Other See also:European See also:powers adopted breech-loading military rifles from 1866 to 1868, with paper instead of metallic cartridge cases. The original Eley-Boxer cartridge case was made of thin coiled brass.

Later the solid-See also:

drawn, central-fire cartridge case, made of one entire solid piece of tough hard See also:metal, an alloy of copper, &c., with a solid See also:head of thicker metal, has been generally substituted. Central-fire cartridges with solid-drawn metallic cases containing their own means of ignition are now universally used in all modern varieties of military and sporting rifles and pistols. There is See also:great variety in the length and diameter of cartridges for the different kinds and calibres of rifles and pistols. Those for military rifles vary from 2.2 in. to 2.25 in. in length, and from '256 to •315 gauge. For sporting rifles from 21 in. to 34 in. in length, and through numerous gauges from •256 in. to •600 in. See also:AMOEBA 875 For revolvers, pistols, See also:rook and See also:rabbit rifles, and for See also:Morris tubes, cartridges vary from '22 in. to '301 in. in gauge. All See also: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 See also:magazine is filled with the required number of cartridges in one See also:motion. A clip is simply a case of cartridges which is dropped into the magazine; a charger is a See also: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.

End of Article: PLATINUM WIRE INSULATION PERCUSSION

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