Nonmercuric primers

As a result of the need to reuse spent cartridge cases for economic reasons, there has been no mercury in U.S. military small arms primers manufactured since 1898. It was used to a later date (about 1930) in certain U.S. commercial primers. In 1898 the U.S. military adopted a nonmercuric primer composition, coded H-48, for use in the. 30 Krag cartridge. The primer composition was ... 

During World War I the nonmercuric primer mixture used was ... 

B.A. Bydal, Percussion Primer Mixes , Ordnance, Vol LVI, No 309, 230-33 (Nov-Dec 1971) (A review of the history of initiating explosives from their discovery early in the seventeenth century up to the development of today s safer noncorrosive, nonmercuric mixes)... 

Up to this time primers had fallen into three categories mercuric and corrosive, nonmercuric but corrosive, and mercuric but noncorrosive. Because of the disadvantages of mercury fulminate and potassium chlorate the main objective of primer development was to produce a primer with satisfactory ignition properties without the use of these two compounds. An early NCNM priming composition used copper ammonium nitrate to replace mercury fulminate, and potassium nitrate to replace potassium chlorate. The composition was ... 

Primer mixtures can be divided today into six categories (a) mercuric and corrosive, (b) mercuric and noncorrosive, (c) nonmercuric and corrosive, (d) nonmercuric and noncorrosive, that is, Sinoxyd type, (e) Sintox type, that is, lead free, and (f) miscellaneous (unusual priming compositions). 

Primers could be grouped into six categories (a) corrosive and mercuric (potassium chlorate and mercury fulminate), (b) noncorrosive and mercuric (barium nitrate replaced potassium chlorate), (c) corrosive and nonmercuric (lead styphnate replaced mercury fulminate), (d) noncorrosive, nonmercuric (modern Sinoxyd type), (e) unusual/miscellaneous primer compositions, and (0 recent nontoxic primers (Sintox). 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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