Powder bags

It sometimes happens that when bags of propellant of separate loaded ammunition are charged into a gun immediately after the previous round had been fired, a premature ignition of the charge takes place. This usually happens when one or several pieces of an incompletely burned powder bag from the previous charge remain glowing in the barrel. 

It has been claimed that cotton bags are usually the cause of such accidents and for that reason, powder bags in this country have usually been made of silk, now partly replaced by Nylon. On the other hand, the Russians have always used cotton bags either unmercerized or 50% mercerized (die threads running in one direction are mercerized while those running in a perpendicular direction are unmercerized). During WWII, the... 

Ditto, "Propellent Powders , OPM 8 12 (1937) 4)Ditto, "Artillery and Mortar Fuzes , OPM 8 13 (1948) 5)Ditto, "Primers Cannon , OPM 8-14 (1943) 6)Ditto, "Boosters , OPM 8 15 (1942) 7)Ditto, "Cartridge Cases-Powder Bags , OPM 8-16 (1942) 8)Anon, "List of Specifications and Standards , Part 1, Alphabetical Listing, Defense Supply Agency, Washington 25, DC,... 

Aluminum sulfate, AljOj, dry alum Lump, granules, ground, powder Bags 100 lb drums 25-250 lb bulk 87.3 98 or 17... 

Calcium hydroxide, Ca(0H)2, hydrated lime Light powder, powder Bags 50-100 lb bulk 0.16 82-95... 

Copper sulfate, CuSO Lump, crystal, powder Bags 100 lb drums 26.3 99... 

Sodium carbonate, NSgCOg, soda ash Granules, powder Bags 100 lb drums 25-100 lb bulk 21.5 99.2... 

The lowest area of the turret contains the powder flats. It is here that powder bags stored in hermetic canisters (as shown in Figure 7.6) are hoisted to the gun house through a powder hoist, so that propellant may be loaded onto a cradle and into the breech behind the projectile via the Rammer mechanism. Magazines partially surround the powder flat and are isolated from the turret by two heavy concentric steel bulkheads that form an annnlar space. 

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