Rifle, invention

It is the year of introduction by the Russian Armed Froces of 5-cartridge, cal 7.62mm rifle invented by Mossin and Nagan. It is known as tfekhlineynaya vintovka (three-line rifle). It... 

Enfield Rifle. British rifle invented before WWI andused successfully not only by the British but also by Americans. It was known in US as Rifle Caliber.,30, Model 1917. It was a bolt-type, breach-rloading magazine-type weapon, holding 5 cartridges. Its length was 3 10-3 the weight 2 lbs 15 ozs, and the range of up to 2000 yds (Refs)... 

Chassepot Rifle. A breech-loading rifle invented in 1866 by A.A.Chassepot(1833 1905) and adopted ca 1869 by the Fr forces under the name of "Fusil modele 1866 . It was a bolt-action weapon, which was superior to Ger "needle-gun invented by N.Dreyse ca 1838. Although chassepot had die defect of employing soft paper, self-consuming cartridges, it was used rather successfully during the Fran co-Prussian War of 1870-71. 

Trow el-bay o-net. A bayonet re.semblin a ma.son s trowel, used as a weapon, and as a light intrenching-tool, or as a hatchet when detached from the rifle. Invented by... 

Whit worth Gun. Ordnance.) A kind of rifle invented by Mr. Whitworth of Manchester, England. The bore is hexagonal in section and has a very rapid twist The projectiles are very elongated... 

Pedersen Device. An invention of the US arms designer J.D. Pedersen, this was a noteworthy ordnance secret of WWI. It consisted of a receiver unit that could be locked into the receiver of a Springfield or Enfield rifle. Installed, it converted the rifle into a semiautomatic weapon that fired. 30 cal pistol-type cartridges from a 40-round box magazine. To hide its identity, the mechanism was officially listed as the US. 30 cal automatic pistol Model 1918. The system was dropped after the war Ref J. Quick, Dictionary of Weapons and Military Terms , McGraw-Hill, NY (1973), 342... 

Accdg to Marshall 1 (Ref 11, pp 37-38), the Prussians adopted a breech-loading rifle, the Ziindnagelgewehr, invented in 1838 by Dreyse. 

After that war, the Germans decided to improve the compositions and weapons used in incendiary warfare and especially to construct an incendiary projectile suitable for shooting from rifled, high-muzzle-velocity guns, invented in the 1860 s. After many trials, they succeeded in developing several types of incendiary shells, some of which were used later in WWI. Other countries followed the German example and also developed incendiary shells... 

Ever since the invention of NC and NG, attempts were made to apply them either by themselves or in mixtures for military purposes. Under the term uses for military purposes may be understood propellants in rifle, cannon, rocket and pyrotechnic ammunition booster and bursting charges in bombs, grenades, mines (land and sea), artillery projectiles, warheads of torpedoes and of rockets, etc military blasting operations, military cratering, military demolition, military excavation and production of antitank ditches... 

Abel Powder or Picric Powder. A mixt for priming PA(picric acid) invented in 1869 by Sir F. A. Abel Amm pi crate 40 K nitrate 60% (Ref 1). French used a similar compn called Brugere(poudre). In Ref 2, the compn of picric powder is given as Amm picrate 43 A K nitrate 57% vel solid.dec without melting brisance — less than TNT ballistic strength ca 75% TNT deton rate ca 3500 m/s vs 6900 for TNT sensitivity to impact, rifle bullet and initiation — comparable to tetryl stability and compatibility with metals — comp arable to Amm picrate. Was used during WWII by the British as a booster in AP projectiles filled with Sbellite(qv)... 

Armstrong Gun. A rifled gun, constructed according to the system of built-up, wrought-iion ordnance, invented ca 1855 by Sir W.G. Armstrong of England... 

With the invention of metallic cartridges, it became possible to use breecb-loading rifles (see under Breech-loading Weapon in this Volume)... 

Exploding bullets are not a recent concept. About the middle of the nineteenth century two types of exploding rifle bullets were invented, one using a percussion cap and black powder and the other using mercury fulminate. Figure 11.5 illustrates both types. 

Accdg to Maj Hobart (Ref 3), the ides of fin stabilization is much older than spin stabilization. This is because the earliest weapons were smooth-bore and they could use finned ptojs, while spin projectiles required rifled weapons which were not invented until, about 1500. The earliest fin-stabilized projectile was an arrow and then fireworks projs, which could be called rockets. The earliest projs fired from smooth-bore barrels of small arms or cannons were like balls and they did not have any stabilizing attachments. However, accdg to the description given in Milimet Manuscript of 1326, now in Christchurch, Oxford, the earliest cannon, known as pot de jeu (fire pot) was fin-stabilized (See also Vol 2 of Encycl, p C26-L)... 

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