Round of ammunition

Complete Round of Ammunition. See Ammunition, Complete Round in Ref 43, p A385-L... 

More detailed description and cutaway views of artillery primer-igniters will be given after a brief description of ammunition in which such initiating devices are used. Cutaway views of typical fixed, semifixed and separated rounds of ammunition are in-... 

There are, however, some 152-mm rounds of ammunition, which are fixed". Their cartridge cases are combustible. Following are two examples ... 

The following complete rounds of ammunition for mortars are described in Ref 52 60-mm HE, M49A2 HE, M49A2E1 HE,... 

Fuze Setter-Rammer. An automatic electrically motivated mechanism combining fuze setter and rammer. It is utilized to feed single rounds of ammunition, set the fuzes, and ram the rounds into the chamber of antiaircraft guns. It automatically sets fuzes according to electrical fuze data transmitted from a remote control director to the motor drive, which, in conjunction with an amplifier, converts the electrical data to mechanical data in the transmission assem-... 

Fuzes contain safety devices that tend to prevent functioning until after the fuze has been subjected to centrifugal and setback forces, after the round is fired. In the so-called bore-safe fuzes, the path of the explosive train is interrupted so that, while the projectile is still in the bore of the weapon, premature expln is prevented should any of the more sensitive fuze elements (such as primer and/or detonator) start to function. Interruption is usually achieved by inserting out-of-line components or interrupter blocks or slides. Although this leaves the fuze in an unarmed position, it would not be considered safe in handling or shipping, unless the fuze was not provided with safety devices such as safety wires or cotter pins. These outside devices must be removed prior to inserting the fuzed round of ammunition into gun barrel, but the fuze will still be unarmed because some of its inside parts are not free to move to their proper positions so that the fuze may operate in its intended manner... 

Abbreviations CRA — Complete Round of Ammunition AP, HE, LN — Armor-Piercing,... 

Packing. Rounds of ammunition are usually packed in wooden boxes, with or without metal liners, or in wooden boxes with each round in an airtight metal or fiber container. 

Volatility or readiness with which a substance vaporizes, is an undesirable characteristic for military explosives. Explosives must be no more than slightly volatile at the temperature at which they are loaded or at the highest storage temperature. Excessive volatility often results in the development of pressure within the rounds of ammunition and separation of mixtures into their constituents. Volatility also affects chemical composition of the explosive resulting in the marked reduction in stability leading to an increase in the danger of handling. 

Ammunition Component. Any part of a complete round of ammunition, such as a primer, cartridge, shell, etc. It is called "live when loaded and "inactive when inert Ref Anon, "Ammunition Inspection Guide, War Dept Tech Manual TM 9-1904(1944),... 

Coup complet (Fr),Complete round of ammunition Coup de poussiere (Fr).Dust explosion... 

Munitionen und Waffen in Ger Munitions et Armes in Fr Boyepripassy i Qruzhiye (Boyevyiya Sredstva) in Russ Municiones y Armas in Span Munizioni(Proietti) e Armi in Ital]. Ammunition is any material used in warfare and designed to inflict damage upon the enemy. The term includes the complete round of ammunition as w ell as other components or elements. Reduced to its fundamentals, ammunition usually consists of a container(metallic or other material) containing propellant and a missile with/or without explosive. Weapons may be subdivided into small arms (calibers up to about 0.60" in the US) such as pistols, revolvers, carbines, rifles, submachine guns machine... 

A revolver is a type of pistol but for clarity it is better to describe it separately. A revolver is a single-barreled handgun with a revolving cylinder (multiple chambers), which holds a number of rounds of ammunition... 

The Oxford dictionary defines a cartridge as a case containing a charge of propellant explosive for firearms or blasting, with bullet or shot if for small arms. Other terms, such as ammunition, round of ammunition, or round, are also used for cartridges and are equally acceptable. Bullet, however, is wrongly used in this context and should be reserved for the projectile only. 

The modern firearm employs the percussion principle but the percussion cap (primer) is an integral part of the round of ammunition. 

When a bullet leaves the muzzle of a firearm there is recoil in the opposite direction to the travel of the bullet. Although the recoil is a nuisance it can be used to eject the spent cartridge case, load a live round of ammunition, and cock the mechanism. This can also be achieved by using some of the gas generated during discharge. 

The strict specifications and quality control procedures for cartridge manufacture reflect the very important role the cartridge case plays in the discharge process. In addition to housing all the components of a round of ammunition in one package, a cartridge must ... 

When a round of ammunition is discharged in a firearm, the internal gas pressure, and to a much lesser extent the temperature rise, causes the cartridge case to expand tightly against the chamber walls (obturation). This is an extremely important function of the cartridge case as this prevents the rearward escape of gas. Such an escape of gas would reduce the velocity of the projectile and consequently the efficiency of the firearm and could possibly cause a malfunction in the firearm mechanism. 

The feeding and extraction mechanism of the firearm coupled with the type of ignition system dictates the design of the base of the cartridge case. Nearly all cartridge cases have the outside surface of the base indent-stamped by the maker (head stamp). Information such as the maker s initials, code, or mark, year of manufacture (mainly military ammunition), caliber or other coded information are indent-stamped into the base. It is sometimes possible, even for old ammunition, for a manufacturer to check its records and give the complete specification of a round of ammunition from the head stamp details. 

After a batch of damp sulfur and/or impure potassium chlorate (polluted with potassium bromate) caused dead primers in millions of rounds of ammunition with Frankford Arsenals FH-42 primer mix, this primer composition was abandoned. Frankford Arsenal adopted the Winchester Repeating Arms Company s 35-NF primer mix which was then standardized as FA-70 and was used in 0.45 ACP and. 30-06 ammunition throughout World War II and into the 1950s. 

Another round of ammunition developed specifically for law enforcement use is the BAT (Blitz-Action-Trauma) ammunition. It is designed for high stopping power and for the projectile to have a short range of travel. The bullet is unjacketed and is made from solid copper alloy with a differing diameter hole all the way through the bullet from nose to base. This is illustrated in Figure 11.10. 

As the name implies, such rounds of ammunition incorporate projectiles that are designed to incapacitate rather than kill, and are used for riot control purposes. Either plastic or rubber bullets are used, and are usually very much larger than conventional bullets. Such bullets can be fatal if the weapon is not used in the correct manner. Much smaller plastic bullets, 5.56 mm caliber, have been used for riot control by the Israeli Army and fatalities have resulted from their use. 

When a round of ammunition is discharged in a firearm, in addition to the projectile(s), firearm discharge residue is emitted, mainly from the muzzle but also from cylinder gaps, ejection ports, and other vents in the firearm. Some of this residue may be deposited on the skin, head hair, and clothing of the firer. 

To demonstrate the variations in and complexity of the basic item involved in firearms crimes, the round of ammunition, a detailed knowledge of which can aid both the physical and chemical investigation of scenes of crime and the subsequent laboratory examination. 

To investigate the feasibility of conducting chemical comparisons between propellants detected in casework and suspect ammunition, it was decided to determine variations from granule to granule in a single round of ammunition and then to compare burned (discharged) and unburned propellants, to determine what, if any, difference was caused by the discharge process. 

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