1.
Bullet
–
The word bullet is a firearm term. A bullet is a projectile expelled from the barrel of a firearm, the term is from Middle French and originated as the diminutive of the word boulle which means small ball. Bullets are made of a variety of materials and they are available singly as they would be used in muzzle loading and cap and ball firearms, as part of a paper cartridge, and much more commonly as a component of metallic cartridges. Bullets are made in a numbers of styles and constructions depending on how they will be used. Many bullets have specialized functions, such as hunting, target shooting, training, defense, a bullet is not a cartridge. In paper and metallic cartridges a bullet is one component of the cartridge, bullet sizes are expressed by their weight and diameter in both English and Metric measurement systems. For example.22 caliber 55 grain bullets or 5. 56mm 55 grain bullets are the same caliber, the word bullet is often used colloquially to refer to a cartridge, which is a combination of the bullet, paper or metallic case/shell, powder, and primer. This use of bullet, when cartridge is intended, leads to confusion when the components of a cartridge are discussed or intended, the bullets used in many cartridges are fired at a muzzle velocity faster than the speed of sound. Meaning they are supersonic and thus can travel a substantial distance, bullet speed through air depends on a number of factors such as barometric pressure, humidity, air temperature, and wind speed. Subsonic cartridges fire bullets slower than the speed of sound and so there is no sonic crack and this means that a subsonic cartridge such as.45 ACP can be effectively suppressed to be substantially quieter than a supersonic cartridge such as the.223 Remington. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the target by impact. The first use of gunpowder in Europe was recorded in 1247 and it had been used in China for hundreds of years. Later in 1364 hand cannon appeared, early projectiles were made of stone. Stone was used in cannon and hand cannon, in cannon it was eventually found that stone would not penetrate stone fortifications which gave rise to the use of heavier metals for the round projectiles. Hand cannon projectiles developed in a similar following the failure of stone from siege cannon. The first recorded instance of a ball from a hand cannon penetrating armor occurred in 1425. In this photograph of shot retrieved from the wreck of the Mary Rose which was sunk in 1545, the round shot are clearly of different sizes and some are stone while others are cast iron. The development of the hand culverin and matchlock arquebus brought about the use of cast lead balls as projectiles, bullet is derived from the French word boulette, which roughly means little ball
2.
Primer (firearms)
–
In firearm ballistics, the primer is a component of pistol, rifle, and shotgun rounds. Early primers were simply the same black powder used to fire the weapon and this external powder was connected though a tube in the barrel that led to the main charge. As powder wont burn when wet, this led to difficulty, or even the inability, modern primers are shock sensitive chemicals. In smaller weapons the primer is usually integrated into the rear of a cartridge, in larger weapons like cannon the primer is a separate component placed inside the barrel to the rear of the main propellant charge. The first step to firing a firearm of any sort is igniting the propellant, the earliest firearms were cannons, which were simple closed tubes. There was an aperture, the touchhole, drilled in the closed end of the tube. This hole was filled with finely ground powder, which was ignited with a hot ember or torch. With the advent of firearms, this became an undesirable way of firing a gun. The first attempt to make the process of firing a small arm easier was the matchlock, the matchlock incorporated a lock that was actuated by a trigger, originally called a tricker. The lock was a lever which pivoted when pulled. The match was a burning fuse made of plant fibers that were soaked in a solution of nitrates, charcoal, and sulfur. This slow-match was ignited before the gun was needed, and it would slowly burn, after the gun was loaded and the touchhole primed with powder, the burning tip of the match was positioned so that the lock would bring it into contact with the touchhole. To fire the gun, it was aimed and the trigger pulled and this brought the match down to the touchhole, igniting the powder. With careful attention the slow-burning match could be burning for long periods of time. The next revolution in technology was the wheel-lock. It used a spring-loaded, serrated steel wheel which rubbed against a piece of iron pyrite, a key was used to wind the wheel and put the spring under tension. Once tensioned, the wheel was held in place by a trigger, when the trigger was pulled, the serrated edge of the steel rubbed against the pyrite, generating sparks. These sparks were directed into a pan, called the flash pan, the flashpan usually was protected by a spring-loaded cover that would slide out of the way when the trigger was pulled, exposing the powder to the sparks
3.
Gunpowder
–
Gunpowder, also known as black powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate, the sulfur and charcoal act as fuels, and the saltpeter is an oxidizer. Black powder firearms are in limited use today in hunting, shooting, Black powder has been replaced for most industrial uses by high explosives such as dynamite. Black powder is assigned the UN number UN0027 and has a class of 1. 1D. It has a point of approximately 427–464 °C. The specific flash point may vary based on the composition of the gunpowder. Gunpowders specific gravity is 1. 70–1.82 or 1. 92–2.08, Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate at subsonic speeds, whereas high explosives detonate, ignition of the powder packed behind a bullet must generate enough pressure to force it from the muzzle at high speed, but not enough to rupture the gun barrel. Gunpowder thus makes a good propellant, but is suitable for shattering rock or fortifications. Gunpowder was widely used to fill artillery shells and in mining and civil engineering to blast rock until the half of the 19th century. Black powder is used as a delay element in various munitions where its slow-burning properties are valuable. The spread of gunpowder across Asia from China is widely attributed to the Mongols, the earliest record of a written formula for gunpowder appears in the 11th century Song dynasty text, Wujing Zongyao. This discovery led to the invention of fireworks and the earliest gunpowder weapons in China, in the centuries following the Chinese discovery, gunpowder weapons began appearing in the Muslim world and Europe. The technology spread from China through the Middle East or Central Asia, the earliest Western accounts of gunpowder appear in texts written by English philosopher Roger Bacon in the 13th century. The most ardent protagonists were Nathaniel Halhad, Johann Backmann, Quintin Craufurd, however, due to lack of sufficient proof, these theories have not been widely accepted. A major problem confronting the study of the history of gunpowder is ready access to sources close to the events described. The translation difficulty has led to errors or loose interpretations bordering on artistic licence, early writings potentially mentioning gunpowder are sometimes marked by a linguistic process where old words acquired new meanings. For instance, the Arabic word naft transitioned from denoting naphtha to denoting gunpowder, saltpeter was known to the Chinese by the mid-1st century AD and there is strong evidence of the use of saltpeter and sulfur in various largely medicinal combinations
4.
Cartridge (firearms)
–
Military and commercial producers continue to pursue the goal of caseless ammunition. A cartridge without a bullet is called a blank, One that is completely inert is called a dummy. Some artillery ammunition uses the same concept as found in small arms. In other cases, the shell is separate from the propellant charge. In popular use, the bullet is often misused to refer to a complete cartridge. The cartridge case seals a firing chamber in all directions excepting the bore, a firing pin strikes the primer and ignites it. The primer compound deflagrates, it does not detonate, a jet of burning gas from the primer ignites the propellant. Gases from the burning powder pressurize and expand the case to seal it against the chamber wall and these propellant gases push on the bullet base. In response to pressure, the bullet will move in the path of least resistance which is down the bore of the barrel. After the bullet leaves the barrel, the pressure drops to atmospheric pressure. The case, which had been expanded by chamber pressure. This eases removal of the case from the chamber, brass is a commonly used case material because it is resistant to corrosion. A brass case head can be work-hardened to withstand the pressures of cartridges. The neck and body portion of a case is easily annealed to make the case ductile enough to allow reforming so that it can be reloaded many times. Steel is used in some plinking ammunition, as well as in military ammunition. Steel is less expensive than brass, but it is not feasible to reload, Military forces typically consider small arms cartridge cases to be disposable, one-time-use devices. However, case weight affects how much ammunition a soldier can carry, conversely, steel is more susceptible to contamination and damage so all such cases are varnished or otherwise sealed against the elements. One downside caused by the strength of steel in the neck of these cases is that propellant gas can blow back past the neck
5.
Springfield Model 1866
–
The Springfield Model 1866 was the second iteration of the Allin-designed trapdoor breech-loading mechanism. S. It employed a robust version of the trapdoor breechblock design originated by Erskine S. Allin, the rifle was chambered for the powerful centerfire. 50-70 Government cartridge. However, it is a misconception that a broken extractor disabled the weapon. ”Furthermore, thus it is clear that this weapon is not as easily disabled as is sometimes believed. The Model 1866 was issued to U. S. troops in 1867, and was a factor in the Wagon Box Fight. The new rifles contributed decisively to the survival and success of severely outnumbered U. S. troops in these engagements, the.58 and.50 Caliber Rifles and Carbines of the Springfield Armory by Richard A. Hosmer, Published by North Cape Publications, May 2006
6.
Springfield Model 1865
–
The Springfield Model 1865 was an early breech-loading rifle manufactured by U. S. It was a modification of the Springfield rifled musket Model 1861 and it was later replaced with the Model 1866. During the U. S. Civil War, the advantage of breech-loading rifles became obvious, the rifled muskets used during the war had a rate of fire of 2 or 3 rounds per minute. As the Civil War drew to a close, the U. S, ordnance Department requested prototypes of breech-loading weapons from arms manufacturers all over the world. These modifications cost about $5 per rifle, which was a significant savings at a time when new rifles cost about $20 each, patent No.49,959 was issued to Erskine S. Allin on September 19,1865, describing the design. The conversion from musket to breechloader was done by milling open the breech section. A thumb-operated cam latch at the rear of the breechblock held it shut when in closed position, the rack-type system extractor was withdrawn automatically as the breechblock was opened and snapped back at the end of its stroke. The firing pin was housed within the breechblock, the hammer nose was flattened to accommodate the firing pin. The breech mechanism employed a hinged breechblock that rotated up and forward, resembling the movement of a trapdoor, to open the breech of the rifle, the hinged breechblock caused these rifles to be named Trapdoor Springfields. Approximately 5,000 Civil War Model 1861 rifled muskets were converted at the Springfield Armory in 1866. It soon became apparent that many of the working parts in the breech system were not going to have a long service life. Therefore, before the Model 1865 production order was completed, a less complex rifle was already being tested and this caused the Model 1865 to be called the First Allin, and the following revised model, the Springfield Model 1866, to be called the Second Allin. The Springfield model 1865 fired a rimfire. 58-60-500 cartridge, the caliber matching that of the Civil War Minié ball, the Model 1865 quickly became obsolete, and most of them were sold in the 1870s to several American arms dealers. At the time, there was a demand in the US for shorter cadet-style rifles. To satisfy this need, these cut the barrels and stocks to make short rifles with 33 and 36 barrel lengths. Likewise, the stock wrists were often thinned for cadet use
7.
.45-70
–
The. 45-70 rifle cartridge, also known as. 45-70 Government, was developed at the U. S. Armys Springfield Armory for use in the Springfield Model 1873, which is known to collectors as the trapdoor Springfield. The new cartridge was a replacement for the stop-gap. 50-70 Government cartridge which had adopted in 1866. The new cartridge was completely identified as the. 45-70-405, but was referred to as the.45 Government cartridge in commercial catalogs. The minimum acceptable accuracy of the, a skilled shooter, firing at known range, could consistently hit targets that were 6 ×6 feet at 600 yards —the armys standard target. It was a skill valuable mainly in mass or volley fire, after the Sandy Hook tests of 1879, a new variation of the. 45-70 cartridge was produced, the. 45-70-500, which fired a heavier,500 grain, bullet. The heavier bullet produced significantly superior ballistics, and could reach ranges of 3,350 yards, which were beyond the maximum range of the. 45-70-405. While the effective range of the. 45-70 on individual targets was limited to about 1,000 yards with either load and it was hoped the longer range of the. 45-70-500 would allow effective volley fire at ranges beyond those normally expected of infantry fire. While the nominal diameter was.450 inches, the groove diameter was actually closer to.458 inches. As was standard practice with many early U. S. commercially produced cartridges, specially-constructed bullets were often paper patched and this patch served to seal the bore and keep the soft lead bullet from coming in contact with the bore, preventing leading. Like the cloth or paper used in muzzleloading firearms, the paper patch fell off soon after the bullet left the bore. Paper-patched bullets were made of soft lead.450 inches in diameter, when wrapped in two layers of thin cotton paper, this produced a final size of.458 inches to match the bore. Paper patched bullets are available, and some black-powder shooters still roll their own paper patched bullets for hunting. Arsenal loadings for the. 45-70-405 and. 45-70-500 government cartridges generally used groove diameter grease groove bullets of.458 inches diameter. The predecessor to the. 45-70 was the. 50-70-450 cartridge, adopted in 1866 and used until 1873 in a variety of rifles, many of them percussion rifled muskets converted to trapdoor action breechloaders. The conversion consisted of milling out the rear of the barrel for the tilting breechblock, the. 50-70 was nevertheless adopted as a temporary solution until a significantly improved rifle and cartridge could be developed. The result of the quest for an accurate, flatter shooting.45 caliber cartridge. Like the. 50-70 before it, the. 45-70 used a copper center-fire case design, a reduced power loading was also adopted for use in the trapdoor carbine
8.
Pounds per square inch
–
The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units. Now converting the psi to standard atmospheres,1 atm =101325 Pa =101325 Pa 6894.757293168 Pa / psi ≈14.70 psi Therefore,1 atmosphere is approximately 14.7 pounds per square inch. Pounds per square inch absolute is used to make it clear that the pressure is relative to a rather than the ambient atmospheric pressure. Since atmospheric pressure at sea level is around 14.7 psi, the converse is pounds per square inch gauge or pounds per square inch gage, indicating that the pressure is relative to atmospheric pressure. For example, a bicycle tire pumped up to 65 psi above atmospheric pressure. When gauge pressure is referenced to something other than ambient atmospheric pressure, the kilopound per square inch is a scaled unit derived from psi, equivalent to a thousand psi. Ksi are not widely used for gas pressures and they are mostly used in materials science, where the tensile strength of a material is measured as a large number of psi. The conversion in SI Units is 1 ksi =6.895 MPa, the megapound per square inch is another multiple equal to a million psi. It is used in mechanics for the modulus of the materials. The conversion in SI Units is 1 Mpsi =6.895 GPa, inch of water,0.036 psid Blood pressure – clinically normal human blood pressure,2.32 psig/1.55 psig Natural gas residential piped in for consumer appliance, 4–6 psig. Boost pressure provided by a turbocharger, 6–15 psig NFL football,12. 5–13.5 psig Atmospheric pressure at sea level,14
9.
Remington Rolling Block rifle
–
The Remington Rolling Block rifle was a breech-loading rifle produced from the mid-1860s into the early 20th century by E. Remington and Sons. The action was extremely strong, and could withstand the increased pressure of the new smokeless powders coming into use by the late 1880s. Later models were produced in. 30-06 Springfield, 7×57mm Mauser, in.43 Spanish it was the chief service arm of the Spanish Army from 1870–1893, and was used by reserve and militia forces for many years thereafter. Many Rolling Block rifles were used by Argentina before being replaced in 1891 by the new 7. 65mm Mauser, the Remington rolling block also became the standard service rifle of the Danish Army. During the Franco-Prussian War, France acquired 210,000 Rolling Block rifles to make up for a shortage of the standard-issue Chassepot. In November 1914, production of the Rolling Block was resumed, in the form of a French contract for rifles in 8×50mmR Lebel,100,291 such rifles were delivered by 1916, and used to equip rear-line troops. Along with the Sharps rifle it was one of two rifles probably used more than any other by the hunters who hunted the American bison herds in the 1870s and 1880s. Rolling block, the operating principle Remington rolling block M1867, as used by the Swedish, Springfield Model 1870, as used by the United States Navy, produced by Springfield Armory under license. Springfield Model 1871, as used by the United States Army, produced by Springfield Armory under license
10.
Springfield Armory
–
The Springfield Armory, located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of U. S. military firearms from 1777 until its closing in 1968. The site is preserved as the Springfield Armory National Historic Site and it features the worlds largest collection of historic American firearms. Numerous firearm models produced at the Springfield Armory from 1794 to 1968 were referred to as Springfield rifles. In 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, George Washington scouted and approved the site of the Springfield Armory, after it was referred to him by General Henry Knox, his artillery chief. Additionally, Springfield is located just north of the Connecticut Rivers first waterfall, thus, Springfield was the first town on the Connecticut River protected from attack by seafaring naval vessels. The Armory site itself sits atop a high bluff like a citadel, overlooking a stretch of the Connecticut River. General Knox concurred with Washington that the plain just above Springfield is perhaps one of the most proper spots on every account for the location of an arsenal, in 1777, patriot colonists established The Arsenal at Springfield to manufacture cartridges and gun carriages for the war effort. During the Revolution, the arsenal stored muskets, cannon, patriots built barracks, shops, storehouses, and a magazine. Some doubt exists that the colonists manufactured arms during the Revolutionary War, after the war, the Army kept the facility to store arms for future needs. By the 1780s, the Springfield Arsenal functioned as a major ammunition, some time later, when manufacturing became important, the arsenal expanded to a second area south and west in Springfield, where water power was available. Around that time, the Mill River was dammed to form a lake called Watershops Pond. The main shops were behind the dam and a foundry was built below it and this factory was modernized, and the greater part of machining for Springfield and Garand rifles was conducted in it. George Washington appointed David Ames as first superintendent of the armory, John Ames was a blacksmith who had provided guns to the Colonial army. In 1786 and 1787, American Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led an armed, on January 25,1787, thousands of Shays Regulators marched on the Springfield Armory, hoping to seize its weaponry and force a change of government. That day the Springfield Armory was defended by militia, who fired grape shot at the rebels. This confrontation proved decisive, as Shays Rebellion was crushed soon thereafter, Shays Rebellion directly influenced the United States Constitutional Convention, with future U. S. President George Washington citing it as his reason for coming out of retirement. In 1795, the Springfield Armory produced the new nations first musket, fueled by the Springfield Armory, the City of Springfield quickly became a national center for invention and development. In 1819 Thomas Blanchard developed a special lathe for the consistent mass production of rifle stocks, Thomas Blanchard worked at Springfield Armory for 5 years
