GB2276705A

GB2276705A - Blank ammunition cartridge

Info

Publication number: GB2276705A
Application number: GB9406214A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ottmar Feldenz; Oswald Lehna
Original assignee: ELISENHUETTE METALLWERK
Current assignee: ELISENHUETTE METALLWERK
Priority date: 1993-03-30
Filing date: 1994-03-29
Publication date: 1994-10-05
Anticipated expiration: 2014-03-29
Also published as: DE9304828U1; GB9406214D0; GB2276705B

Abstract

A blank ammunition cartridge for use in manoeuvres has a casing (10) consisting of metal and which contains a propellant charge (40) which can be detonated and which has a detonator (30) for the propellant charge, in which the casing (10) has a neck portion (12) and is in one piece with a cylindrical extension (20) formed on the neck portion (12), the cylindrical extension (20) being in the form of an imitation projectile and wherein the end of the cylindrical extension (20) is sealed by a fold portion (22) which can be opened by bending. <IMAGE>

Description

DUxmr AMUNITION CARTRIDGE The present invention relates to a dummy ammunition cartridge and in particular, but not exclusively, to a cartridge for use in manoeuvres, in which said cartridge accommodates a propellant charge adapted to be detonated and a detonator for detonating the propellant charge.

When dummy or practice ammunition is used, the weapon ideally should behave in the same manner as when firing live ammunition. However, no hard material, such as the material of a bursting cartridge, should leave the barrel.

Therefore, on grounds of safety alone, the barrel end of the practice weapon is closed by a so-called manoeuvre cartridge appliance.

In the case of known cartridges for manoeuvres, most of the casing, and an imitation projectile, consists of synthetic plastics material. The end of the casing however consists of steel. When the weapon is fired, the imitation projectile is torn open. A drawback of these known cartridges for manoeuvres is that the synthetic plastics material of the fired cartridge can only be disposed of with difficulty, if at all. A second difficulty with disposal lies in the need to separate the end portion which consists of steel from the other parts of the cartridge which consist of synthetic plastics material. Thus, particularly for the purpose of manoeuvres, this prior art cartridge constitutes an environmental problem which nowadays is no longer acceptable.

The invention seeks to provide an improved dummy ammunition cartridge which can be used for manoeuvres.

According to the present invention, there is provided a dummy ammunition cartridge comprising a casing consisting of metal and which contains a propellant charge which can be detonated by a detonator for the propellant charge, wherein the casing has a neck portion and a cylindrical extension is provided on the neck portion, which cylindrical extension is in the form of an imitation projectile and has its end formed by a fold portion which can be bent open.

Advantageoulsy, the invention provides for an improved cartridge which can be fired without the risk of injury to others and which can be readily disposed of without problem.

The cartridge is advantageously formed in one piece from the same metal. Thus, the imitation projectile is rigidly connected to the casing and, when the cartridge is fired, the imitation projectile can be disposed of along with the entire casing. Since the casing and the imitation projectile can consist of the same metal material a relatively cost-effective disposal of the spent cartridge is possible since separation of the cartridge into different portions is unnecessary.

Further the imitation projectile constructed in one piece with the casing has the advantage that the cartridge can be reliably delivered from the magazine to the weapon.

It is preferable for the wall thickness of the cylindrical extension which constitutes the imitation projectile to be greater than that of the casing and particularly preferable for it to be approximately twice as great.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the casing has, preferably integrally formed in it and extending around the wall of the casing, at least one groove or crimp adapted to expand in a longitudinal direction. Such at least one groove or crimp assists the freeing or absorption, and improves the turbulance or swirling, of the detonated propellant charge inside the cartridge. Consequently, the cartridge can be constructed with a smaller volume than currently known and so may also require a correspondingly smaller amount of charge or powder.

It has been found that for the majority of applications, the casing should preferably comprise two expansible grooves or crimps disposed coaxially in the wall of the cartridge. During firing, the casing can extend rearwardly and so assists release of the breech of the weapon in which the cartridge is used.

The cartridge is particularly suitable for weapons with a translated mass-spring breech, for example G 3, but it is also suitable for recoil loaders and gas pressure loaders.

Furthermore, the detonator cap can be formed so as to be low in harmful substances and it can be void of both lead and barium.

The propellant charge housed in the casing is adjusted to the internal ballistics of the cartridge and of the weapon. It is even possible to achieve the desired effect of practice ammunition with a reduced quantity of propellant charge. The efficacy of the cartridge according to the invention can be further improved by a special burn-off characteristic of the propellant charge.

The fold, which can be opened by bending but which seals off the cylindrical extension constructed as an imitation projectile, can be three-fold to eight-fold. A six-fold closure is particularly preferred. When the weapon is fired, such a fold opens up at most to a cylindrical form but does not tear open. It has been found that the fold should be as short as possible and ought not to be too deep so that on the one hand there is a reduced, and even no, danger of the imitation projectile having ragged edges and so injury resulting fromt he ejected cartridges, while on the other hand adequate or even improved sealing can be achieved.

The folds can be sealed with fold sealing lacquer, for example an ultra-violet cured adhesive.

The casing, as well as the imitation projectile mounted on and integral with the casing, consists for example, of copper alloy Cu Zn 28.

Preferably, the shoulder angle at the transition from the casing to the cylindrical extension is preferably about 360.

The invention is described further hereinafter, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a view of the cartridge, partly in longitudinal section; and Fig. 2 is a detail-view according to the detail Z in Fig. 1 but on a scale which is enlarged in comparison with Fig. 1.

The cartridge shown in Fig. 1 consists of a hollow conical casing 10 having a neck 12 with an integrally formed cylindrical extension 20 extending therefrom. The cylindrical extension 20 is in the form of an imitation projectile. The cylindrical extension 20 is closed at its top end by a fold portion 22 which can comprise a three-fold to eight-fold closure. In the illustrated example a six-fold closure is provided. From the neck 12 of the casing to the fold 22, the cylindrical extension 20 tapers in a stepwise manner, the transition being formed by a shoulder the angle of which in respect of the longitudinal axis of the cartridge amounts to about 300.

By reason of the fold 22, the cylindrical extension 20 is furthermore sealed in a substantially frustoconically converging shape. In addition, a fold closing lacquer, for example ultra-violet cured adhesive, can be applied to and seals the fold 22.

A shoulder 14 forms the transition between the neck 12 and the actual body of the casing 10, the bottom part of which contains a propellant charge 40. This propellant charge 40 can be detonated by a detonator cap 30 accommodated in the region of the bottom of the casing.

The body of the casing 10 comprises two coaxial grooves or crimps 16, 18 spaced apart from each other in the axial direction and which are capable of expansion in the longitudinal direction of the casing 10 so that an extension of the casing 10 is made possible. At least in the region of the neck 12 and shoulder 14, the wall thickness of the casing 10 is markedly less than that of the cylindrical extension 20.

Fig. 2 shows the detail Z from Fig. 1, and illustrates the area where the detonator cap 30 is connected to the casing 10. The detonator cap 30 is riveted at three locations on the casing 10 and is otherwise sealed with ring joint lacquer. In this respect, the surface at the bottom end of the detonator cap 30 is set back by a small amount in relation to the bottom surface of the casing 10.

A preferred length of the cartridge is 68 mm. The wall thickness of the cylindrical extension 20 amounts to about 0.6 mm, but the wall thickness of at least the upper portion of the casing is only about 0.3 mm. In other words, in the example, the thickness of the wall of the extension 20 is twice as great as the thickness of the wall of the casing 10 close to the shoulder 14. The diameter of the cylindrical extension 20 can be 7.25 mm for example.

The length of the imitation projectile guarantees a reliable feeding of the cartridge out of the magazine and into the cartridge store of the weapon. The angle of the shoulder at the transition from the casing 10 to the neck portion thereof is in the region of 360, and this ensures better support in the cartridge store, which also favours release of the weapon.

When the fold 22 is opened, the ultra-violet cured adhesive used decomposes into harmless dust-like particles incapable of penetrating a disc of paper with a weight per unit of area of 100 g/m and a thickness of 0.1 mm at a distance of 3 m.

All in all, this means that practice ammunition is available which can be disposed of without problem.

Claims

1. A dummy ammunition cartridge comprising a casing consisting of metal and which contains a propellant charge which can be detonated by a detonator for the propellant charge, wherein the casing has a neck portion and a cylindrical extension is provided on the neck portion, which cylindrical extension is in the form of an imitation projectile and has its end formed by a fold portion which can be bent open.

2. A cartridge as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said cylindrical extension is integral with said casing.

3. A cartridge as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the wall thickness of the cylindrical extension is greater than that of the casing at least in the region of the neck portion.

4. A cartridge as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the wall thickness of the cylindrical extension is approximately twice as great as that of the casing at least in the region of the neck portion.

5. A cartridge as claimed in Claim 3 or 4, wherein the wall thickness of the cylindrical extension is greater than that of the casing.

6. A cartridge as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the casing has at least one groove extending around the wall thereof and which is capable of expansion in the longitudinal direction of the casing under the pressure of the detonated propellant charge.

7. A cartridge as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the casing has two coaxial expansible grooves extending around the wall thereof.

8. A cartridge as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the detonator for the propellant charge is lead free and barium free.

9. A cartridge as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the fold portion is formed from between three and eight folds.

10. A cartridge as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the fold portion is formed from six folds.

11. A cartridge as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the fold portion is sealed by a lacquer which can be hardened under ultra-violet rays.

12. A cartridge as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 11, wherein the casing and the cylindrical extension consist of a copper alloy.

13. A cartridge as claimed in Claim 12, wherein said copper alloy comprises Cu Zn 28.

14. A cartridge as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 13, wherein a shoulder forms the transition from the casing to the neck portion thereof.

15. A cartridge as claimed in Claim 14, wherein the angle of the shoulder is 360