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Thread: .303 British military cordite ammo

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  1. #11
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    Thanks to everybody for the wealth of info

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    Contributing Member CINDERS's Avatar
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    "because I am cheap" Thats a classic statement coming from you Jim and made me laugh, I think there is a bit of "The Grinch" in all of us.............

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    Quote Originally Posted by CINDERS View Post
    a classic statement
    Economy of effort...one of the principles of war. It's how we manage to feed our habit I think.
    Regards, Jim

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    Mk 7 and 7z bullets were sealed into the cases with a bitumen compound to provide a waterproof seal..

    I would also be cautious on using an inertia puller on such old ammunition. You have no idea what the state of the contents are. The conventional wisdom regarding cordite is that it has a life of around 25 years (depending on storage conditions) after which time the carbamite stabiliser is used up and catalytic breakdown can occur leading to spontaneous ignition. This is a known phenomenon in large calibre artillery and naval charges, and has caused significant accidents in the past. It would seem that cordite in sealed small arms cases is less affected, presumably because of the lack of oxygen. That said, we are now reaching three times the recommended shelf life of cordite. Always remember that cordite is a colloidal mixture of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine, and that it is entirely possible to end up with free NG if the nitrocellulose breaks down for any reason.. I would not recommend recycling cordite!

    Whilst it is sensible to prevent oil (and sweat!) contamination of primers when reloading, and although oil can be used to "kill" priming and other explosive compounds during manufacture, it is NOT a reliable method of rendering safe primers in loaded ammunition. Most primers since the 40s have a waterproof foil and lacquer seals that prevents oil from reaching the compound.

    I would suggest recovering the bullets using a collet bullet puller and dispose of the rest... I would only ever use an inertia puller on newly manufactured rounds..!

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    Following on from Bombdoc:

    Inertia pullers are not much fun on heavily-crimped, "sealed" "mil-spec" ammo. They are good if you want to pull a small quantity of assorted rounds, but for "serious" work, press-mounted collet types can't be beaten.

    About the only way to remove a bullet from a case faster, is to chamber and fire it. The other important thing is that "collet" pullers leave the powder /"sticks" intact in the case, instead of being dumped into the head of the "kinetic' types. MUCH less messy, whether you are recycling the propellant in a new load or spreading it on the rose beds.

    One final trick to "cracking" .303 bullets from their case: First, run the loaded rounds into a bullet-seating die that JUST sets the bullet back a little. This will release some of the grip of the crimps and sealing compound before you run it through the collet "grabber".

    Side note: Does ANYONE have any leads on the alleged flat-based 175gn, .312" bullet made in Russiaicon?

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    Quote Originally Posted by bombdoc View Post
    Whilst it is sensible to prevent oil (and sweat!) contamination of primers when reloading, and although oil can be used to "kill" priming and other explosive compounds during manufacture, it is NOT a reliable method of rendering safe primers in loaded ammunition. Most primers since the 40s have a waterproof foil and lacquer seals that prevents oil from reaching the compound.
    That explains it for me then. Not an isolated incident then...could be repeated.
    Regards, Jim

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    There were six cordites differing in their formulae:
    1) Cordite
    2) Cordite MD
    3) Cordite MC
    4) Cordite RDB
    5) Cordite W
    6) Cordite SC

    1-4 used mineral jelly as a stabilizer
    5-6 used carbamate

    Only 1 and 2 were used as a small arms cartridge propellant the others were used in artillery.
    From "Text Book of Explosives Used in the Service 1938" The War Office

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    Awesome info. Thanks gents!

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    the best ammo I ever put through my No4T

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    Quote Originally Posted by green View Post
    There were six cordites differing in their formulae:
    1) Cordite
    2) Cordite MD
    3) Cordite MC
    4) Cordite RDB
    5) Cordite W
    6) Cordite SC

    1-4 used mineral jelly as a stabilizer
    5-6 used carbamate

    Only 1 and 2 were used as a small arms cartridge propellant the others were used in artillery.
    From "Text Book of Explosives Used in the Service 1938" The War Office
    Carbamite or Ethyl Centralite or 1,3-Diethyl-1,3-diphenylurea replaced "cracked mineral jelly" in the 20s. The original reason for adding it was to lubricate the extrusion dies, however it was found to have stabilisation properities.. (and limited lubrication properties..!)

    Your data is a bit out of date.. Plain cordite was found to be too hot and expensive to manufacture. Various modified and non solvent manufactured cordites were produced during WW1 and in subsequent decades. Small arms carts were latterly filled with WM cordite..

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