Cordite as a rifle propellant was a bad idea, and unnecessary. Are those who decided this lost in obscurity or do names live on so they can receive the ridicule that is their due?
Cordite as a rifle propellant was a bad idea, and unnecessary.
It certainly is, its bad enough trying to get a lead bullet going, let alone a rifle !!!!!
Mine are not the best, but they are not too bad. I can think of lots of Enfields I'd rather have but instead of constantly striving for more, sometimes it's good to be satisfied with what one has...
Cordite seems like a bad idea in hindsight but at the time it was the next step in evolution of propellants.
BP, guncotton for artillery, cordite for small arms, nitro cellulose.
Being a target shooter from the Cordite days to a NC target shooter today i don't see any difference in the erosion of barrels.
The primers used today are far away much more user friendly. The saying cleanliness is next to godliness is not true anymore. Corrosion is not the problem.
What i do see is the waste of barrels because of the use of closed base projectiles when open base projectiles will continue to be accurate.
Short service history with BP before Cordite comes along, but Nitrocellulose is right there too. Given reason per the history was Cordite being superior in warmer climates (Empire business)
Real reason would look to be more about having a home grown solution, regardless of other considerations.
Short service history with BP before Cordite comes along, but Nitrocellulose is right there too. Given reason per the history was Cordite being superior in warmer climates (Empire business)
Real reason would look to be more about having a home grown solution, regardless of other considerations.
Having looked at the propellant, you may find the history of the bullet itself of interest ;
It does go into some detail about wound profiles of various 'Mk' of the 303.
Warning graphic descriptions[/B]
Example :
Major Mathias, RAMC, who inspected the battlefield after Omdurman, observed a young man, who had been struck twice by a Mark IV bullet,
He had a bullet wound of the left leg above the knee. The wound entrance was clean-cut and very small. The projectile had struck the femur, just above the internal condyle; the whole of the lower end of this bone, and upper end of the tibi, were shattered to pieces, the knee joint being completely disorganised.
He had also been wounded in the right shoulder...The whole of the shoulder joint and scapular were shattered to pieces. In neither case was there any sign of a wound of exit.
Mine are not the best, but they are not too bad. I can think of lots of Enfields I'd rather have but instead of constantly striving for more, sometimes it's good to be satisfied with what one has...
Who can't enjoy a US President with an inability tell ally from an enemy? Fun for the whole family!
Back to bullets...yes the original "Dum Dum".
It's ban being the one meaningful development out of the various disarmament conferences so popular before the Great War. Also why shot placement is so important in ethical hunting.
M-16s earned a bad reputation when they entered Vietnam service but that FMJ 55 gr. bullet left severe wounds from fragmenting at impact. The SS109 projectile was invented to better penetrate Soviet winter uniforms, but a sturdier bullet imparted less grievous wounds.
PM
Originally Posted by togor
