Paper cartridge and Related Topics

Bullet

Kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel.

Round shot from the 16th century Mary Rose English warship, showing both stone and iron ball shot

Matchlock musket balls, alleged to have been discovered at Naseby battlefield

Delvigne further developed cylindro-spherical (left) and cylindro-conical bullets (middle), which received the bullet grooves developed by Tamisier for stability

Before Tamisier's invention, the orientation of a cylindro-conical bullet tended to remain along its inertial axis, progressively setting it against its trajectory and increasingly meeting air resistance, which rendered the bullet's movement erratic

1855 Minié ball design from the U.S. Arsenal, Harper's Ferry, West Virginia

Bullet wound on the ribs of a deer in the lung area

Expanding bullet loaded in a 6.5×55mm before and after expanding. The long base and small expanded diameter show that this is a bullet designed for deep penetration on large game. The bullet in the photo traveled more than halfway through a moose before coming to rest, performing as designed.

Hard cast solid bullet (left), with gas check (center) and lubrication (right)

Bullets are components of paper cartridges, or (much more commonly) in the form of metallic cartridges.

A 12-gauge shotgun shell in a transparent plastic hull, allowing the contents to be seen. From left to right: brass, propellant, over-powder wad, shot wad, #8 birdshot, over-shot wad, and crimp

Type of rimmed, cylindrical cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellet-like spherical sub-projectiles called shot, fired through a smoothbore barrel with a tapered constriction at the muzzle to regulate the extent of scattering.

A 1908 depiction of a shotgun shell, showing a primitive felt wad to separate the powder (left) and shot (right)

Shotgun shell comparison (left to right): 12-gauge, 20-gauge, 16-gauge, 28-gauge, and .410 bore

M35 .410 shotgun shells for M-6 survival gun w/.22 long rifle for comparison

CCI .22LR snake shot loaded with #12 shot

Military Issue .45 ACP M15 "shot shell" on the far right.

The shell casing usually consist of a paper or plastic tube mounted on a brass base holding a primer, and the shots are typically contained by a wadding/sabot inside the case.

Breech from Russian 122 mm M1910 howitzer, modified and combined with 105mm H37 howitzer barrel

Breechloader

Firearm in which the user loads the ammunition via the rear (breech) end of its barrel, as opposed to a muzzleloader, which loads ammunition via the front (muzzle).

An animation showing the loading cycle for a large naval breech-loader. A series of interlocking doors closes and opens the path from the gunhouse to prevent a flash from traveling down the path to the magazine.

Three-shot experimental breech-loading cannon (burst) belonging to Henry VIII of England, 1540–1543.

Early types of breech-loaders from the 15th and 16th century on display at the Army Museum in Stockholm.

Henry VIII's breech-loading hunting gun, 16th century. The breech block rotates on the left on hinges, and is loaded with a reloadable iron cartridge. Thought to have been used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. The original wheellock mechanism is missing.

Breech-loading firearm that belonged to Philip V of Spain, made by A. Tienza, Madrid circa 1715. It came with a ready-to-load reusable cartridge. This is a miquelet system.

Mechanism of Philip V's breech-loading firearm (detail).

The breech mechanism of the Ferguson rifle.

It was so called because of its .5-inch needle-like firing pin, which passed through a paper cartridge case to impact a percussion cap at the bullet base.

A typical nitrary (Germany, circa 1580) with leaching deposits (C) filled with decaying vegetal material mixed with manure. A worker collects effloresced saltpeter from deposits, transporting it then to be concentrated in the factory (A) boilers.

Potassium nitrate

Chemical compound with the chemical formula.

It is also added to cigarettes to maintain an even burn of the tobacco and is used to ensure complete combustion of paper cartridges for cap and ball revolvers.

A modern round consists of the following: 1. bullet, as the projectile; 2. cartridge case, which holds all parts together; 3. propellant, for example gunpowder or cordite; 4. rim, which provides the extractor on the firearm a place to grip the casing to remove it from the chamber once fired; 5. primer, which ignites the propellant.

Cartridge (firearms)

A variety of rifle cartridges: (1).17 HM2 (2).17 HMR (3).22LR (4).22 Win Mag R/F.22 WMR (5).17/23 SMc (6)5mm/35 SMc (7).22 Hornet (8).223 Remington (9).223 WSSM (10).243 Win (11).243 Win Improved (Ackley) (12).25-06 Remington (13).270 Winchester (14).308 Win (15).30-06 Springfield (16).45-70 Government (17).50-90 Sharps

Three straight-walled cartridges (9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W and .45 ACP) on the left, three bottleneck cartridges (FN 5.7×28mm, 5.56×45mm NATO and .300 Winchester Magnum) in the center, and two polymer-cased 12-gauge shotshells on the right.

A large portion of the energy generated by the propellant is released as a muzzle blast and a bright flash, instead of transferring to the projectile

Percussion caps, the precursor of modern primers

Comparison of primer ignition between centerfire (left two) and rimfire (right) ammunitions

Flash hole profiles on Berdan (left) and Boxer (right) primers.

0.30–30 Winchester case, stages in the drawing process, book; from Hamilton

US Cartridges 1860–1875
(1) Colt Army 1860 .44 paper cartridge, Civil War
(2) Colt Thuer-Conversion .44 revolver cartridge, patented 1868
(3) .44 Henry rim fire cartridge flat
(4) .44 Henry rim fire cartridge pointed
(5) Frankford Arsenal .45 Colt cartridge, Benét ignition
(6) Frankford Arsenal .45 Colt-Schofield cartridge, Benét ignition

(From Left to Right): A .577 Snider cartridge (1867), a .577/450 Martini-Henry cartridge (1871), a later drawn brass .577/450 Martini-Henry cartridge, and a .303 British Mk VII SAA Ball cartridge.

French Army Fusil Gras mle 1874 metallic cartridge.

The 8 mm Lebel ammunition, developed in 1886, the first smokeless gunpowder cartridge to be made and adopted by any country.

Fired rimfire (left) and centerfire (right) cartridges. A rimfire firing pin produces a notch at the edge of the rim; a centerfire pin produces a divot in the center of the primer.

Schematic of a rimfire cartridge and its ignition

Slow motion shots (1/1,000,000-second exposures) showing shots and wadding separation after firing from a shotgun.

Two views of intact bean bag round and one view of the projectile

A cutaway showing a Japanese Navy 7.7 mm rimmed rounds as fired by the Type 92 and Type 97 machine guns—copies of Vickers and Lewis designs. The round is effectively interchangeable with .303 British.

A variety of common pistol cartridges. From left to right: 22 LR, .22 WMR, 5.7×28mm, 25 ACP, 7.62×25mm Tokarev, 32 ACP, 380 ACP, 9×19mm Parabellum, 357 SIG, 40 S&W, 45 GAP, 45 ACP, .38 Special, 357 Magnum, 45 Colt

CCI .22LR snake shot loaded with No. 12 shot

An example of caseless ammunition. This disassembled round, the 4.73×33mm, is used in the Heckler & Koch G11 rifle.

An assortment of snap caps of varying calibers

Rimless .380 ACP semi-automatic cartridge

A cartridge or a round is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile (bullet, shot, or slug), a propellant substance (usually either smokeless powder or black powder) and an ignition device (primer) within a metallic, paper, or plastic case that is precisely made to fit within the barrel chamber of a breechloading gun, for the practical purpose of convenient transportation and handling during shooting.

A 1912 map of Northern India, showing the centres of the rebellion.

Indian Rebellion of 1857

Major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown.

India in 1765 and 1805, showing East India Company-governed territories in pink

India in 1837 and 1857, showing East India Company-governed territories in pink

Two sepoy officers; a private sepoy, 1820s

A scene from the 1857 Indian Rebellion (Bengal Army).

Indian mutiny map showing position of troops on 1 May 1857

"The Sepoy revolt at Meerut," wood-engraving from the Illustrated London News, 1857

An 1858 photograph by Felice Beato of a mosque in Meerut where some of the rebel soldiers may have prayed

Wood-engraving depicting the massacre of officers by insurgent cavalry at Delhi

The Flagstaff Tower, Delhi, where the British survivors of the rebellion gathered on 11 May 1857; photographed by Felice Beato

Troops of the Native Allies by George Francklin Atkinson, 1859.

Sikh Troops Dividing the Spoil Taken from Mutineers, circa 1860

Fugitive British officers and their families attacked by mutineers.

A wood-engraving of Nynee Tal (today Nainital) and accompanying story in the Illustrated London News, 15 August 1857, describing how the resort town in the Himalayas served as a refuge for British families escaping from the rebellion of 1857 in Delhi and Meerut.

Attack of the mutineers on the Redan Battery at Lucknow, 30 July 1857

Assault on Delhi and capture of the Cashmere Gate, 14 September 1857

Capture of Bahadur Shah Zafar and his sons by William Hodson at Humayun's tomb on 20 September 1857

Wood-engraving depicting Tatya Tope's Soldiery

A memorial erected (circa 1860) by the British after the Mutiny at the Bibighar Well. After India's Independence the statue was moved to the All Souls Memorial Church, Cawnpore. Albumen silver print by Samuel Bourne, 1860

A contemporary image of the massacre at the Satichaura Ghat

The interior of the Secundra Bagh, several months after its storming during the second relief of Lucknow. Albumen silver print by Felice Beato, 1858

Jhansi Fort, which was taken over by rebel forces, and subsequently defended against British recapture by the Rani of Jhansi

Wood-engraving of the execution of mutineers at Peshawar

Marble Lectern in memory of 35 British soldiers in Jhelum

Lieutenant William Alexander Kerr, 24th Bombay Native Infantry, near Kolapore, July 1857

The Relief of Lucknow by Thomas Jones Barker

British soldiers looting Qaisar Bagh, Lucknow, after its recapture (steel engraving, late 1850s)

Execution of mutineers by blowing from a gun by the British, 8 September 1857.

Justice, a print by Sir John Tenniel in a September 1857 issue of Punch

Bahadur Shah Zafar (the last Mughal emperor) in Delhi, awaiting trial by the British for his role in the Uprising. Photograph by Robert Tytler and Charles Shepherd, May 1858

The proclamation to the "Princes, Chiefs, and People of India," issued by Queen Victoria on 1 November 1858. "We hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian territories by the same obligation of duty which bind us to all our other subjects." (p. 2)

Captain C Scott of the Gen. Sir. Hope Grant's Column, Madras Regiment, who fell on the attack of Fort of Kohlee, 1858. Memorial at the St. Mary's Church, Madras

The Mutiny Memorial in Delhi, a monument to those killed on the British side during the fighting.

Suppression of the Indian Revolt by the English, which depicts the execution of mutineers by blowing from a gun by the British, a painting by Vasily Vereshchagin c. 1884. Note: This painting was allegedly bought by the British crown and possibly destroyed (current whereabouts unknown). It anachronistically depicts the events of 1857 with soldiers wearing (then current) uniforms of the late 19th century.

The hanging of two participants in the Indian Rebellion, Sepoys of the 31st Native Infantry. Albumen silver print by Felice Beato, 1857.

The National Youth rally at the National Celebration to Commemorate 150th Anniversary of the First War of Independence, 1857 at Red Fort, in Delhi on 11 May 2007

Henry Nelson O'Neil's 1857 painting Eastward Ho! depicting British soldiers saying farewell to their loved ones as they embark on a deployment to India.

Charles Canning, the Governor-General of India during the rebellion.

Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856, who devised the Doctrine of Lapse.

Lakshmibai, the Rani of Maratha-ruled Jhansi, one of the principal leaders of the rebellion who earlier had lost her kingdom as a result of the Doctrine of Lapse.

Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor, crowned Emperor of India, by the Indian troops, he was deposed by the British, and died in exile in Burma

The Jantar Mantar observatory in Delhi in 1858, damaged in the fighting

Mortar damage to Kashmiri Gate, Delhi, 1858

Hindu Rao's house in Delhi, now a hospital, was extensively damaged in the fighting

Bank of Delhi was attacked by mortar and gunfire

Photograph entitled, "The Hospital in General Wheeler's entrenchment, Cawnpore". (1858) The hospital was the site of the first major loss of British lives in Cawnpore

1858 picture of Sati Chaura Ghat on the banks of the Ganges River, where on 27 June 1857 many British men lost their lives and the surviving women and children were taken prisoner by the rebels.

Bibigarh house where British women and children were killed and the well where their bodies were found, 1858.

The Bibighar Well site where a memorial had been built. Samuel Bourne, 1860.

These rifles, which fired Minié balls, had a tighter fit than the earlier muskets, and used paper cartridges that came pre-greased.

Minié ball

Type of hollow-based bullet designed by Claude-Étienne Minié, inventor of the French Minié rifle, for muzzleloader rifled muskets.

James H. Burton's 1855 Minié ball design (.58 caliber, 500 grains) from the Harpers Ferry Armory

Gunshot Fracture of the Left Femur by Minié ball, 1863

The Minié ball could be quickly removed from the paper cartridge, with the gunpowder poured down the barrel and the bullet pressed past the muzzle rifling and any detritus from prior shots.

Dreyse needle gun

Ground-breaking 19th-century military breechloading rifle.

Needle-gun Model 1854 for Jäger units, Prussia

The name "ignition needle rifle" (Zündnadelgewehr) was taken from its firing pin because it passed like a needle through the paper cartridge to strike a percussion cap at the base of the bullet.

Rifled musket

Type of firearm made in the mid-19th century.

In military use, rifle musket loading was simplified somewhat through the use of paper cartridges, which were significantly different from modern metallic cartridges.

Sodium silicate

Generic name for chemical compounds with the formula or ·, such as sodium metasilicate, sodium orthosilicate , and sodium pyrosilicate.

Expantrol proprietary sodium silicate suspended in about a 6.5-mm-thick layer of red rubber, type 3M FS195, inserted into a metal pipe, then heated, to demonstrate hard char intumescence, strong enough to shut a melting plastic pipe

Palusol-based intumescent plastic pipe device used for commercial firestopping

World War I poster suggesting the use of waterglass to preserve eggs (lower right).

A historical use of the adhesive properties of sodium silicates is the production of paper cartridges for black powder revolvers produced by Colt's Manufacturing Company during the period from 1851 until 1873, especially during the American Civil War.