US2986091A - Disintegrating test ammunition - Google Patents

Description

May 30, 1961 R. M. FERGUSON DISINTEGRATING TEST AMMUNITION Filed Aug. 31, 1959 INVENTOR. RALPH M. FERGUSON ATTORNE ate DISINTEGRATING TEST AlVIlVIUNITION Ralph M. Ferguson, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the United States Government for governmental purposes without payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to disintegrating test ammunition for use in all types of gun function testing except those in which target firing of other tests requiring accuracy are involved. More particularly the present invention relates to the construction of the bullet or slug employed in the disintegrating test ammunition.

An object of the present invention is to provide test ammunition which will disintegrate within one hundred yards of the weapon being tested. A further object of the invention is to eliminate the necessity for constructing expensive firing butts, wide angle and all angle ranges in order to test fire control systems of machine guns and cannons including the accessories thereto such as solenoids, boosters, heaters and charges.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide disintegrating test ammunition which, when fired, will produce identical forces on the structure of the aircraft, gun mounts and other parts of the mounting structure as is produced by standard ball or test type ammunition.

The disintegrating projectile of the present invention comprises a thin bullet-shaped outer shell of low melting point metal, weighting means within said thin outer shell, said weighting means being disposed within a substantially conically-shaped paper container, air space separating said thin outer shell from said paper container, holding means adjacent both the front and rear ends of said paper container to maintain said paper container in a stationary relationship with said thin outer shell, and means sealing said weighting means within said paper container and said paper container within said thin outer shell.

These and other objects and features of the present invention are described below in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is an end view of the bullet or slug of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the bullet or slug of the present invention taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now in detail to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate like parts and most particularly to Fig. 2 there is shown the bullet-shaped projectile of the present invention hereinafter referred to as the slug and generally designated 20.

The outer periphery of the slug 20 is formed by a thin metal shell 22 of approximately 3/64 of an inch in thickness having one end open as at 24. A driving band 26 is formed integral with said thin metal shell near the open end 24 of the slug, said driving band 26 has a shoulder 28 positioned to abut the front edge of a charge containing cartridge casing (not shown). An annular depression 30 is located in said thin metal shell midway between the shoulder 28 and the open end 24 forming an annular stop 32 on the inner surface of the thin metal shell 22.

A thin-walled substantially conically-shaped paper conato 2 ,986,091 Patented May 30, 1961 tainer 34 having a radially-flared flange portion 36 at its open end 38 is maintained in stationary spaced relation to the outer shell by means of a wad of wax (or pitch) 40 located in the nose of the outer metal shell and the abutment of the outer surfaces of the flange portion 36 with the inner surface of the outer shell and the annular stop 32.

The abutting engagement of the flange portion 36 and the annular stop 32 further restricts the entry of the paper cone 34 into the outer shell 22 thus maintaining the paper cone, with the aid of the Wax wad 40 and the slug sealing means 44 (later to be described), in a fixed position within the outer shell of the slug.

The paper cone 34 is filled with loose material 42 which may be any of a number of weighting materials such as powdered lead, lead shot or lead fragments. The weighting material 42 is sealed within the paper cone 34 and said paper cone is sealed within the outer metal shell 22 by a wax plug 44. Pitch or a felt wad would also adequately perform the scaling function of the plug 44 but wax is believed to be the most satisfactory sealing media for the intended purpose of the plug 44 as presently understood.

The weight-producing material 42 is necessary to the proper functioning of the test ammunition since the weight of the test ammunition must be the same as an actual round to produce identical recoil and shock characteristics on the weapon being fired.

In operation, the preferred embodiment of the present invention will comprise a thin outer shell 22, 3/64 of an inch thick, and constructed in the form of a casted alloy shell consisting of 50% bismuth, 25% lead, Il /2% tin and 12 /2% cadmium which will have a melting point of approximately 149 F. It should be understood that the outer shell 22 could be formed of other low melting point alloys but the above disclosed alloy is exceptionally well suited for the purpose of the present invention and is preferred. When the slug 20 is fired a thrust of approximately 6,500 psi. is exerted thereon. The heat of the exploding charge and barrel friction will cause the thin outer shell 22 of the slug 20 to be heated to a temperature near its melting point thus reducing the outer shell 12 to putty-like consistency. Substantially all of the heat generated by the firing of the slug will be retained by the thin outer shell 22 because of the air space 46 separating said thin outer shell from the weighting material 42. As the slug leaves the gun barrel it will be subjected to approximately 600 psi. of pressure and air friction which will complete the destruction of the thin outer shell 22. The magnitude of the pressures of thrust, outside air pressure and friction will be more than enough to tear apart the now exposed paper cone 34, thus permitting the lead shot or other weight-producing material 42 to be scattered over a relatively small area not exceeding yards from the barrel of the weapon.

The present invention has been described in detail above for the purpose of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A disintegrating projectile of the type described comprising a thin bullet-shaped outer shell of low melting point metal having one end thereof open, Weighting means within said thin outer shell, a substantially conicallyshaped paper container disposed between said outer shell and said weighting means, one end of said paper container being open, said paper container being separated from said thin outer shell by an air space, holding means adjacent both the front and rear ends of said paper container to maintain said paper container in a fixed position within said outer shell, and sealing means closing the open ends of both said outer shell and said paper container.

2. A disintegrating projectile of the type described comprising a thin outer metal shell of approximately of an inch in thickness, said metal shell adapted to melt when said projectile is fired, a substantially conicallyshaped paper container having a radially-flared flange portion adjacent the base thereof disposed within said metal shell, said paper container being separated from said metal shell by an air space, an annular ring on the inner surface of said outer metal shell positioned to abut said radiallyflared flange portion to limit the entry of said paper con- 'tainer into said outer metal shell, a wax wad positioned within the nose of said outer metal shell and acting in conjunction with said radially-flared flange portion to hold said paper container stationary within said outer metal shell, lead shot disposed within said paper container to approximate the Weight of a standard round, and means sealing said lead shot within said paper container and said paper container within said outer metal shell.

3. A disintegrating projectile according to claim 2 wherein said thin outer metal shell is constructed of a cast alloy of 50% bismuth, 25% lead, 12 tin and 12 /2 cadmium.

4. A disintegrating projectile of the type described comprising a bullet-shaped thin outer metal shell having the trailing end thereof open, said metal shell consisting of an alloy of 50% bismuth, 25% lead, 12 /z% tin and 12 /2'% cadmium and being approximately of an inch thick, a paper container disposed within said metal shell, said paper container being separated from said metal shell by an air space, means within said paper container to provide the projectile with accurate weight, additional means 4 sealing said first named means within said paper container and closing the open end of said metal shell.

5. A disintegrating projectile of the type described comprising a bullet-shaped thin outer metal shell having the trailing end thereof open, said metal shell consisting of a cast alloy of 50% bismuth, 25% lead, l2 /z% tin and 12 /z% cadmium and being approximately of an inch thick, a substantially conically-shaped paper container having a radially-flared flange portion adjacent its open trailing edge disposed within said metal shell, said paper container being separated from said metal shell by an air space, an annular stop on the inner surface of said metal shell near the open end thereof, a wax wad positioned in the nose of said metal shell acting in conjunction with the abutment of said radially-flared flange and said annular stop to maintain said paper container in a fixed stationary relationship with said metal shell, lead shot disposed within said paper container, a wax plug sealing said lead shot within said paper container and said paper container with in said thin outer metal shell.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,877,773 Minto Sept. 20, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 215,008 Great Britain Jan. 8, 1925 OTHER REFERENCES Mark s Handbook, third edition, second impression, 1930. Published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. Copy in Div. 10, page 673.

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