Centerfire ammunition

A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e. "case head"). Unlike rimfire cartridges, the centerfire primer is typically a separate component seated into a recessed cavity (known as the "primer pocket") in the case head, and is replaceable by reloading.
Centerfire cartridges have supplanted the rimfire variety in all but the smallest cartridge sizes. The majority of today's handguns, rifles, and shotguns use centerfire ammunition, with the exception of a few .17 caliber, .20 caliber, and .22 caliber handgun and rifle cartridges, small-bore shotgun shells (intended for pest control), and a handful of antique (and mostly obsolete) cartridges.
History.
An early form of centerfire ammunition, without a percussion cap, was invented between 1808 and 1812 by Jean Samuel Pauly. This was also the first fully integrated cartridge and used a form of obturation employing the cartridge itself. Another form of centerfire ammunition was invented by the Frenchman Clement Pottet in 1829; however, Pottet would not perfect his design until 1855. The centerfire cartridge was improved by Béatus Beringer, Benjamin Houllier, Gastinne Renette, Smith & Wesson, Charles Lancaster, Jules-Félix Gévelot, George Morse, Francois Schneider, Hiram Berdan and Edward Mounier Boxer.
Advantages.
Centerfire cartridges are more reliable for military purposes because the thicker metal cartridge cases can withstand rougher handling without damage, and safer to handle because explosive priming compound in a protruding rim is more likely to be triggered by impact if a rimfire cartridge is dropped or pinched. The stronger base of a centerfire cartridge is able to withstand higher pressures which in turn give a bullet greater velocity and energy. While centerfire cartridge cases require a complex and expensive manufacturing process, explosive handling is simplified by avoiding the spinning process required to uniformly distribute priming explosive into the rim because of uncertainty about which angular segment of a rimfire cartridge rim will be struck by the firing pin. Larger caliber rimfire cartridges require greater volumes of priming explosive than centerfire cartridges, and the required volume may cause an undesirably high pressure during ignition. Reducing the amount of priming explosive would reduce the reliability of rimfire cartridge ignition, and increase the probability of misfire or dud cartridges.
Economies of scale are achieved through interchangeable primers for a wide variety of centerfire cartridge calibers. The expensive individual brass cases can be reused after replacing the primer, gunpowder and projectile. Handloading reuse is an advantage for rifles using obsolete or hard-to-find centerfire cartridges such as the 6.5×54mm Mannlicher–Schönauer, or larger calibers such as the .458 Lott, for which ammunition can be expensive. The forward portion of some empty cases can be reformed for use as obsolete or wildcat cartridges with similar base configuration. Modern cartridges larger than .22 caliber are mostly centerfire. Actions suitable for larger caliber rimfire cartridges declined in popularity until the demand for them no longer exceeded manufacturing costs, and they became obsolete.
Primers.
The identifying feature of centerfire ammunition is the primer which is a metal cup containing a primary explosive inserted into a recess in the center of the base of the cartridge. The firearm firing pin crushes this explosive between the cup and an anvil to produce hot gas and a shower of incandescent particles to ignite the powder charge. Berdan and Boxer cartridge primers are both considered "centerfire" and are not interchangeable at the primer level; however, the same weapon can fire either Berdan- or Boxer-primed cartridges if the overall dimensions are the same.
The two primer types are almost impossible to distinguish by looking at the loaded cartridge, though the two (or more) flash-holes can be seen inside a fired Berdan case and the larger single hole seen or felt inside a fired Boxer case. Berdan priming is less expensive to manufacture and is much more common in military-surplus ammunition made outside the United States.
Berdan primer.
Berdan primers are named after their American inventor, Hiram Berdan of New York who invented his first variation of the Berdan primer and patented it on March 20, 1866, in . A small copper cylinder formed the shell of the cartridge, and the primer cap was pressed into a recess in the outside of the closed end of the cartridge opposite the bullet. In the end of the cartridge beneath the primer cap was a small vent-hole, as well as a small teat-like projection or point (later to be known as an anvil) fashioned from the case, such that the firing pin could crush the primer against the anvil and ignite the propellant. This system worked well, allowing the option of installing a cap just before use of the propellant-loaded cartridge as well as permitting reloading the cartridge for reuse.
Difficulties arose in practice because pressing in the cap from the outside tended to cause a swelling of the copper cartridge shell, preventing reliable seating of the cartridge in the chamber of the firearm. Berdan's solution was to change to brass shells, and to further modify the process of installing the primer cap into the cartridge, as noted in his second Berdan Primer patent of September 29, 1868, in . Berdan primers have remained essentially the same functionally to the present day.
Berdan primers are similar to the caps used in the caplock system, being small metal cups with pressure-sensitive explosive in them. Modern Berdan primers are pressed into the "primer pocket" of a Berdan-type cartridge case, where they fit slightly below flush with the base of the case. Inside the primer pocket is a small bump, the "anvil", that rests against the center of the cup, and two small holes (one on either side of the anvil) that allow flash from the primer to reach the interior of the case. Berdan cases are reusable, although the process is rather involved. The used primer must be removed, usually by hydraulic pressure or a pincer or lever that pulls the primer out of the bottom. A new primer is carefully seated against the anvil, and then powder and a bullet are added.
Boxer primer.
Meanwhile, Colonel Edward Mounier Boxer, of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, England was working on a primer cap design for cartridges, patenting it in England on October 13, 1866, and subsequently received a U.S. patent for his design on June 29, 1869, in .
Boxer primers are similar to Berdan primers with one major difference: the location of the anvil. In a Boxer primer, the anvil is a separate stirrup piece that sits inverted in the primer cup providing sufficient resistance to the impact of the firing pin as it indents the cup and crushes the pressure-sensitive ignition compound. The primer pocket in the case head has a single flash-hole in its center. This positioning makes little or no difference to the performance of the round, but it makes fired primers vastly easier to remove for re-loading, as a single, centered rod pushed through the flash hole from the open end of the case will eject the two-piece primer from the primer cup. A new primer, anvil included, is then pressed into the case using a reloading press or hand-tool. Boxer priming is universal for US-manufactured civilian factory ammunition.
Boxer-primed ammunition is slightly more complex to manufacture, since the primer is in two parts in addition to the pressure-sensitive compound, but automated machinery producing primers by the hundreds of millions has eliminated that as a practical problem. And while the primer is one step more complex to make, the cartridge case is simpler to make, use, and reload.
Early primers were manufactured with various dimensions and performance. Some standardization has occurred where economies of scale benefit ammunition manufacturers. Boxer primers for the United States market come in different sizes, based on the application. The types/sizes of primers are:
Examples of uses:
Primer size is based on the primer pocket of the cartridge, with standard types available in large or small diameters. The primer's explosive charge is based on the amount of ignition energy required by the cartridge design; a standard primer would be used for smaller charges or faster-burning powders, while a magnum primer would be used for the larger charges or slower-burning powders used with large cartridges or heavy charges. Rifle, large and magnum primers increase the ignition energy delivered to the powder, by supplying a hotter, stronger and/or longer-lasting flame. Pistol cartridges often are smaller than modern rifle cartridges, so they may need less primer flame than rifles require. A physical difference between pistol and rifle primers is the thickness of the primer's case; since pistol cartridges usually operate at lower pressure levels than rifles, their primer cups are thinner, softer, and easier to ignite, while rifle primers are thicker and stronger, requiring a harder impact from the firing pin. Despite the names "pistol" and "rifle", the primer used depends on the cartridge, not the firearm; a few high-pressure pistol cartridges like the .221 Fireball and .454 Casull use rifle primers, while lower-pressure pistol and revolver cartridges like the .32 and .380 Autos, 9mm Luger, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum and .45 ACP and traditional revolver cartridges like .32-20, .44-40 and .45 Colt, also used in lever action rifles, still would be loaded with pistol primers. Virtually all cartridges used solely in rifles do, however, use rifle primers.
Shotgun primers.
All modern shotgun shells (excluding specialized rimfire .22 "snake loads" or birdshot cartridges) are centerfire. They use a large, specific shotgun primer that is based on the Boxer system, in that the primer contains the anvil against which the primary explosive is compressed by the firing pin and deformation of the primer cup.
Shotgun primers are also used as a replacement to the percussion cap ignition system in some modern black-powder firearms.
Primer chemistry.
Primer manufacture and insertion is the most dangerous part of small arms ammunition production. Sensitive priming compounds have claimed many lives including the founder of the famous British Eley ammunition firm. Modern commercial operations use protective shielding between operators and manufacturing equipment.
Early primers used the same mercury fulminate used in 19th century percussion caps. Black powder could be effectively ignited by hot mercury released upon decomposition. Disadvantages of mercuric primers became evident with smokeless powder loadings. Mercury fulminate slowly decomposed in storage until the remaining energy was insufficient for reliable ignition. Decreased ignition energy with age had not been recognized as a problem with black-powder loadings because black powder could be ignited by as little energy as a static electricity discharge. Smokeless powder often required more thermal energy for ignition. Misfires and hang fires became common as the remaining priming compound sputtered in old primers. A misfire would result if the priming compound either failed to react to the firing pin fall or extinguished prior to igniting the powder charge. A hang fire is a perceptible delay between the fall of the firing pin and discharge of the firearm. In extreme cases, the delay might be sufficient to be interpreted as a misfire, and the cartridge could fire as the action was being opened or the firearm pointed in an inappropriate direction.
Incandescent particles were found most effective for igniting smokeless powder after the primary explosive gases had heated the powder grains. Artillery charges frequently included a smaller quantity of black powder to be ignited by the primer, so incandescent potassium carbonate would spread fire through the smokeless powder. Potassium chlorate was added to mercury fulminate priming mixtures so incandescent potassium chloride would have a similar effect in small arms cartridges.
Priming mixtures containing mercury fulminate leave metallic mercury in the bore and empty cartridge case after firing. The mercury was largely absorbed in the smokey fouling with black-powder loads. Mercury coated the interior of brass cases with smokeless powder loads, and the higher pressures of smokeless powder charges forced the mercury into grain boundaries between brass crystals where it formed zinc and copper amalgams weakening the case so it became unsuitable for reloading. The United States Army discontinued use of mercuric priming mixtures in 1898 to allow arsenal reloading of fired cases during peacetime. Frankford Arsenal FA-70 primers used potassium chlorate as an oxidizer for lead(II) thiocyanate, to increase the sensitivity of potassium chlorate, and antimony trisulfide, as an abrasive, with minor amounts of trinitrotoluene. These corrosive primers leave a residue of potassium chloride salt in the bore after a cartridge is fired. These hygroscopic salt crystals will hold moisture from a humid atmosphere and cause rusting. These corrosive primers can cause serious damage to the gun unless the barrel and action are cleaned carefully after firing.
Civilian ammunition manufacturers began offering non-corrosive primers in the 1920s, but most military ammunition continued to use corrosive priming mixtures of established reliability. The various proprietary priming formulations used by different manufacturers produced some significantly different ignition properties until the United States issued military specifications for non-corrosive primers for 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge production. The PA-101 primers developed at Picatinny Arsenal used about 50% lead styphnate with lesser amounts of barium nitrate, antimony trisulfide, powdered aluminum and a tetrazine compound. Most United States manufacturers adopted the PA-101 military standard for their civilian production of Boxer primers. Manufacturers subsequently offered more powerful magnum primers for uniform ignition of civilian long-range or big-game cartridges with significantly greater powder capacity than required for standard infantry weapons.
Other explosives used in primers can include lead azide, potassium perchlorate, or diazodinitrophenol (DDNP). New on the market in the late 1990s are lead-free primers (see green bullet), to address concerns over the lead and other heavy-metal compounds found in older primers. The heavy metals, while small in quantity, are released in the form of a very fine soot. Some indoor firing ranges are moving to ban primers containing heavy metals due to their toxicity. Lead-free primers were originally less sensitive and had a greater moisture sensitivity and correspondingly shorter shelf life than normal noncorrosive primers. Since their introduction, lead-free primers have become better in their performance compared to early lead free primers. Tests comparing lead-free primers to lead-based primers conducted by the US Department of Defense (approx 2006), exposed some significant differences in accuracy between the two primers when used in 7.62×51mm. In these tests, lead-free primers were proven to be not as accurate as lead-based primers. The lead-free primers exhibited poor performance as far as peak blast pressure, which consequently leads to poor ignition. Popularity is still minimal, as accuracy is paramount. Most lead-free primers are sourced through Russia (MUrom?)or South Korea (PMC).
European and eastern military or surplus ammunition often uses corrosive or slightly-corrosive Berdan primers because they work reliably under severe conditions and have a longer storage life than the non-corrosive type primers in current use. Modern Boxer primers are almost always non-corrosive and non-mercuric. Determination of corrosive or non-corrosive characteristics based on the primer type should consider these final headstamp dates of corrosive ammunition production:


Volcanic sublimate

A volcanic sublimate or fumarolic sublimate is a mineral which forms directly from volcanic gas, by the process of deposition, during an eruption or discharge from a volcanic vent or fumarole. Native sulfur is a common sublimate mineral and various halides, sulfides and sulfates occur in this environment associated with fumaroles and eruptions.


Husa knife

A Husa knife, also sometimes called Achang knife, is traditional forged weapon of the Achang people of China. The Achang live mainly in the village of "Husa", and smaller villages nearby, in Longchuan County, Dehong Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, near the border between China and Burma.
Husa is well known for its knife and sword makers, who have sold their products to Burma and regions along Nu River since ancient times. The Achang craftsmen make a variety of types of blades.
Husa knives are made with a special process which gives the metal a pure texture, and a really sharp and durable blade. The handles and sheaths are also inscribed with various traditional patterns, such as "flying dragon and phoenix", "tiger roaring", "eastern sunrise", making each knife a work of art.
Each Achang family keeps at least one knife of high quality. When the young Achang men get married, they carry back knives to show their heroic vitality. This ethnic custom has continued to the present time.
History.
Forging techniques have been passed down through the generations of the Achang people since the Tang Dynasty.
According to historical records, around 600 years ago, during the "Hongwu" period in Ming Dynasty, soldiers from the army of Mu Ying, a general of the Ming government, were settled in this area. The soldiers brought military techniques of weapon making, gathered during their campaigns against Mongolia, Tibet, the Hui and the Yi, to the local Achang people. Husa village become the "arsenal" of Ming government armies. Achang people absorbed the Ming government army's weapon manufacturing technology and evolved a unique Husa knife forge craftsmanship, which matured during the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty (around 1600-1680), reached its peak in the early twentieth century.
In the fight against Napoleon's army, those sabers, forged by the Husa were highly prized by the soldiers.
During the First World War, British forces set up a "Jingpo" nationality army in Burma and every soldier was equipped with a special Husa saber, called "Geleka".
In 1990, the master forgers in Husa created a "Nine dragons" commander's sword. This sword is worn by the honor guard of Chinese People's Liberation Army, guarding the Chinese national flag on Tian'anmen Square.
Husa knives have long been in demand by nearby Han, Dai, Jingpo, Lisu, Tibetan, Bai and other ethnic people. Recently, Husa knives have been sold widely from Yunnan Province to Beijing, Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia and other places, and exported to Burma, Thailand, India and other countries.
Under the pressure of the modern culture and the social economy, the Husa knife, forged by traditional techniques and devices, faces heavy competition from less expensive knives made by modern machinery and raw materials. As the traditional masters age, apprentices are rare, and the techniques of Husa knife creation face the danger of extinction.
Variations.
Many variations of the Husa knife have been developed during its long history. Some of these are: back swords (cane knives), machetes, broadswords, Tibetan knives (specifically made for Tibetans), daggers, and sabers. The best known types are the back sword (long blade) and Tibetan knife, and these are made with particularly elaborate quality and style. The Tibetan knife has wide and thick blade, and is made in various lengths, with delicate inscription "tiger roaring", "swallow flying" and other traditional patterns on the handle and sheath. Many Tibetan people wear the knife as their essential tool and ornament.
Forging process.
The production process of Husa knife has 10 steps:
Special technique is especially important in the process of quenching. Through heat treatment, the quenching optimizes the hardness and toughness of the blade. In historical records, the blades are described as "flexible enough to be bent, one hair blown on the blade, cut two, just can chop iron".
The tools to make Husa knives include a wooden bellows, a clay-made stove, as well as hammers, clamps, and iron pillows. Raw iron with high carbon content is selected by an experienced old master from specific locations around Baoshan, Tengchong regions, the traditional mine areas in Yunnan. Younger craftsmen, put the selected raw iron into the stove, heating, forging repeatedly, to purify the texture and form different shapes. The resulting metal is ground into blade blanks; and after all these lengthy processes, comes the most important and subtlest process: quenching. Quenching technology requires special know-how. The quality of a knife, largely depends on the quenching skills. There is a kind of thin blade Husa back sword which can bend its blade as a cycle. It can only be built after repeatedly and precisely water quenching and oil tempering.
The knife production comes under a model of co-operation between each "Zhai"(small stockaded village) in Husa. Each "Zhai" has its "fist" product. The whole Husa "Bazi"(small plain), likes a handicraft factory, and each "Zhai" is one workshop, which is famous for one special product.
Laifu "Zhai" has well-known black cane knife, Mangdong "Zhai" has broadsword and dagger, Lajie "Zhai" has sharp sickles, Xin "Zhai" has back knife and Mangsuo "Zhai" has delicate sheaths.


Edmund Birch

Edmund Birch (1831 – 16 January 1875) was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1873 to 1875.
Born in England in 1831, Birch emigrated to Western Australia on the "Parkfield" in March 1841. There he was apprenticed to George Shenton Sr as a pharmacist. From 1852 to 1853, he was an assistant at the Colonial Hospital (now Royal Perth Hospital). He then went into partnership with his father and brother as pharmacists and grocers in Perth. In May 1856 he married Anne Hymus; they would have eight children.
Birch began to take an interest in public life, becoming vice president of the Perth Workingmen's Association and chairman of the Swan Mechanics' Institute. In 1862 he was a founding director of the Perth Building Society. The following year he became a member of the Perth Municipal Council, which position he held until his death. He became a member of the Perth Board of Education, a director of the WA Bank, and in 1872 was captain of the Volunteer Rifle Corps.
On 19 October 1870, Birch contested the Legislative Council's seat of Perth, but was unsuccessful. On 18 November 1873, he contested the seat again in a by-election. He won the seat, holding it until his death. He died on 16 January 1875 as a result of injuries from a fire.


Railway gun

A railway gun, also called a railroad gun, is a large artillery piece, often surplus naval artillery, mounted on, transported by, and fired from a specially designed railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the best-known are the large Krupp-built pieces used by Germany in World War I and World War II. Smaller guns were often part of an armoured train. Only able to be moved where there were good tracks, which could be destroyed by artillery bombardment or airstrike, railway guns were phased out after World War II.
Design considerations.
The design of a railway gun has three firing issues over and above those of an ordinary artillery piece to consider. Namely how the gun is going to be traversed – i.e. moved from side to side to aim; how the horizontal component of the recoil force will be absorbed by the gun's carriage and how the vertical recoil force will be absorbed by the ground.
Methods of traverse.
The first method of traverse is to rely entirely on movement along a curved section of track or on a turntable with no provision to traverse the gun on its mount. The second is to traverse the rail car body on its trucks, known as a "car-traversing mount". Generally this is limited to a few degrees of traverse to either side unless an elaborate foundation is built with a centre pivot and traversing rollers. The design of the foundation is the only limit to the amount of traverse allowed in this latter case. The third choice is to allow the separate gun mount to rotate with respect to the rail car body, known as a "top-carriage traversing mount". This usually requires the gun to be mounted on a central pivot which, in turn, is mounted on the car body. With few exceptions these types of mounts require some number of outriggers, stabilisers, or earth anchors to keep them in place against the recoil forces and are generally more suitable for smaller guns. The American post–World War I assessment of railway artillery considered that the utility of even a small amount of traverse for fine adjustments was high enough that either of the two latter traversing methods is preferable to a fixed mount.
Recoil systems.
There are four primary methods to absorb the recoil force for railway guns: "cradle recoil", "top-carriage recoil", "sliding recoil" and "rolling recoil".
Cradle recoil means that the gun recoils backward in its cradle, retarded and stopped by hydraulic buffers. It is returned to battery, or the firing position, by either helical springs or by air in a pneumatic recuperator cylinder that is compressed by the force of recoil. This is the most common method used for lighter railroad guns and for virtually all field artillery designed after the French introduced their Canon de 75 modèle 1897.
Top-carriage recoil is the situation in which the gun is mounted in an upper carriage that moves on wheels on fixed rails mounted on the lower. The gun and upper carriage recoil together, restrained by the usual hydraulic buffers. Return to battery is effected either by gravity, through the use of inclined rails, which the gun and carriage have run up, by springs, or even by rubber bands, on some improvised mounts. It is not well-suited to firing at high elevations because it cannot absorb much of the vertical component of the recoil force.
Sliding recoil has the car body sitting on a set of wooden crossbeams or "sleepers" placed underneath it which have been jacked down on to a special set of girders incorporated into the track so that about half the weight of the mount has been transferred to them from the trucks. The gun, car body and trucks all recoil together with the friction generated by the crossbeams sliding on the girders absorbing the recoil force after moving only about to the rear. The sleepers must be jacked up again to allow the gun to roll forward to its firing position. This was often done by handwheels driving gear trains attached to the wheels, or even by electric motors on more modern mounts. Almost all of these type of mounts were of the non-traversing type and had to be fired from a curved section of track or turntable. The American post–World War I assessment of railway artillery praised its ruggedness, ease of manufacture and convenience in service, but acknowledged its unsuitability for smaller guns, due to excessive time of operation and lack of traverse, and that it was not suitable for the largest howitzers firing at high angles because of the enormous trunnion forces.
With rolling recoil the entire gun, mount, and carriage rolls backward, typically between , restrained only by the brakes. The mount was winched back into firing position by cables fastened to the track. This system was usually combined with "cradle recoil" because the springs of the trucks cannot withstand the vertical component of the recoil force alone. This type of mount was usually fitted with car-traverse. It was unsuitable for smaller guns due to the lack of traverse. The great advantage of this method is that it requires minimal preparation and can fire from any suitable section of curved track.
The methods were often used in combination with each other. Examples include the French railway howitzer which used cradle-sliding recoil. The Americans' 14"/50 caliber railway gun Mark II used cradle-rolling recoil as did the 14 and 12 inch railway guns from Great Britain. Only the oldest weapons used a combination of top-cradle and sliding recoil. One example being the earliest mounts for the British designed BL 9.2 inch Railway Gun.
Anchorage.
The combination of rolling and cradle-recoil methods absorbed both the horizontal and vertical components of the recoil force and needed no special preparations, but all other types required some method to transmit the vertical force to the ground. One way is to build a platform on either the ties or the ground with girders, beams, pads or floats. The horizontal component would be alleviated by either sliding recoil or rail clamps, guys or struts to secure the mount in place. The French Schneider and mounts and the British 9.2 inch guns and 12 inch howitzers used rail clamps or guys. The American gun and the French 240 mm Canon de Mle 1893/96 M used struts.
The other method is build a firing position and recoil pit (épi de tir in French) underneath the tracks, using either heavy timbers like the French and howitzers or an elaborate concrete or steel base. These latter were mostly used by the Germans for the and larger railway guns and by the French for their Batignollesmounts. Generally, for these emplacements the rails merely served to guide the gun into position and the gun was often mounted on a central pivot to allow up to 360° of traverse. The primary drawback of these positions was the lengthy time to build them.
History.
19th century.
The idea of railway guns was first suggested in Russia in 1847 by Gustav Kori (proposal), followed by Ye. Repin (project, 1855), Pyotr Lebedev (who outlined the theoretical foundations of the railway artillery in "Primeneniye Zheleznykh Dorog k Zashite Materika", 1857) and P. Fomin (developed a project of a large-caliber cannon, 1860).
American Civil War.
The first railway gun used in combat was a banded 32-pounder Brooke naval rifle mounted on a flat car and shielded by a sloping casemate of railroad iron. On 29 June 1862, Robert E. Lee had the gun pushed by a locomotive over the Richmond and York River line (later part of the Southern Railway) and used at the Battle of Savage's Station to interfere with General George McClellan's plans for siege operations against Richmond during the Union advance up the peninsula.
Photographic evidence exists of at least one Union 13-inch siege mortar mounted on a rail car during the Siege of Petersburg. It was nicknamed the "Dictator" or the "Petersburg Express". When it was first fired, the recoil destroyed the flatcar on which it was mounted. A flatcar strengthened by additional beams covered by iron plate was able to resist recoil damage from a full charge. The "Dictator" was then fired from a section of the Petersburg and City Point Railroad where moving the strengthened flatcar along a curve in the track trained the gun on different targets along the Confederate lines. The "Dictator" silenced the Confederate guns on Chesterfield Heights to prevent them from enfilading the right end of the Union line. Another photo exists of a gun mounted on an armoured rail car with the caption of "Railway battery used in siege of Petersburg" although no textual evidence survives in support of the caption, which makes the claim that it is a photo of the Confederate gun from 1862 dubious.
France.
France also used improvised railway guns during the Siege of Paris (1870–1871). In France, Lt. Col Peigné is often credited with designing the first railway gun in 1883. Commandant Mougin is credited with putting guns on rail cars in 1870. The French arms maker Schneider offered a number of models in the late 1880s and produced a gun intended for coastal defense, selling some to the Danish government in the 1890s. They also designed a model the Obusier de 200 "Pérou" sur affût-truck TAZ Schneider for Peru in 1910, but they were never delivered. A digitally remastered film footage of the WWI French railway guns: WWI FRENCH RAILWAY GUNS FOOTAGE DIGITALLY REMASTERED
United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom mounted a few guns on railway cars which saw action during the Siege and Relief of Ladysmith during the Second Boer War. A 9.2 inch gun was taken from the Cape Town coast defences and mounted on a rail car to support the British assault on Boer defenses at Belfast, north-east of Johannesburg, but the battle ended before it could get into action.
World War I.
The outbreak of the First World War caught the French with a shortage of heavy field artillery. In compensation, large numbers of large static coastal defense guns and naval guns were moved to the front, but these were typically unsuitable for field use and required some kind of mounting. The railway gun provided the obvious solution. By 1916, both sides were deploying numerous types of railway guns.
During the First World War France produced more railway guns in more calibers and with different mountings than everyone else combined. The largest French gun produce by Schneider of France the Obusier de 520 modèle 1916, a 20-inch (520 mm) railway "Fort Buster" to do what the German 16.53-inch Big Bertha had done at the outbreak of World War I and reduce the German forts in the final line of German defenses. One was destroyed in trials and the other did not complete firing trials prior to the signing of the Armistice. The gun remained in storage and was captured by the Germans during World War II. It later formed part of the German artillery complement during the Siege of Leningrad. The gun was disabled by a premature detonation and later abandoned.
Baldwin Locomotive Works delivered five 14"/50 caliber railway guns on trains for the United States Navy during April and May 1918. Each 14"/50 gun mounted on a , rail carriage with four 6-wheel bogies was under the command of a United States Navy lieutenant with a standard U.S. Army 2-8-0 locomotive, a 10-ton crane car, two armored ammunition cars carrying 25 shells each, two cars carrying the recoil pit foundation materials, two fuel and workshop cars, three berthing cars, a kitchen car, a commissary car, and a medical dispensary car. A sixth locomotive pulled a headquarters car for Rear Admiral Charles Peshall Plunkett, with a machine-shop car, a spare parts car, a berthing car, a kitchen car, a commissary car, and a medical dispensary car. After delivery by ship, these trains were assembled in St. Nazaire in August and fired a total of 782 shells during 25 days on the Western Front at ranges between . Each projectile weighed and was fired at per second. The railway carriages could elevate the guns to 43 degrees, but elevations over 15 degrees required excavation of a pit with room for the gun to recoil and structural steel shoring foundations to prevent caving of the pit sides from recoil forces absorbed by the surrounding soil. The trains moved cautiously because axle loading under the gun barrels was while French railways were designed for a maximum of . These axle journals overheated at speeds of more than per hour. After reaching its intended firing site and constructing the recoil pit, each gun could fire about two shells per hour. One of these guns was retained after the War as an ammunition test gun at the Dahlgren Weapons Laboratory until all United States battleships with 14"/50 guns were scrapped shortly after World War II. The gun was then placed on display outside the U.S. Navy Museum at the Washington Navy Yard.
Baldwin constructed six similar gun carriages and two of an improved Mk II type designed to permit firing the gun at all elevation angles without transferring weight to a separate foundation. These eight guns were completed too late to see combat, and were designated the 14-inch M1920 railway guns. Some were later stationed through World War II in special coast defense installations at San Pedro, California, (near Los Angeles) and in the Panama Canal Zone where they could be shifted from one ocean to the other in less than a day. Improved carriages were designed to allow their transportation to several fixed firing emplacements including concrete foundations where the railway trucks were withdrawn so the gun could be rapidly traversed (swiveled horizontally) to engage moving ship targets.
After the American entry into World War I on 6 April 1917, the U.S. Army recognized the need to adopt railway artillery for use on the Western Front. No US railway guns existed at that time. Due to low production and shipping priorities, the Army's railway gun contribution on the Western Front consisted of four U.S. Coast Artillery regiments armed with French-made weapons. Three additional railway gun regiments were in France, but did not complete training prior to the Armistice, and they did not see action. Other Coast Artillery units also operated various types of French-, British-, and American-made heavy artillery. The Army also converted some of the numerous coast artillery weapons to railway mounts. A total of 96 8-inch guns (including some from Navy spares), 129 10-inch guns, 45 12-inch guns, and 150 12-inch mortars could be spared from fixed coast defense batteries or spare stocks. Twelve 7-inch ex-Navy guns and six 12-inch guns being built for Chile were also available. To shorten a long story, none of these weapons were shipped to France except three 8-inch guns, as few of any type were completed before the Armistice. Forty-seven 8-inch railway guns were ordered, with 18 completed by the Armistice and a total of 37 (or 47, references vary) completed before the contract was canceled. Eight 10-inch railway mounts of 54 ordered were completed by the Armistice, and twelve 12-inch railway mounts were completed by 1 April 1919; the 12-inch contract was cancelled at that point. At least some of the 10-inch gun barrels were shipped to France and mounted on French-made carriages, but sources do not indicate any use of them in combat. Three railway mountings for the Chilean 12-inch guns were ready for shipment by the Armistice, and the remaining three barrels were kept as spares. A total of twenty-two 10-inch guns were eventually mounted. Ninety-one 12-inch railway mortars were ordered, with 45 complete by 7 April 1919 and the remainder eventually completed.
The 7-inch and 8-inch guns and 12-inch mortars used a common carriage, with a depressed center and two 4-wheel or 6-wheel bogies. The bogies were interchangeable for standard-gauge or (with 12-wheel bogies) 60-cm (23.6-inch) gauge track. Outriggers and a rotating mount allowed all-around fire. This allowed the weapons to be used in coast defense against moving targets. The 8-inch guns and 12-inch mortars were kept on railway mountings after the war, while almost all of the 7-inch, 10-inch, and 12-inch guns were returned to the coastal forts. With 47 available, plus an additional 24 ex-Navy Mark VI guns on railway mounts by 1942, the 8-inch guns were the most-commonly-deployed American railway gun through World War II. About 12 of these were used for the defense of Oahu, Hawaii. Others were stationed for the coastal defense of Manila (eventually dismounted from the railway carriage at Corregidor), Bermuda, Newfoundland, Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and Fort Hancock, New Jersey (near New York City).
Although numerous 12-inch railway mortars were available, few were deployed. In 1930 the US Army tested them at Fort Hancock, New Jersey, and Fort Miles, Delaware. During World War II, four railway mortars were among the temporary harbor defenses of Grays Harbor, Washington state, and emplacements for an additional four at Cape George, Washington, were constructed, but never armed. Of the more than 250 railway guns built in the United States from 1916 to 1942, the five navy 14"/50 guns that were sent to France during World War I and possibly two 8-inch guns in the Philippines were the only ones ever to be used in combat. Reportedly, the eight 8-inch railway guns in the Philippines in 1941–42 were either destroyed by air attack or lacked trained crews.
World War II.
World War II saw the final use of the railway gun, with the massive Schwerer Gustav gun, the largest artillery piece to be used in combat, deployed by Nazi Germany. After the Fall of France Germany added 58 captured French guns to its inventory while Italy was given 19 French guns with many of these being captured by the Germans after the Italian capitulation.
Both Nazi Germany and Great Britain deployed railway guns that were capable of firing across the English Channel in the areas around Dover and Calais. The Wehrmacht deployed three 40.6-cm (16-inch) guns. The British Army deployed three 13.5-inch (34.3-cm) railway guns on the East Kent Light Railway, locating them around Lydden and Shepherdswell. These were codenamed the "Gladiator", the "Sceneshifter", and the "Peacemaker". 9.2-inch Mark 13 guns were located near Canterbury and Hythe, Kent; and 12-inch howitzers, Mk 3 and 5, located around Guston, north of Dover on the Southern Railway line to Deal and Ramsgate.
The 18-inch howitzer "Boche Buster" was sited on the Elham Valley Railway, between Bridge, Kent, and Lyminge, and was intended for coastal defense against invasion. It was not capable of cross-channel firing, having a maximum range of only about 20 km (12 miles).


Dao (Naga sword)

Dao is the sword of the Naga people of Northeastern India, mainly in the Indian states of Assam and Nagaland. The sword, with its wooden hilt, and unique square form is used for digging as well as for killing.
Form.
The dao broadsword can be found in the northeastern region of Assam and Nagaland in India where the Naga people lives. The dao has a thick and heavy form, with length varies between to . The unique design of this long backsword is that instead of a point, the tip of the sword is a bevel, creating an appearance of a squarish shape. This form is also found in the Burmese dha whose form is derived from the dao. The form of the dao was first adopted by the Kachin people. From here the form would evolve to the more elongated dha.
The blade of the Dao is almost straight, with a very minimal curve that can only be discerned upon close examination. The blade is heavy and chisel-edged. It has a unique form that it is narrowest at the hilt and the gradually broaden to the endpoint.
The wooden hilt has a very simple shape, without a guard or without a distinguished pommel. Bamboo root is considered to be the best material for the hilt. The grip of the handle is sometimes wrapped with basketry. Sometimes the hilt is decorated with a bronze cap at the bottom. The hilt may also be made of ivory, and occasionally can be well-carved.
Dao is usually carried in an open-sided wooden scabbard which is fastened to a rattan belt hoop. The scabbard is centrally hollowed out on one face.
Multi-function.
The dao is almost the only tool that was used by the Naga people. It is used for many purposes e.g. for building houses, to clear the forest, to dig the earth, to make the women's weaving tools, and to create any kind of wooden objects. The dao is also used as a weapon.


Mine Protected Combat Vehicle

The Mine Protected Combat Vehicle – MPCV (a.k.a. 'Spook') was a Rhodesian 4×4 Infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), first introduced in 1979 and based on the body of the Mercedes-Benz Unimog light truck. It remains in use with the Zimbabwe National Army.
History.
At the late 1970s when the Rhodesian Bush War was entering its final phase, the Rhodesian Security Forces (RhSF) were faced with an escalation towards conventional warfare when they learned that a mechanised built-up was being undertaken by the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) guerrilla organization based in neighbouring Zambia with material assistance from the Soviet Union. Eventually, by mid-1979 ZIPRA had brought to strength a fairly sizeable armoured corps trained by Cuban advisors, which aligned five BRDM-2 reconnaissance armoured cars, six to ten T-34/85 tanks and fifteen BTR-152 wheeled APCs.
To deal with the potential threat of a possible conventional ground invasion from across the border, the Rhodesian Armoured Car Regiment (RhACR) was reorganized in 1978, being expanded to include additional tank and mechanized infantry squadrons. It soon became clear however, that the latter had to be provided with fast, more mobile troop-carrying vehicles (TCV) designed for conventional armoured warfare. The heavier locally tailored TCVs – conceived primarily for the counter-insurgency role – already in service with the Rhodesian SF were found to be not entirely suitable for the task so a lighter (and cheaper) alternative was sought.
Development.
Nicknamed the 'Spook' because of the secrecy and urgency surrounding the entire project, the MPCV was originally developed jointly in 1978 by the Rhodesian private firm Kew Engineering Ltd of Gwelo (now Gweru), the RhACR and the Rhodesian Corps of Engineers (RhCE) to meet the requirements of the Rhodesian Army for a low-cost, mine and ambush protected (MAP) infantry fighting vehicle mounted on a Unimog chassis capable of carrying 10 men.
At the time, Kew Engineering designers were already working in conjunction with the RhCE in the development of the Mine Protected Mortar Carrier or MPMC (dubbed the 'Skorpion'), which was essentially a Unimog truck chassis modified to accept a base mount for an L16 81mm mortar. Under pressure to meet the eight-week deadline fixed by the Army, the designer team responded to the challenge by adapting the 'Skorpion' design, extending its v-shaped mine-protected base to cover the full length of the vehicle with cut-outs for the engine and transmission.
The modified base was them sent to the 10th Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment (RR) workshops at Gwelo for the armoured top to be fitted.
A team of RhCE engineers' and RhACR and RR mechanics were able to produce in a single day an armoured steel body for the mine-protected base, its design being developed from an adapted and heavily modified hull of the West German Thyssen Henschel UR-416 armoured car. Other internal modifications requested by the RhACR, involving engine, steering, brakes and the gearbox (a deflector plate had to be added to protect it from centre landmine blasts) were also incorporated.
The first prototype of the MPCV was completed in just six weeks in late 1978 and, after intensive trials involving driving and mine testing by the Rhodesian Army the vehicle was finally approved for active service. Production began in earnest at early 1979, with Kew Engineering plants turning out four bare vehicles per week until a total of 60 MPCVs had been delivered to the 10th Battalion RR workshops at Gwelo, where they would be fitted with the electronics and armament. However, the 'Spook' project came too late to have a significant effect on the outcome of the Bush War. When the December 1979 cease-fire came into effect, the 60 vehicles were still awaiting finishing at the Gwelo workshops because there were not enough mechanics from the territorial reserve to complete them in time to see any active service in the last months of the war.
General description.
The MPCV consists of an all-welded body with a fully enclosed troop compartment built on a modified Mercedes-Benz U1100 Unimog 416 2.5 ton light truck chassis. The diamond-shaped glacis has two vision ports closed by armoured flaps, one for the driver and the other for the commander whilst placed below are two engine flaps and one antennae mount on each side. The headlights are bolted to the side below the engine compartment and protected by a box-shaped brush guard.
Access to the vehicle's interior is made by means of two medium-sized doors at the hull sides whilst two roof hatches placed at the top of the fighting compartment allowed for rapid debussing plus nine firing ports, four in each hull side and one at the rear door. The hull—or 'capsule' in the Rhodesian military jargon—is faceted at the sides and rear, and a sloping glacis at the front, designed to deflect small-arms' rounds, along with a v-shaped bottom meant to deflect landmine blasts.
Unlike most Rhodesian-produced mine-protected vehicles however, the capsule is not continuously solid-mounted to the chassis. Instead, it is fixed at the centre of the chassis with silent-block pivots fitted lengthways to each end, allowing the latter to flex its capacity to the fullest. Besides allowing for the vehicle to achieve a good performance off-road, such feature also helps cushion the capsule from mine detonations.
Protection.
Another unusual feature of the MPCV was its composite armour hull. It consists of layers of 45mm Kaylite polystyrene sandwiched between 6mm ballistic steel plate and 19mm rubber conveyor belting. The Kaylite allowed the remaining force in the round or schrapnel to dissipate or tumble if it penetrated the armour plate, whilst providing at the same time good insulation from weather and noise. During trials however, it was found that the vehicle's armoured hull was not impervious to 7.62mm armour-piercing rounds, the interior of the troop compartment was rather cramped (internal height stands at 1.2m) and it leaked in the rain. After initial mine trials internal reinforcing roll hoops had to be added.
Armament.
An octagonal one-man turret, which could accommodate a FN MAG-58 7.62×51mm NATO light machine-gun or 12.7mm and 14.5mm Heavy machine guns (HMGs) was usually fitted on the top roof of the vehicle. Trials were also conducted with a French 20mm cannon — the same chain-fed M621 model installed on the Rhodesian Air Force's Allouette III helicopter gunships ('K-Cars') — mounted on a specially-designed gun turret but it was not adopted by the Rhodesian Army.
Combat history.
Developed too late to participate in the Rhodesian Bush War, the 'Spook' after independence entered service with the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) who, impressed by the vehicle's mobility, quickly adopted it in early 1980. The MPCV equipped the D Squadron of the Zimbabwe Armoured Corps (formerly the RhACR) and the C Company, 1st Battalion, Rhodesian African Rifles (1RAR), which participated in the large military exercises conducted at Somabula Plain, Matabeleland that same year.
It was only in November 1980 however, that the ZNA finally got the chance to trial its newly acquired armoured vehicle in combat against ZIPRA troops at the 1st Battle of Entumbane and later in the February 1981 2nd Battle of Entumbane (near Bulawayo, Matabeleland), where it acquainted itself well, and later again after February 1982 by helping to put down the Super-ZAPU insurgency in Matabeleland.
During the Mozambican Civil War in 1982–1993, the ZNA forces serving at Mozambique also employed the 'Spook' there as a patrol and escort vehicle at the vital Beira corridor in Tete Province, guarding both the Beira–Bulawayo railway and oil pipeline from RENAMO guerrilla attacks. ZNA's MPCVs found themselves once again performing these same duties in the cadre of the ill-fated United Nations' peacekeeping mission in Somalia (UNOSOM I) from 1992 to 1994, protecting the convoys of UN trucks carrying relief aid en route from Mogadishu port to the refugee camps. The MPCV served with the ZNA contingent sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2002.


Personal defense weapon

Personal defense weapons (PDWs) are a class of compact, selective fire, magazine-fed, submachine gun-like firearms. Most PDWs fire a small-caliber (less than ), high-velocity centerfire bottleneck cartridge resembling a scaled-down intermediate rifle cartridge, essentially making them an "in-between" hybrid between a submachine gun and a carbine. The use of these rifle-like cartridges gives the PDWs much better ballistic performance (effective range, accuracy and armor-penetrating capability) than conventional submachine guns, which fire larger-caliber but slower and less aerodynamic handgun cartridges. The low recoil of these "sub-intermediate" cartridges also makes muzzle rise on PDWs (which typically have short gun barrels) much easier to handle than short-barreled rifles, especially when shooting full-auto or in burst fires.
The name describes the weapon's original conceptual role: as a compact but powerful small arm that can be conveniently carried for personal defense, usually by support personnel behind the front line such as military engineers, logistic drivers, medical specialists, artillery crews or signallers. These "second-line" personnel are not strictly combat troops expected to directly engage the enemy, but may still be at risk of encountering decently equipped (and often well-armored) hostile skirmishers/infiltrators and thus have to defend themselves in close quarters. Such encounters will warrant an effective weapon that is easy to use while having sufficient firepower to suppress enemy charges and hold them beyond a safe perimeter to prevent the defenders from being overrun, but the risk of hostililty is rare enough that a standard service rifle would be an unnecessary burden during their normal duties.
Because of their light weight, controllability, ease of operation and close-range effectiveness (can defeat a NATO CRISAT vest or an NIJ IIIA soft Kevlar armor at up to ), PDWs have also been used by special forces, paramilitaries, heavily armed tactical police and even bodyguards.
History.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, shortened versions of the infantry rifle were issued as "carbines" for cavalry troops and gun crews. This designation was dropped as infantry rifle designs became shortened overall, such as in the Short Magazine Lee–Enfield rifle. Thereafter, handguns were typically issued as a self-defense weapons. However, they were not effective in most close combat situations. As a result, during the First World War, the Mauser C96 and artillery versions of the Luger pistol were issued with attachable shoulder stock holsters, which allowed for greater control and accuracy.
During World War I, the United States secretly developed the Pedersen device attachment for the M1903 Springfield rifle that allowed it to fire a .30 caliber (7.62 mm) pistol-type cartridge in semi-automatic mode. This attachment was developed to allow an infantryman to convert "his rifle to a form of submachine gun or automatic rifle" in approximately 15 seconds.
Production of the device and modified M1903 rifles started during 1918. However, the war ended before they were sent to Europe. The contract was cancelled on March 1, 1919, after production of 65,000 devices, 1.6 million magazines, 65 million cartridges and 101,775 modified Springfield rifles. The Pedersen device was declared surplus in 1931. To prevent them from falling into the hands of the lawless, nearly all of the stored devices were destroyed by the Army except for a few examples kept by Ordnance Department.
In 1938, the U.S. Army Ordnance Department received a request for a light rifle to be issued to mortarmen, radiomen, drivers, clerks, cooks, and similar grades. During field exercises, these troops found that the M1 Garand rifle was too heavy and too cumbersome for general issue. And, while handguns are undeniably convenient, they had limited range, accuracy and power. This request was refused by authorities.
In 1940, after Germany's use of glider-borne and paratroop forces to infiltrate and attack strategic points behind the front lines, the request for a light rifle was resubmitted and subsequently approved. U.S. Army Ordnance issued a requirement for a "light rifle" with greater range, firepower, and accuracy than the M1911 pistol while weighing half as much as the M1 Garand. As a result, the U.S. developed the semi-automatic M1 Carbine and shortly thereafter the select-fire M2 Carbine. Widely employed until the end of the Vietnam War, these carbines are generally considered the forerunners of modern personal defense weapons.
Developed during the 1980s, the "Personal Defense Weapon" (PDW) concept was created in response to a NATO request as a replacement for 9×19mm Parabellum submachine guns. The PDW is a compact automatic weapon that can defeat enemy body armor and which can be used conveniently by non-combatant and support troops, as well as a close quarters battle weapon for special forces and counter-terrorist groups.
Introduced in 1991, the FN P90 features a bullpup design with a futuristic appearance. It has a 50-round magazine housed horizontally above the barrel, an integrated reflex sight and fully ambidextrous controls. A simple blow-back automatic weapon, it was designed to fire the FN 5.7×28mm cartridge which can penetrate soft body armor. The P90 was designed to have a length no greater than a man's shoulder width, to allow it to be easily carried and maneuvered in tight spaces, such as the inside of an armored vehicle.
Introduced in 2001, the Heckler & Koch MP7 is a direct rival to the FN P90. Featuring a more conventional-looking design, the MP7 uses a short-stroke piston gas system as used on H&K's G36 and HK416 assault rifles, in place of a blowback system traditionally seen on submachine guns. The MP7 is able to use 20-, 30- and 40-round magazines and fires 4.6×30mm ammunition which can penetrate soft body armor. Due to the heavy use of polymers in its construction, the MP7 is much lighter than older SMG designs, weighing only with an empty 20 round magazine.
Applications.
The PDW concept has not been widely successful, partly because existing PDWs are not significantly cheaper to manufacture than full-size military rifles. Most PDWs also use a proprietary cartridge, such as the 5.7×28mm cartridge for the FN P90 or the 4.6×30mm for the H&K MP7, neither of which were originally compatible with any existing pistols or rifles (although both manufacturers planned handguns that used the same proprietary rounds, only FN went forward with production of the Five-SeveN pistol, which is the only handgun option available for the 5.7×28mm cartridge for over two decades until the introduction of Ruger-57 in 2019), which in turn made the PDW cartridges expensive to consumers due to the lack of mass production. A different take on the PDW concept is the Russian made PP-2000, which can fire common 9×19mm Parabellum ammunition or a special high-pressure armor-piercing variant to give it similar capabilities as other PDWs.
Though personal defense weapons have not been very popular for their intended application, they have been acquired by many special forces and law enforcement groups as direct upgrade for submachine guns. The FN P90 and Five-seven pistol are used by military and police forces in over 40 countries throughout the world, including Canada, Cyprus, France, Greece, India, Peru, Poland, Spain and the United States. The Heckler & Koch MP7 is also used in a number of countries, including Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Malaysia and the United Kingdom.


.455 Webley

.455 Webley is a British handgun cartridge, most commonly used in the Webley top break revolvers Marks I through VI. It is also known as ".455 Eley" and ".455 Colt".
The .455 cartridge was a service revolver cartridge, featuring a rimmed cartridge firing a .45 bullet at the relatively low velocity of 650 ft/s (190 m/s). The result was a cartridge and handgun combination with comparatively mild recoil. The .455 was rated superior to the .45 Colt in stopping power in the disputed United States Thompson-LaGarde Tests of 1904 that resulted in the adoption by the U.S. of the .45 ACP cartridge.
The .455 Webley cartridge remained in service with British and Commonwealth forces until the end of the Second World War.
Variants.
Six main types of .455 ammunition were produced:
In addition to the Webley revolvers, the British and Canadian armies also ordered several thousand Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector revolvers, chambered in .455 Webley, in a rush to equip their troops for the Great War. The urgency was such that the earliest of these were converted from revolvers already completed and chambered for .44 Special. Approximately 60,000 Colt New Service revolvers were also purchased, in .455.
The Italian firm Fiocchi and American firm Hornady are currently the only commercial manufacturers of the .455 Webley cartridge (in Mk II). Hornady, RCBS and Lee produce equipment for reloading .455 Webley cartridges.
.455 Webley Auto.
The .455 Webley Auto Mk I cartridge was produced from 1913 to about the middle of World War II. This is a semi-rimmed cartridge for the Webley & Scott Self Loading pistols.
The early version of the cartridge (c.1904) had a shorter 21.7mm semi-rimmed case with a narrow rim and a pointed bullet. A later improved version of the cartridge (c.1910) was similar except it had a 23.54mm long case and a round-nosed bullet. The Mk 1 service round (c.1913) was identical to the 1910 version of the cartridge except it had a thicker rim.
The Mk 1 cartridge's bullet headspaced on the rim. It was loaded with a 224 grain cupro-nickel-jacketed bullet with a muzzle velocity of 700 feet per second.
Various sub machine guns were tested using this cartridge however none were adopted.
World War One use.
The Webley & Scott pistol was sold to the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Navy during World War I. There were also some Colt M1911 pistols chambered in .455 Auto purchased by the Royal Navy. Although not a standard sidearm or a standard service cartridge, a few Colt M1911 "British service models" chambered in .455 Auto were sold commercially to British navy and army officers through outfitters. The service ammunition came packed in seven-round boxes stamped "not for revolvers" to prevent confusion.
.476 Enfield.
Despite the apparent difference in caliber name, .476 Enfield was quite similar to the .455 Webley. The .476 had a shorter case than the .455 Mark I and could be fired in weapons regulated and marked as safe for the caliber, such as the Webley "WG Army" model. This had a cylinder that was long enough to accommodate the significantly longer cartridge in which the bullet swelled out to .476" beyond the case. It would not chamber in any government-issue .455 Webley Marks I–VI. The .450 Adams (1868), .476 Enfield (1881), and .455 Webley Mk.I (1891) British service cartridges all featured a case diameter of .476 inch [12.09mm].


Coonan Arms

Coonan Arms Inc. is a gun manufacturer owned by Dan Coonan that manufactures custom 1911 handguns and FAL receivers and is based out of Blaine, Minnesota.
By all indications as of December 10, 2019 Coonan Arms Inc. has gone out of business.
https://www.hoffonlineauctions.com/coonan.aspx


.32 caliber

.32 caliber is a size of ammunition, fitted to firearms with a bore diameter of .
.32 in caliber variations include:


John W. Goodwine

John W. Goodwine was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He was one of six members of the state House killed in the Kerns Hotel fire in Lansing on December 11, 1934. Also killed were representatives Charles D. Parker, T. Henry Howlett, Vern Voorhees, Don E. Sias, and D. Knox Hanna, along with state senator John Leidlein. The men were in Lansing for a special session of the Michigan legislature.


Crocodile Armoured Personnel Carrier

The Crocodile Armoured Personnel Carrier or "Croc" is a Rhodesian armoured personnel carrier first introduced in 1977 and based on Japanese commercial trucks' chassis. It remains in use with the Zimbabwe National Army.
General description.
Built on a Nissan, Toyota or Isuzu 5-tonne truck chassis, the Crocodile consisted of an open-topped hull or 'capsule' faceted at the sides, which were designed to deflect small-arms' rounds, and a flat bottom or 'deck' reinforced by a v-shaped 'crush box' meant to deflect landmine blasts. Three inverted U-shaped high 'Roll bars' were fitted to protect the fighting compartment from being crushed in case the vehicle turned and roll over after a mine detonation.
Protection.
The Crocodile was appreciated for its protection against landmines and ambush, since its hull was made of welded ballistic 10mm mild steel plate, whilst the front windscreen and side windows had 40mm bullet-proof laminated glass. However, the heavy "Croc"'s hull added about 3 tonnes of armour to a commercial truck chassis nominally road rated at 7.5 tonnes, placing a strain especially on its clutch and brakes.
Armament.
Rhodesian "Crocs" were usually armed with a FN MAG-58 7.62mm Light Machine Gun (LMG), sometimes installed on a locally produced one-man MG armoured turret to protect the gunner. Vehicles assigned to convoy escorting duties ('E-type') had a Browning M1919A4 7.62mm medium machine gun mounted on an open-topped, cylinder-shaped turret (dubbed 'the dustbin') whilst those employed on 'externals' received a tall, square-shaped and fully enclosed MAG turret mounted on the roof over the commander's seat. The Zimbabwean vehicles after 1980 sported pintle-mounted Soviet-made 12.7mm and 14.5mm Heavy Machine Guns (HMG) instead.
Combat history.
The Crocodile APC was employed by the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) late in the war on their cross-border covert raids ('externals') against ZIPRA and ZANLA guerrilla bases in the neighboring Countries, such as the September 1979 raid on the ZANLA's New Chimoio base in Mozambique (Operation "Miracle").
After independence, the Crocodile APC entered service with the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) in early 1980. In November that year, ZNA's "Crocs" were thrown into action against ZIPRA troops at the 1st Battle of Entumbane and later at the February 1981 2nd Battle of Entumbane (near Bulawayo, Matabeleland), and later again after February 1982 by helping to put down the Super-ZAPU insurgency also in Matabeleland.
During the Mozambican Civil War, they were employed by the ZNA forces in Mozambique guarding the Mutare-Beira oil pipeline in 1982–1993, and served with Zimbabwe troops in the ill-fated United Nations' peacekeeping mission in Somalia (UNOSOM I) from 1992 to 1994. During that assignment, a few "Crocs" were loaned to the U.S. Marines contingent for convoy escort and security duties in the Mogadishu area. The "Crocs" served with the ZNA contingent sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2002.


Luther Fuller

Augustus Fuller, also known as Luther Fuller and John Maynard, was the helmsman of the steamboat "Erie". He died on August 9, 1841 at 23 years of age, at the wheel of the ship which was destroyed by fire. He was praised for his heroism for remaining at his post.
Luther.
On the evening of August 9, 1841, the Buffalo "Commercial Advertiser and Journal" reported the death of the wheelsman "Luther Fuller", one of many who died during the conflagration of "Erie" on August 9, 1841. Fuller was at the wheel when the fire broke out at 8:10 pm. He was praised by Capt. T. J. Titus (one of the few survivors) when he testified before the Coroner's Inquest at Buffalo, New York. He stated: "I think Fuller remained at the wheel and never left it until burned to death; he was always a resolute man in obeying orders".
Titus in his testimony did not specify what Fuller's given name was. When Fuller's body was recovered, the Erie "Gazette" called him "Luther" Fuller instead of his real name. It was later established that the Buffalo "Commercial Advertiser " had previously incorrectly written his name.
John Maynard.
The anonymous prose sketch entitled "The Helmsman of Lake Erie" did not appear until four years after the loss of the "Erie". Many researchers have stated that the sketch referred to Fuller, probably due to the magnitude of the tragedy, which up to 1841 was the worst steamer conflagration on Lake Erie. Nonetheless, it is claimed the helmsman in the sketch is not Fuller, but "Old John Maynard".
19th century cultural references.
The 1845 sketch first appeared on July 19 in the "Poughkeepsie Journal & Eagle". The August 30, 1845 issue of the Baltimore "Sun" led to the creation of a ballad by Benjamin Brown French, submitted to the same newspaper and printed on September 5 of that year. A reworked and shortened prose sketch from 1860 was the subject of numerous temperance lectures by John Bartholomew Gough. Horatio Alger Jr., inspired by Gough's sketch, composed his own popular ballad in the summer of 1866 titled "John Maynard, A Ballad of Lake Erie". Already in November 1863, The British Workman (London, England) put out an untitled "John Maynard" ballad by the anonymous poet "Josephine", which accompanied the shortened sketch by J. B. Gough. Epes Sargent continued the "Maynard" tradition with his own "Helmsman of Lake Erie", composed c. 1873.
In Germany, the first Lake Erie ballad was published in 1871 by Emil Rittershaus in the popular Gartenlaube, to which he regularly contributed. The ballad's name was "Ein deutsches Herz" ("A German Heart"). Although not a "John Maynard" ballad, Rittershaus created a moving depiction of the problems of German immigration to the United States and emigration from the United States to Germany. Rittershaus was an important link between Ada Linden (Luise Förster) and Theodor Fontane. Encouraged by Rittershaus, each of these poets composed their own Lake Erie ballads in the tradition of "John Maynard": Ada Linden, c. 1882, and Theodor Fontane in 1886. The steamer's name in Rittershaus's, Linden's and Fontane's ballads is the "Schwalbe".(the "Swallow"). Fontane's "John Maynard" was hugely popular and still is compulsory reading in german classes and thus the City of Buffalo was urged by enthusiastic german tourists to install a commemorative plate (explaining the legend and the man) at the lake in 1998.
External links.
Title: Distinctive Traits of John B. Gough [pp. 3-7]Author: Park, Edwards A., Prof., D.D.


.45 Auto Rim

The .45 Auto Rim, also known as 11.5x23R, is a rimmed cartridge specifically designed to be fired in revolvers originally chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge.
The Peters Cartridge Company developed the cartridge in 1920 for use in the M1917 revolver, large numbers of which had become available as surplus following the end of World War I.
Two issues related to the use of .45 ACP ammunition in the M1917 revolver led to the development of the .45 Auto Rim. The M1917 had previously been used with half-moon clips that held three rounds of .45 ACP, a rimless cartridge.But if half-moon or moon clips are not used when firing a rimless cartridge in a revolver, the spent cases must be ejected by hand—either by shaking the revolver and its swing-out cylinder or by poking the cases with a rod or field-expedient tool, like a pencil—as the revolver's extractor cannot grab them. The second issue concerned headspace. In revolver cylinders not engineered to allow .45 ACP to headspace properly, as in early production Colt M1917s, the cartridges could slip forward, stopping them from firing. Adding a rim to the .45 ACP cartridge solved both these issues.
Loads offered were similar to the standard military loads for the .45ACP, but with fully lead bullets rather than the full metal jacket bullets used for .45ACP. This was done to reduce barrel wear in the shallow rifled revolvers in which it was to be used.
The round is currently still in production by Corbon in their DPX and Performance Match lines of ammunition and is also manufactured by Georgia Arms and Buffalo Bore Ammunition.


List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces

This is a list of weapons served individually by the United States armed forces. While the general understanding is that crew-served weapons require more than one person to operate them, there are important exceptions in the case of both squad automatic weapons (SAW) and sniper rifles. Within the Table of Organization and Equipment for both the United States Army and the U.S. Marine Corps, these two classes of weapons are considered as crew-served; the operator of the weapon has an assistant who carries additional ammunition and associated equipment, acts as a spotter, and is also fully qualified in the operation of the weapon. These weapons are listed under the List of crew-served weapons of the U.S. armed forces.
Rifles.
"Includes muskets, musketoons, etc., as well as rifles"


Carl Gustaf 20mm recoilless rifle

Carl Gustaf 20mm recoilless rifle, domestic designation Pansarvärnsgevär m/42, pvg m/42 (Antitank rifle /42), was the first blow-back weapon produced by Carl Gustaf stads The Carl Gustaf pvg m/42 fired the 20×180R cartridge which has two cutouts in the bottom of the casing. A seal covers these cutouts and when the cartridge is discharged, this seal burns away and some the expanding gases are expelled out the back of the cartridge. The locking block on the back of the gun, has a hole and the rear expanding gases escape out of this hole. The gases expanding out the barrel pushes the gun back and the gases expanding out the back, push the gun forward and in turn, cancel each other out, making this gun almost recoilless.


8 cm kanon vz. 30

The 8 cm kanon vz. 30 (Cannon model 30) was a Czech field gun used in World War II. Guns captured after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 were taken into Wehrmacht service as the 8 cm FK 30(t). It was used by a variety of German units during World War II, including I./SS-Artillerie-Abteilung 3 between 1939 and 1940.
Design & history.
The origins of the 8 cm kanon vz. 30 began in 1930 at the Škoda Works in Pilsen. It was modified from an earlier Skoda design, the 8 cm kanon vz. 28, which attempted to combine the field, mountain and anti-aircraft roles into one weapon. It proved to be fairly successful at the first two, but was a failure at the third. The Czechs only used the vz. 28 in limited numbers, but exported versions of the gun to Yugoslavia and Romania. The Czechs decided to adopt the vz. 30 to replace their plethora of aged Austro-Hungarian field guns. They deleted the firing platform of the original design and used standard Czech 76.5 mm ammunition. It shared the same carriage that could break down into three pieces for transport a feature also shared by the earlier 10 cm houfnice vz. 28 and the later 10 cm houfnice vz. 30 guns.


The Schism


25th Airborne Brigade (Ukraine)

The 25th Separate Dnipropetrovsk Airborne Brigade () is an airborne formation of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces. After elements surrendered 6 vehicles to pro-Russian separatists in the 2014 Sloviansk standoff, Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov announced the brigade would be disbanded. But this decision was canceled later on. Despite this the Brigade has taken an active role in the fighting in Eastern Ukraine.
It is the only airborne unit of Ukrainian Air Assault Forces which has BMD-1 and BMD-2 airborne infantry fighting vehicles in its inventory. In addition, it is the only unit which can be dropped anywhere by parachute, together with their armored vehicles, from Il-76MD and An-70 aircraft.
History.
Between June 25 and August 11, 1969, the 217th Guards Airborne Regiment (Base #11389 [Military Unit No.11389?]) of the 98th Guards Airborne Division of the Soviet Airborne Troops was relocated to Bolhrad (Bolgrad), Odessa Oblast.
After the dissolution of the USSR, the 98th Guards Airborne Division was split between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. In the spring of 1993, the 217th Guards Airborne Regiment was relocated to Ivanovo in Russia. The regiment's Battle Flag, Order of Kutuzov, and 55% of the supplies were also relocated.
Current unit.
By the order of Minister of Defence of Ukraine the new Ukrainian airmobile brigade based on the elements of the Soviet 217th Guards Airborne Regiment was formed in Bolgrad in May 1993. By December 1, 1993, the brigade was finally formed as one of the units of the 1st Airmobile Division.
From October 1995 until December 1999, 800 paratroopers from the brigade served as part of the 240th Special Battalion in former Yugoslavia. Later they served as peacekeepers in Kosovo.
Between May and June 2002, the Brigade was relocated to the urban-type settlement Hvardiyske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The brigade was given the honorable designation "Dnipropetrovsk", for their battle achievements and high level of professionalism. On July 16, 2002, Leonid Kuchma awarded the unit with its new Battle Flag.
By the order of the Minister of Defence the Brigade was transferred from the 1st Airmobile Division to the 6th Army Corps on November 8, 2002.
A company of the brigade was deployed to Crimea during the 2014 Crimean crisis. It became one of the few, if not the only, Ukrainian unit to leave Crimea as a unit, still bearing their arms.
Two of its IFVs(Infantry Fighting Vehicle(s)) were captured by rebels during the War in Donbass. One of the vehicles was a BMD 1 and the other a BMD 2. Both are now used by the separatists. A 2S9 Nona-S was also captured by rebel forces.
Transport plane shot down.
On June 13, 2014, an IL-76 Transport was shot down killing forty 25th Airborne Brigade troopers near Luhansk, Ukraine. “On the night of June 13–14, firing from an anti-aircraft gun and a large-caliber machine gun, anti-regime forces cynically and treacherously shot down a Ukraine armed forces transport plane IL-76 which was bringing personnel for rotation,” said in a statement posted on the Defense Ministry's official website.
Structure.
As of 2017, the brigade's structure is as follows:


Intraplate earthquake

The term intraplate earthquake refers to a variety of earthquake that occurs "within the interior" of a tectonic plate; this stands in contrast to an interplate earthquake, which occurs "at the boundary" of a tectonic plate.
Intraplate earthquakes are relatively rare compared to the more familiar boundary-located interplate earthquakes. Structures far from plate boundaries tend to lack seismic retrofitting, so large intraplate earthquakes can inflict heavy damage. Examples of damaging intraplate earthquakes are the devastating Gujarat earthquake in 2001, the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes, the 2017 Puebla earthquake, the 1811–1812 earthquakes in New Madrid, Missouri, and the 1886 earthquake in Charleston, South Carolina.
Fault zones within tectonic plates.
The surface of the Earth is made up of seven primary and eight secondary tectonic plates, plus dozens of tertiary microplates. The large plates move very slowly, owing to convection currents within the mantle below the crust. Because they do not all move in the same direction, plates often directly collide or move laterally along each other, a tectonic environment that makes earthquakes frequent. Relatively few earthquakes occur in intraplate environments; most occur on faults near plate margins.
By definition, intraplate earthquakes do not occur near plate boundaries, but along faults in the normally stable interior of plates. These earthquakes often occur at the location of ancient failed rifts, because such old structures may present a weakness in the crust where it can easily slip to accommodate regional tectonic strain.
Compared to earthquakes near plate boundaries, intraplate earthquakes are not well understood, and the hazards associated with them may be difficult to quantify.
Examples.
Examples of intraplate earthquakes include those in Mineral, Virginia in 2011 (estimated magnitude 5.8), New Madrid in 1811 and 1812 (estimated magnitude as high as 8.1), the Boston (Cape Ann) earthquake of 1755 (estimated magnitude 6.0 to 6.3), earthquakes felt in New York City in 1737 and 1884 (both quakes estimated at about 5.5 magnitude), and the Charleston earthquake in South Carolina in 1886 (estimated magnitude 6.5 to 7.3). The Charleston quake was particularly surprising because, unlike Boston and New York, the area had almost no history of even minor earthquakes.
In 2001, a large intraplate earthquake devastated the region of Gujarat, India. The earthquake occurred far from any plate boundaries, which meant the region above the epicenter was unprepared for earthquakes. In particular, the Kutch district suffered tremendous damage, where the death toll was over 12,000 and the total death toll was higher than 20,000.
In 2017, the 24–29 km deep magnitude 6.5 Botswana earthquake that shook eastern Botswana occurred at over 300 km from the nearest active plate boundary. The event occurred in an underpopulated area of Botswana.
The 1888 earthquake in Río de la Plata was also an intraplate quake.
Causes.
Many cities live with the seismic risk of a rare, large intraplate earthquake. The cause of these earthquakes is often uncertain. In many cases, the causative fault is deeply buried, and sometimes cannot even be found. Some studies have shown that it can be caused by fluids moving up the crust along ancient fault zones. Under these circumstances it is difficult to calculate the exact seismic hazard for a given city, especially if there was only one earthquake in historical times. Some progress is being made in understanding the fault mechanics driving these earthquakes.
Intraplate earthquakes may be unrelated to ancient fault zones and instead caused by deglaciation or erosion.
Prediction.
Scientists continue to search for the causes of these earthquakes, and especially for some indication of how often they recur. The best success has come with detailed micro-seismic monitoring, involving dense arrays of seismometers. In this manner, very small earthquakes associated with a causative fault can be located with great accuracy, and in most cases these line up in patterns consistent with faulting. Cryoseisms can sometimes be mistaken for intraplate earthquakes.


Chain weapon

A chain weapon is a weapon made of one or more heavy objects attached to a chain, sometimes with a handle. The flail was one of the more common types of chain weapons associated with medieval Europe, although some flails used hinges instead of chains.
In Japan.
Various chain weapons were used in feudal Japan. Recognised fighting arts with such weapons include "gekigan-jutsu" (using a ball and chain), "chigiriki-jutsu" (using a ball and chain on a short stick), and "kusarigama-jutsu" (employing a chain-ball-sickle weapon). Ninja were expert at handling "kusari-gama", the composite sickle and chain with a ball being small enough to be easily concealed, and which was used to haul an enemy close enough to be dispatched by a thrust or slash of the razor-sharp kama. The shoge was a ring with a sickle-like knife on a chain that could be used to pierce armor, grapple, and to entangle the legs of man and horse. The chigiriki was a staff with a weighted chain on the end. The manriki-gusari was a double weighted chain. The nunchaku was a short chain with two short wooden sticks on the ends, although it was principally a farming tool rather than a weapon, at least until much later.


8 cm Feldkanone M. 99

The 8 cm Feldkanone M. 99 was a field gun used by Austria-Hungary in World War I. It was designed in a rush because Austria's neighbors had already begun the process of modernizing their artillery. The designers whatever improvements they could be made without delaying development. For example, various hydraulic recoil systems were evaluated, but ultimately rejected as they required more development time than was available. So the M. 99 retained the bronze barrel of its predecessor, but used an eccentric interrupted-screw breech to speed up its rate of fire, and adopted the carriage of the 9 cm Feldkanone M 75/96 with some minor changes, including improvements to the spade brake to reduce recoil forces.


Milan Army Ammunition Plant

Milan Army Ammunition Plant (MLAAP) is an ammunition plant of the United States Army near Milan, Tennessee and about 23 miles (37 km) north of Jackson, Tennessee.
Capabilities.
Capabilities of the center include: load, assemble and pack ammunition; 40 mm cartridges; mortars and components; artillery projectiles; ignition cartridges; propelling charges; bursters; grenades; Tactical Missile System; demilitarization/disposal; renovation/reclamation; development and production test support; and logistical support.
History.
Milan Ordnance Depot and Wolf Creek Ordnance Plant were established in 1941. In 1943, they merged, becoming Milan Ordnance Center (MOC) and later Milan Arsenal (MA) in 1945. In the 1960s, it became MLAAP.
Facilities.
MLAAP is housed on (90.48 sq km) with 1,450 buildings and 873 igloos and a storage capacity of .
BRAC 2005.
MLAAP will gain the 155 mm artillery and 60 mm, 81 mm, and 120 mm mortar workload from
Kansas Army Ammunition Plant. It will also gain the 105 mm and 155 mm artillery, Multiple Launch Rocket System and hand grenade, and 60 mm and 80 mm mortar workload from Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant. Both facilities are slated for closure under Base Realignment and Closure 2005.
American Ordnance Involvement.
American Ordnance LLC, operating contractor of Milan Army Ammunition Plant, moved Milan's operations pertaining to ordnance manufacture to Iowa Army Ammunition Plant beginning in 2009. Milan Army Ammunition plant, while still an active facility, no longer produces military ordnance.
Environment.
MLAAP was placed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priority List
(Superfund) in 1987.