British smallarms/ammo data

[Justin Moretti]

Textbook of small arms 1929 (HMSO) - out of the period, true, but covers the .303 SMLE and other variants, grenades, ammunition, etc. used by the British (and others) in the Great War. Includes detailed treatises on interior and exterior ballistics with particular reference to the .303 British cartridge.

World war 1 armaments and the .303 British cartridge (Barry Temple) - a succinct developmental history of the .303 cartridge with particular reference to special tasks (incendiary, tracer, AP, blank, armourer dummy, grenade-launching et al).

.303 Inch. (Peter Labbett and PJF Mead) - a complete developmental history of the cartridge from its origins to its conclusions, including experimental variants never issued. Extends through to the 2nd world war for those who are interested.

[Borden Battery]

Hello Justin

22 May 2004

I am researching the actions and events of the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade. Some of the War Diary material contains notes and comments regarding various manfacturer batches of .303 ammunition and their comments on reliability etc. Do you have any material discussing the various types of cartridge failure from use in a Vickers machine gun?

Conversely, if you are interested, I can forward some War Diary comments regarding the .303 ammunication lots.

Regards

- Dwight Mercer, Regina, Canada

[Justin Moretti]

I will check out Textbook of Small Arms 1929 and see what it says about cartridge-related stoppages in the Vickers/Maxim and try to post it soon, as well as general causes for cartridge related stoppages.

Addit 2nd June: Hmm. There's much more than I thought! Much of it relates to the proof process that the actual cartridges went through, what potential problems and defects existed, and how they were detected.

Essentially it boils down to:

i) Failure to feed - cartridge too long or too short, i.e. too much bullet protrusion out of the cartridge case or not enough.

ii) Failure to chamber - cartridge length wrong as above, rim too thin or thick (not an issue for those using rimless ammo, but vital in British and Dominions weapons, also French, as Lebel cartridge was rimmed) leaving the cartridge out of reach of the striker if rim too thin OR the mechanism cannot close if the rim is too thick.

iii) Failure to fire - Powder charge not loaded, primer defective, primer nestled too deep or far away from striker (striker can't reach it to deliver an adequate blow).

iv) Firing accidents - Powder charge loaded but insufficient to clear bullet out of barrel, powder charge overloaded or two bullets accidentally loaded on (compressed) charge (wrecks gun - more relevant to the SMLE rifle), cartridge case bursts in a large or worn chamber.

v) Extraction problems - "Hot" cartridge (overloaded or hot climate causing increase in pressure) splits, separates or bursts (bits left behind), leading to inability to chamber next round.

(Phew!) I think that should cover things.

If you want the gory detail, e-mail me on justin_moretti@hotmail.com with your postal address and I'll photocopy the relevant pages.

[Justin Moretti]

Borden Battery, please check above.