Bill_Rights
Member
(Note: I considered posting this thread on the Forum area "Firearms Research", but it seems that that area is devoted to old firearms.)
The US Army has made public the information that it has been researching for a number of years, and is seeking new research on, explosive ammo casings. [Where and how the Army publicized this is not important for this thread.]
The Army, and presumably the Navy/Marines, want the dismounted soldier to be able to carry more rounds of ammunition at the same weight or the same number of rounds at less weight, leaving more weight-carrying capacity for other things.
One way to do this would be to get rid of heavy brass cartridge casings and replace them with casings that are made of, essentially, propellant. Then when the round detonated, the casing would burn along with the dedicated propellant, thus reducing the amount of dedicated, internal propellant needed and, because the propellant-based casing would be made of not-metal, the overall size and weight of the cartridge could be reduced.
Is that cool, or what?
And, what if the primer could be replaced by something like a spark plug? Then the whole dang thing would vaporize and there would be nothing to extract. No more FTEs! Much, much faster rep rate in full-auto fire.
This whole concept, if proven workable, might be an equivalent advance as going from muzzle-loaders to cartridge-based firearms. Don't you think?
The US Army has made public the information that it has been researching for a number of years, and is seeking new research on, explosive ammo casings. [Where and how the Army publicized this is not important for this thread.]
The Army, and presumably the Navy/Marines, want the dismounted soldier to be able to carry more rounds of ammunition at the same weight or the same number of rounds at less weight, leaving more weight-carrying capacity for other things.
One way to do this would be to get rid of heavy brass cartridge casings and replace them with casings that are made of, essentially, propellant. Then when the round detonated, the casing would burn along with the dedicated propellant, thus reducing the amount of dedicated, internal propellant needed and, because the propellant-based casing would be made of not-metal, the overall size and weight of the cartridge could be reduced.
Is that cool, or what?
And, what if the primer could be replaced by something like a spark plug? Then the whole dang thing would vaporize and there would be nothing to extract. No more FTEs! Much, much faster rep rate in full-auto fire.
This whole concept, if proven workable, might be an equivalent advance as going from muzzle-loaders to cartridge-based firearms. Don't you think?