It is clear that you cannot design the same rifle without having a cartridge for this. It is also clear that the way to load a weapon from a muzzle, pouring gunpowder into it, and then inserting a bullet, we are unlikely to find an author known to mankind. His name, like the name of the inventor of the wheel, has long since sunk into oblivion. More fortunate is the inventor of a capsule with a composition of mercury-fulminate in a metal cap. It is known that it was invented by the American D. Shaw in 1814.
Unitary cartridges have opened up amazing possibilities for weapon creators. How else could this pistol, designed by a certain Needle, appear? Just look: the bolt cocking handle is … the firing mechanism itself, together with the trigger guard bracket. You turn it to the right, pull it back, insert the cartridge into the chamber from below, then put the bracket in place and … you can shoot!
Shortly thereafter, primer guns and pistols appeared, still, however, loaded from the muzzle. And practically at the same time, namely in 1812, Samuel Johann Poli creates the first unitary cartridge for his breech-loading rifle. And after him appeared the cartridges of Dreise, Lefoshe and, finally, in 1855, the cartridge of Potte, in which the igniting charge of gunpowder in the cartridge case, the capsule was located in the center of its bottom. That is, finally, both the primer and the cartridge case for gunpowder and bullets are combined in one design, and in the most rational way.
But what kind of cartridges people did not come up with before settling on samples that are well known to all of us.
All this caused a real revolution in the field of small arms, which resulted in the massive rearmament of all the armies of the world with new rifles and pistols. And they required a lot of reliable, cheap and effective cartridges. In addition, they needed equally cheap, reliable and efficient capsules and … did someone develop all this?
Take the 52-caliber Mainard cartridge, for example. The most common seemingly welted cartridge. But where is the capsule? But no capsule! There is a "hole" filled with wax and a primer, separately put on the brand tube, through this hole in the bottom and igniting the gunpowder in the cartridge.
Well - their names are also known and are directly related to the development of very many images of small arms of the middle - second half of the 19th century. And the first among the developers of primers and cartridges should be called the American inventor Hiram Berdan from New York, who patented his first version of the primer on March 20, 1866 (US patent No. 53388).
Berdan capsule device
Berdan's capsule was a small copper cylinder inserted into the hole in the bottom of the cartridge directly opposite the bullet. In this recess of the cartridge under the primer, two small holes were made, as well as a small nipple-like protrusion (later known as an anvil). When fired, the striker's firing pin struck Berdan's capsule in such a way that the initiating compound in it came into contact with the anvil, ignited itself and ignited the powder charge inside the sleeve. This system worked well, allowing the cartridge to be reloaded for reuse. Difficulties arose when using copper sleeves, which oxidized, which made it difficult to insert the primers into their sockets. Berdan decided it was time to switch to brass cases and further improved the process of installing the primer into the case, which was noted in his second patent dated September 29, 1869 (US patent 82587). These solutions turned out to be so successful that they remain practically the same functional to this day.
True, the Berdan capsule is difficult to remove from the socket at the bottom of the sleeve without damaging the anvil. Nevertheless, its capsule is used by almost all military forces, and by most civilian manufacturers (with the exception of those in the United States).
Boxer's capsule device.
Almost simultaneously with Hiram Berdan, Englishman Edward M. Boxer of the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich also worked on a similar capsule design, the design of which he patented in England on October 13, 1866, and then received US patent No. 91818 on June 29, 1869.
The difference between the sockets for the Boxer and Berdan capsules.
Boxing capsules are similar to Berdan's capsules (and could it be otherwise with devices of such a utilitarian purpose?), But with one very significant addition concerning the location of the anvil. In a boxing capsule, the anvil is a separate piece that sits inside the capsule itself. The primer receptacle at the bottom of the Boxer's cartridge case has one large hole in the center for igniting the charge. The benefit of this is that used liners are easier to recharge. It is enough to knock out the used capsule with a thin metal rod. Then a new primer is inserted into the socket, and gunpowder is poured into the sleeve, followed by a bullet. This technology is very popular in the United States and contributes to the fact that there are a large number of shooters who reload their own ammunition.
Capsules for cartridges for smooth-bore hunting weapons: "centroboy" (left) and "Zhevelo" (right).
"Boxer" capsules are somewhat more difficult to manufacture, since they contain not only a charge, but also an anvil. But automatic equipment producing capsules in the hundreds of millions has eliminated this problem. On the other hand, while the Boxer's primer is more complex, the actual casings for such primers are simpler! With the Berdan capsule, the opposite is true: the capsule itself is simpler, but the casings are more complicated! For those users who reload their cartridges themselves, the slight increase in initial cost is more than offset by a decrease in reloading cost, which can save up to 85-90% compared to buying new factory cartridges.
In fact, the Boxer's capsule is a well-known Zhevelo capsule for hunters, except for the absence of a welt that positions them in the nest. And so the capsules of both Berdan and Boxer are indistinguishable in shape and do not differ on assembled cartridges of the same caliber and size.
US patent No. 52818 for Boxer's metal cartridge 1866
US patent No. 82587 for Berdan metal cartridge 1866
Having developed successful primers, Berdan and Boxer took up cartridges. Although it would be more correct to say that both the primers and the cartridges were developed by them at the same time. Thus, Edward Boxer developed a.577 (14.66-mm) cartridge for the Jacob Snyder rifle, which entered service in England in September 1866 under the designation "Snyder-Enfield Mk I".
US patent No. 91,818 for Boxer's metal cartridge 1869
The cartridge, in our opinion today, had a rather complex design and consisted of a sleeve rolled from a sheet of brass in two turns and then wrapped in paper outside. The rear end of the sleeve had a bend inward and was inserted into a brass "cup", and that, in turn, was inserted into another, even more durable, brass "cup". Inside the sleeve there was a folder pallet with a through central channel, into which a brass cap for the primer was inserted, and it passed through the disc-bottom of the sleeve itself, beyond the edge of which the extractor removed all "this" when it was removed from the chamber. It is interesting that this disk could not have been brass, but could have been … iron! That is, this cap is the basis for assembling four parts at once: the bottom of the sleeve, two brass cups and a folder tray, and he connected them all together. Now, having collected all these details together, they poured gunpowder into the sleeve, inserted a wax sealant; a lead, stamped bullet with a groove near the bottom, into which the walls of the sleeve were pressed; then the front of the sleeve was slightly crimped around the bullet.
Boxer cartridge device for Snyder rifle caliber.577.
English description of the Snyder rifle.577 and ammunition for it.
Obviously, such a design was unnecessarily complicated and required high manufacturing accuracy with minimal tolerances, since the cartridge was assembled “in tightness”. Therefore, already in 1871, the.577 "Snyder" cartridge together with the "Snyder-Enfield" rifle was removed from service. In their place came another, again "Boxer" cartridge.577 /.450 "Martini-Henry" for the rifle "Martini-Henry" M 1871 caliber 11, 43-mm. At the same time, the.577 /.450 cartridge differed from the old.577 only in that it was obtained by compressing the upper part of the case to a caliber.450, and even lost its old paper "wrapper".
Cartridge.577 "Snyder".
In the 80s of the XIX century, the.577 cartridge Snyder underwent a serious modernization - it received a solid-drawn bottle-shaped sleeve. This cartridge became known as the.577 Snider Solid Case.
However, the release of.577 cartridges for snider guns was carried out until the 20s of the twentieth century. The fact is that England actively sold these rifles to Turkey, China and other "eastern countries" and even to the island princes of the Pacific islands! In the Royal Police of Ireland, they were used until the 1890s, in India until the 1920s, and in some places in the countries of Northeast Africa and the Middle East, these weapons were used even in the middle of the twentieth century.
Figure from page 67 of the book "Firearms" M.: Avanta +, Astrel, 2007. The characteristic features of the aforementioned patron Edward Boxer are shown very well and clearly.
The appearance of the cartridge Berdan.
The device of the Berdan cartridge.
As for the cartridge of Hiram Berdan, it has been described repeatedly in our domestic literature, including the color of the pieces of paper pink and white, depending on its purpose for a rifle, or for a carbine, so it is almost impossible to add something new to this.
