Cartridge belt

“ Besides the rifle, you will carry also your rope, camera, and a sweater or waistcoat for changes in temperature. In your saddle bags are pipe and tobacco, perhaps a chunk of bread, your note-book, and the map—if there is any. Thus your saddle-horse is outfitted. Do not forget your collapsible rubber cup. About your waist you will wear your cartridge-belt with six-shooter and sheath-knife. I use a forty-five caliber belt. By threading a buck skin thong in and out through some of the cartridge loops, their size is sufficiently reduced to hold also the 30-40 rifle cartridges. ”

“ In 1866 our army adopted the breech-loading rifle with metallic ammunition, comparatively non-perishable by exposure to the elements. The almost cylindrical stem of the cartridge with the projecting flange on its head, made it possible to make a belt with closely fitting cylindrical loops, in which the cartridge was held in place by friction, prevented from dropping through by the flange.
When captain of the 18th Infantry, I equipped my company with my invention, using belts made of leather, with sewed-on leather loops. These did not prove entirely satisfactory. ”

“ Had the object been to give the utmost possible trouble to the infantry-man, no better means could have been devised than inflicting on him the belts at present used, of all others the most easily sullied and troublesome to clean. Let a black patent leather belt and rifleman's cartridge-box be adopted as the regulation for the whole of the British service. Light to carry, convenient in form, and easy to clean, it is the perfection of infantry equipment. ”

“ This patent was taken out chiefly with the idea of covering a magazine of the cartridge-belt type; and is of importance in that it describes a device for making the loading of the cartridge perfectly positive.
Very truly yours,
Robert H. Goddard
R. H. GODDARD.
ROCKET APPARATUS
APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, 1916
1,206,837. Patented Dec. 5, 1916
3 SHEETS—SHEET 1.
Inventor
R. H. Goddard
By Attorneys
Southgate & Southgate
Witness
G. F. Wessex
# 1,206,837
Movable-changer-and-fixed-breach-block type of reloading mechanism.
Magazine of the cartridge-belt type. ”

“ Each cartridge contains about four times the quantity of powder used in English cartridges, and the bullet is not placed in it as in Europe; a small leather ball-bag hangs from the shoulder by a strap which passes through the belt. When the Amazons are loading, they pour the powder into the barrel without any wadding, and then drop in a bullet, or a few slugs.
[197]
Shaving the head is a general, though not a universal fashion. Those who do so, leave only a small tuft of hair like a cockade ”

“ Mounted Militia sometimes wore the saber on a waist belt and the carbine cartridge box on a shoulder belt. It is interesting to note that the custom of using elements of state seals on waist-belt plates was not followed to any great extent in the embellishment of shoulder-belt plates except in the Southern States.
CARTRIDGE-BOX-BELT PLATE, SOUTH CAROLINA, C. 1845 (?) USNM 604451-M (S-K 598) . Figure 259.
Figure 259
In size and pattern this plate is exactly like that prescribed for the Regular Establishment in 1841, substituting the arms of South Carolina for the eagle. ”

“ The introduction of breech-loaders into the military service has led to the universal adoption of metallic cartridges. The cases are cylinders of copper or brass, closed at the breech end, and holding both powder and bullet, the latter being retained in the case by a slight crimp. A small quantity of fulminate in the base inflames the powder upon being struck by the firing-pin. England is behind all other nations in the use of the Boxer cartridge, the case of which is made by a wrapping of thin sheet-brass. In the manufacture of metallic cartridges the United States leads the world. ”

“ F is a slide receiving motion by H', and moving in ways, G, G, carrying the mandrel, B, which passes through the die, D; the die, D, has a spring to keep or move it back towards F, and a hopper-like opening in the upper side to facilitate placing the case, A, to be taken by B and carried into the die, D. The mandrel, B, has a shoulder, a sufficient distance from the end, to allow it to enter the cartridge shell just the right distance, and leave enough metal to be pulled into the head of the cartridge. ”

“ The plates for cartridge boxes have two wire loops imbedded in the backing (see fig. 90) , while those for waist belts have one or two round, or sometimes arrowheaded, prongs on one side of the reverse, and with a narrow tongue on the opposite side bent parallel to the plane of the plate (see fig. 91) .
CARTRIDGE-BOX PLATE, C. 1841 USNM 60400-M (S-K 156) . Figure 195.
Figure 195
This brass, oval cartridge-box plate, with its eagle on a panoply of arms and colors, closely matches in size the 1841 Regular cavalry's plates for carbine cartridge boxes and the infantry's waist belts. ”

“ The cartridges for army belts were forty-five caliber. More than fifty loops on a belt for an ordinary man were not possible; yet, for rapid fire, it was necessary to have more than fifty cartridges on the person, and it was too cumbersome to carry two belts.
At the expiration of Mr. Gilbert's contract I entered into a contract with my brother-in-law, Mr. T. C. Orndorff, by which he was to devote his entire attention to building up the factory and perfecting the belt. ”

“ Remember, too, that vice versa to the rule of a loose charge, the heavier you load with powder, the closer will your cartridge carry. The men who do not like cartridges are--you may rely upon it--of the class which prefers scattering guns. I always use them, except in July shooting, and I shall even put a few red in my pockets, in case the wind should get up in the afternoon. Besides which, I always take along two buckshot cartridges, in case of happening, as Timothy would say, on some big varmint. ”

“ It is true that very fine shooting can often be done with this cartridge, but the explosive substance with which this cartridge is charged is tremendously powerful, and the slightest variation in the quantity affects the power of a cartridge, and it is not unusual to get a wild shot with good holding, and it is not uncommon to have a bullet lodged in the barrel of the pistol from lack of power in the cartridge sufficient to force it out. ”

“ The method employed of carrying cartridges is in one way rather exceptional. There is a bandolier, reaching across the chest, which is simply a series of pockets, into which are thrust loaded clips and loose cartridges, all mixed up anyhow, with no attempt at arrangement. Two pouches are also carried on the belt, which also contain clips and cartridges. Their rifle is the “Mouzin.” It is [291] loaded by the clip system, each clip taking five cartridges, but the men carry only a very limited number of clips, and have therefore to use the one clip over and over again. ”

“ The wire-cartridges possess two principal advantages over loose shot; they are propelled with greater velocity, and thrown more evenly. A loose charge is always thrown in patches; the shots of a cartridge, as seen on a target, are comparatively equi-distant from each other. ”

“ Brick noted this. In a country where there was much use for rifle-shooting it seemed strange that any man would have an old cartridge in his possession. A hold-up man would rarely take a chance of using an old cartridge in a repeating rifle—or in any gun for that matter. ”

“ If, when on the line of march, it is desired to charge the magazine without loading the rifle, the top cartridge may be pressed downwards with the thumb and the cut-off closed. After the rifle is once charged the soldier is responsible that his magazine is refilled at once whenever it has been emptied.
4. To Unload.—Carry out the directions in para, 1 (i) and (ii) , but after drawing back the bolt, without turning the knob down, work the bolt rapidly backwards and forwards until the cartridges are removed from the magazine and chamber, allowing them to fall on the ground. ”

“ On the command Rapid fire, each man will load with dummy cartridges in chargers from the pouch or cartridge pocket, the pocket being buttoned up each time a charger is withdrawn, and aim ten rounds at an aiming disc held to the instructor’s eye. ”

“ From documents brought to light during the earlier months of the mutiny, it appears that in 1853 the commander-in-chief of the forces in India directed the adjutant-general of the Bengal army to call the attention of the governor-general to the subject of cartridges as connected with the prejudices of the natives. For what reason grease of any kind is employed on or with cartridges, may be soon explained. A cartridge, as most persons are aware, is a contrivance for quickly loading firearms. ”

“ With the right hand he turns and draws the bolt back, takes a loaded clip and inserts the ends in the clip slots, places the thumb on the powder space of the top cartridge, the fingers extending around the piece and tips resting on the magazine floor plate; forces the cartridges into the magazine by pressing down with the thumb; without removing the clip, thrusts the bolt home, turning down the handle; turns the safety lock to the "Safe" and carries the hand to the small of the stock. ”

“ The time needed for the complete ignition of the cartridge can be diminished or increased at pleasure by varying the mechanical arrangement of the spun threads. Each gun and each kind of projectile requires a certain density of cartridge. ”

“ If in drawing out an unexploded cartridge the brass end comes off or breaks away from the paper case, it will not be advisable to use the cartridge in that state: it cannot be safe to explode it in the barrel of a breech-loading gun; in fact, it would be almost as unsafe as a loose charge of powder. And in the event of the cap missing fire in a breech-loading cartridge, it is not desirable to recap the cartridge. ”

“ The improvement consists in rapidity of loading. The cartridges are carried in the ordinary paper or wooden cases, exposing the heads. The gun has a number of upright pieces at the breech with grooves between them. By drawing the cartridge-case downward over these uprights the cartridges are caught in the grooves by their flanged heads. They fall by gravity, and are conducted by suitable devices in grooved channels to the barrels. This gun, it is believed, fires more shots a minute than any other, but its mechanism [52] is not so perfect as several of its rivals. ”

“ There are a few implements that are necessary to the use of a breech-loader, which are much simpler than they at first appear. To load the cartridge is required either a short ramrod and a machine for turning over the edges of the case upon the wad, to retain it in its place, or an apparatus, also invented by Jeffries, that combines all the requisites for loading, and by the aid of which a hundred cartridges{38} can be loaded in an hour. ”

“ As soon as a cartridge enters the breech it is pushed forward into the chamber ready for firing by the feeder lever. The magazine and the holder are so arranged that when the last cartridge has passed from the magazine to the distributer, the motion of the moving parts of the gun is arrested till the magazine is removed, when the motion is resumed so far as to push the remaining cartridge into the chamber and bring the breech-block into the firing position. When another magazine has been fixed in the holder, firing can be resumed by pulling the trigger ”

“ As the gun was fired and the cartridges ejected, the links fell apart and cleared the machine through special chutes. The total production of such belting in this country amounted to 59,044,755 links. Although the links are extremely simple in design, the great accuracy required in their finish made production of them a difficult manufacturing undertaking. The production and inspection of each link involved over 36 separate operations. It actually cost more to inspect belt links than to manufacture them. ”

“ When the edge gets a trifle dull, use the small steel on both sides of the edge; first wet the steel with the lips, it makes a much better edge. For the benefit of beginners who may attempt to splice a belt for the first time, do not use a glue that will not allow you to remove the clamps and put on the full load in forty-five minutes after the glue has been applied and well rubbed down. The time given here applies only to clean belts that are absolutely free from all oils, and does not include old oil-soaked leather that no glue will ever dry on. ”

“ It was a superb piece of workmanship, very small but quite deadly. He examined it with apparent interest, snapping the safety catch off and on. Releasing the little magazine, he dropped it out upon the palm of his hand and ejected the cartridge which lay in the barrel, catching it dexterously and inserting it at the bottom of the magazine. ”

“ If they were trusted with a gun they were very reluctant to spend a cartridge unless for a dead certainty. If two cartridges are given to a hunter, he will bring in two deer or pigs, otherwise he will apologise for wasting a cartridge, and explain how it happened. ”

“ We have not stopped at flat link belting, but have turned our attention to manufacturing round solid leather link belting, and believe that we have almost attained perfection in that line. As the illustrations clearly show, there is quite a demand for inch and upward solid round belting, and the difficulty always has been to join such a belt together. All steel hooks, etc., do not seem to satisfy. This, our new invention, is so simple that it hardly needs explanation. A belt of this kind can be taken apart in a short time, and shortened or lengthened at pleasure. ”