Cartridge case

“ Those findings, as we find them printed in the record of the case at No. 198 of the October term 1897, of this court, consist partly of matters connected with the claim on account of the manufacture and use of the cupanvil cartridge, and, as the claimant filed a waiver of that claim, such parts of the findings have no relevancy now. Other portions of the additional findings bear on the number of cartridges made by the United States, so as to afford a basis for estimating the damages, if the claimant should recover, and do not affect the legal questions involved. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 description in the original patent of the mechanism for striking up or forming at one stroke the swelled end to form the recess for the priming, describes the die, D, as movable, and as being carried with the case or shell, and the mandrel, B, in it, against the stationary die, E. This is the description to which the second claim of the original patent refers when it claims 'striking or forming the hollow rim at one stroke or operation, as above set forth and described.' The drawings represent that arrangement, and no other. ”

“ 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. ”

“ For a bad or uncertain rifle-shot, the green cartridge, with SG shot is the thing--twelve good-sized slugs, propelled with force enough to go through an inch plank, at eighty yards, within a compass of three feet--but no wad must be used, either upon the cartridge or between that and the powder; the small end must be inserted downward, and the cartridge must be chosen so that the wad at the top shall fit the gun, the case being two sizes less than the caliber. With these directions no man need make a mistake ”

“ It is necessary to have perfect fire-arms to secure fine and regular shooting; but unless the proper ammunition is used, the superiority of the pistol or revolver will not be apparent.
As marksmen become skilful, they notice errors in shooting; if they possess enthusiasm enough to become experts, they are constantly studying to improve their shooting, and a large share of their attention is devoted to the ammunition. It is not uncommon to find cartridges with the bullet improperly seated in the cartridge-case or shell ”

“ Troops armed with rifles fitted with safety-catches will invariably set the catch to safety before movement. The use of the cut-off is to be confined in their case to occasions when they are not actually engaged with the enemy. Then it may be employed for the purpose either of charging the magazine without inserting a cartridge in the chamber, or to unload the rifle while retaining cartridges in the magazine. ”

“ The die, D, is just the right size to be filled by the shell, A, when pressed into it by the punch or mandrel, B. E is a die with an adjustable screw, and the case may be carried against it to form the head or rim, or that may be carried against the die, D, by similar mechanism to F and H' ”

“ To the very few who load their own cartridge-cases the author can offer no advice beyond this: the best cases and wadding, and the best powder, meaning the highest priced, are necessary, and not merely luxuries. The amateur loader has no means of testing powders to see if they fluctuate, and he must rely, therefore, on the maker; and that very careful person will take the most trouble over that for which he charges most. The shooter, in fact, is not buying raw material, but personal 62care and trouble. ”

“ In case of a deficiency of white cartridge cloth, the different charges for all classes of guns may be distinguished by the color of the cartridge-bags; white being used for distant firing, blue for "ordinary" firing, and red for "near" firing.
The lid ends of the powder-tanks for service charges are to be painted of [10] the same colors as the cartridge-bags which they contain, and must be distinctly marked with the calibre and weight of the gun for which the cartridges are intended. Tanks for musket-powder must be marked MUSKET-POWDER ”

“ The cartridge—which contains bullet and powder in one case—is so light that a man can carry his one hundred and twenty cartridges without much discomfort. The powder used is smokeless, so that it is almost impossible to tell where the shots come from if the riflemen take cover—that is, if they conceal themselves behind bushes, rocks, or hedges. ”

“ In the latter there is already a fired case (p) , which will be driven by the fired case (q) beyond the ejector spring R. As soon as the lock reaches the face of the breech, the cartridge (r) and case (q) are deposited in the breech and ejector-tube respectively, and the extractor D rises under the action of the levers L and J, slides, as already explained, by the bases of the cartridges (r) and case (q) , and then over the base of the cartridge (s) in the belt (g) . ”

“ He who fills them, should make a charge complete in every cartridge, and not load one more than another, but always pour a full measure into every one. The packer should tie the cartridges, and round them as much as possible, without tearing the paper. ”

“ 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. ”

“ He rendered a decision (7 Fed. Rep. 344) in which he said: 'Allen's original patent described a machine organized to move a 'die' against a 'bunter,' and, by their contact, to form a flange or head upon the metallic cartridge, which was carried by the die. The defendant's machines brought a movable bunter against a fixed die. This was an improved form of the machine, and was, perhaps, a patentable improvement; but it was the same machine, and was an undoubted infringement. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As soon as I had removed them, I rolled them up very carefully into pistol cartridges from which I drew the charges. I was just going to throw away the powder, when I thought, “No, I'll put the powder back. It'll make the fraud more difficult to detect.” So I put the powder back with great care. Then I searched my mind for something with which to seal up the cartridge wads over the powder. I could think of nothing at all, till I remembered the tar-seams at my feet. I dug up a fragment of tar-seam from the dark corners of the cabin under my bunk. ”

“ Makes pretty good shooting, I think."
"Wonderful good, sir," said Dent. "You can't wish for better. And such a handy little cartridge, too. That's a thing to consider on a march. You can carry a much bigger number for the same weight of ordinary cartridges." ”

“ But the Government has consented to allow the requisite number, four hundred for each gun, to be made, and the cartridge-works have had orders (given yesterday) to increase production to full capacity of works. This question of making cartridges at Government works was a difficult one to get over, but it is done. The price the Government will charge for the gun and cartridges will be cost, or as near that as possible. The forty thousand guns cannot all be shipped immediately, as they are distributed in the various arsenals throughout the country. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is conte ded on the part of the defendant that the action of the commissioner of patents, in requiring a disclaimer of so much of the reissued patent as claimed in specific terms the use of the movable bunter and the stationary die, as an equivalent for the movable die and the fixed bunter, before granting an extension, is conclusive upon the complainant, but we do not so regard it. ”

“ Without accepting or rejecting the government's contention that the government's cartridge is outside primed and the appellant's inside primed, and wherein it is claimed that for reloading purposes an outside primed cartridge is superior, it is sufficient to say that the difference in the shape and position of the vents, whereby the explosive force of the fulminate is communicated to the powder charge, is obvious. ”

“ Another witness showed the exact ratio between cartridges and rubber:
“‘The S. A. B. on the Bussira, with 150 guns, get only ten tons (rubber) a month; we, the State, at Momboyo, with 130 guns, get thirteen tons per month.’ ‘So you count by guns?’ I asked him. ‘Partout,’ M. P. said. ‘Each time the corporal goes out to get rubber cartridges are given to him. He must bring back all not used; and for every one used, he must bring back a right hand.’ M. P. told me that sometimes they shot a cartridge at an animal in hunting; they then cut off a hand from a living man. ”

“ But the rapid fire of the French had all but emptied their cartridge-boxes, and the defective arrangements made by the staff had not provided properly for supplying the deficiency. This is always a danger to which men armed with the breech-loader are liable, and it is an awkward one, for in modern war the man who is without cartridges is virtually disarmed. ”

“ No. 1,948.
'Be it known that I, Ethan Allen, of the city and county of Worcester, and state of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful improvements in machinery for making loaded caps or cap-cartridges; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a top view or plan, and Fig. 2 is a side view, and pertains to a machine which is the subject of another reissue of these letters patent. ”

“ The flange is fully formed at the time when the end of the die, D, and the bunter are as close together as the operation of the machine will permit them to be, which is true, also, of the plaintiff's machine. In the defendant's machine, as in the plaintiff's, the unheaded shell enters at one end of the die, D, and is expelled from the other end, and moves always in the same direction with relation to the die, D, from the time that the mandrel first takes charge of it, until, after being headed, it is expelled from the die. ”

“ Returning to the position shown in fig. 16, if the trigger be pulled, the compressed spring M reacts and drives the piston forwards, carrying the breech-block with it, the latter in turn driving a cartridge in front of it out of the feed-strip. When the block and cartridge are home, and not till then, the piston completes its travel, the upper cam (f′) locking the dog (h) , and the firing-pin protrudes and fires the cartridge. ”

“ 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. ”

“ We also turned out crude hand grenades, which, by the way, had to be ignited by a match before being thrown, so you can imagine the risks if these had to be brought into action on a windy or a rainy night. At this time, too, we collected every available cartridge, including sporting cartridges for shot guns, and these were refilled with buckshot. Keogh and I always quarrelled as to whether it was better to put four or eight grains of lead to the cartridge. The reader can easily imagine the effect on a poor devil who might get the full charge of one of these refilled sporting cartridges. ”