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Question for the artillery heads...

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  • Question for the artillery heads...

    Hi there,
    Can brass artillery cases be refilled and reused? How are artillery projectiles filled? Are the contents poured as a liquid or pressed in or what?
    regards
    GttC
    Last edited by GoneToTheCanner; 10 November 2009, 11:35.

  • #2
    Apparently cartridge cases can be re-used, but i doubt i have ever fired one that has, we normally send ours back for recycling as with brass casings from steyrs etc. I think with the blank cartridges the can be reused by swapping the primers as they are screwed in.

    To fill the cartridge case you need two things propellant, which is cordite and comes in fabric bags, depending on the weapon these are either coloured or numbered (the colours refer to a no) then you also need a primer, which houses the percussion cap its a long tube not too dissimilar to a cigar tube with holes in it, but obviously way more substantial.

    For projectile's they are filled as a liquid which solidifies as it cools, though i can turn to liquid if the round is left in the sun hence we cover the rounds with a tarp in the summer to keep them cool and in the winter to keep them dry.
    But there's no danger
    It's a professional career
    Though it could be arranged
    With just a word in Mr. Churchill's ear
    If you're out of luck you're out of work
    We could send you to johannesburg.

    (Elvis Costello, Olivers Army)

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    • #3
      While a once-fired cartridge case may well fit back in, and could have it's primer replaced and be filled with new charge bags, reusing them several times would end up weakening the brass significantly, and could end badly, particularly as you're relying on the cartridge case to seal the breech end of the barrel as the projectile is fired (which is known as ammunition obturation).

      Most artillery rounds are filled with TNT, which is simply melted and poured into the round, where it solidifies.

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