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M3 Grease Gun

M3 Grease Gun

The Submachine Gun, Cal. .45, M3/M3A1 (1942) was a submachine gun developed by the United States during World War II as a cheaper substitute for the Tommy Gun. It was nicknamed the Grease Gun because of its resemblance to an automotive grease gun.

History and Design

When World War II began the Thompson submachine gun was the standard US submachine gun. However, the Thompson was comparatively expensive in terms of machining and time to manufacture. New Thompson models had much reduced cost (e.g the M1928 vs the M1A1), but a brand new design could yield a even lower cost. The basic concept of a new, crude, cheaper mass-produced firearm traces back to the Chauchat of WW1, the most produced machine gun of that war. The .45 caliber M3 was introduced in 1942, designed specifically for simplified production using stamped metal parts. Similar reduced manufacturing costs for a submachine gun design was undertaken by by the British (Lancaster to the Sten), Germany (MP34, MP38 to MP40), etc.. The Soviet Union, France, and Italy would also make cheaper designs in the 40s. Far easier to manufacture than the Thompson, the M3 incorporated several updated design features. A low cyclical rate of fire made it easier to control than other submachine guns, and the straight line of recoil thrust made it easier to control during automatic fire. In contrast to the relatively fragile Thompson its simplicity and generous tolerances made it far more reliable under the adverse conditions encountered at the fighting front. When the M3 was adopted as a standard weapon, the Thompson was categorized as a "Limited Standard" or "Substitute Standard" submachine gun. The M3 used the blowback method of operation. It could be fired only in fully-automatic mode but experienced soldiers could usually get off single shots with it. It used the .45 ACP cartridge, same as in the Colt pistol, in a 30-round magazines. Before firing, the ejection port had to be opened manually by the operator.

Variants

M3


- Entered service December 1942
- Designed specifically as a low cost substitute for the Thompson submachine gun. Production at General Motors automobile parts plants was simplified by making use of stamped metal and only a little machining. A number of deficiencies were found during the initial two years of use. Combat introduction in time for use in Normandy (June 1944) was delayed until the deficiencies were corrected but continuing doubts about its reliability made it unpopular with troops.

M3A1

General Motors
- Entered service December 1944
- The A1 model corrected the faults of the earlier version. New features included a larger ejection port, a stronger cover spring, and a change to the cocking method. The original M3 was cocked by a crank-like lever. On the M3A1, the bolt had a machined recess which was exposed when the ejection port cover was opened. The user inserted a finger to pull the bolt back to the cocked position. It could be adapted to fire the 9mm Parabellum round by changing the barrel and bolt, and an adapter permitted the use of the magazine from the British Sten gun. Although the M3 remained in service after the war through the Korean War and the Vietnam War, it was never popular because of slow rate of fire and lack of accuracy. It remained in limited use with US forces into the 1990s, to include service in the 1991 Gulf War (i.e. drivers in the 19th Engineer Battalion, which unit was attached to the U.S. 1st Armored Division, deployed with the M3A1 as an alternate arm), until replaced by the M4 Carbine. A flash suppressor was developed for use with both the M3 and M3A1. It also saw scattered use during Vietnam. A silenced version saw limited use by Navy SEAL teams.

External links


- [http://www.rt66.com/~korteng/SmallArms/grease.htm Small Arms Review: The M3A1 Grease Gun]
- [http://www.olive-drab.com/od_other_firearms_smg_m3.php3 M-3 Submachine Gun]

See also


- List of submachine guns
- List of World War II firearms
- List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces Category:Submachine guns Category:World War II firearms of the United States Category:World War II submachine guns Category:World War II American infantry weapons ms:M3 SMG

1942

This article is about the year. For the 1984 Capcom arcade game, see 1942 (video game). 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January


- January 1 - World War II: The term "United Nations" is first officially used to describe the Allied pact.
- January 2 - World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces. The Japanese Admiral stays in Solvec (owned by Charles Henry de Silva), Philippines.
- January 5 - Amy Johnson disappears in flight over River Thames estuary - assumed drowned
- January 6 - Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to have a flight go around the world.
- January 7 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins
- January 11 - World War II: Japan declares war on the Netherlands and invades the Netherlands East Indies.
- January 11 - World War II: The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur.
- January 12 - President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board.
- January 13 - Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car
- January 16 - Airplane crashes near Las Vegas. Dead include Carole Lombard and her mother
- January 19 - World War II: Japanese forces invade Burma.
- January 20 - World War II: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin decide that the "final solution to the Jewish problem" is relocation, and later extermination.
- January 25 - World War II: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom
- January 26 - World War II: The first American forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.

February


- February 9
  - World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.
  - Daylight-saving time goes into effect in the United States.
- February 11 - Operation Cerberus - Flotilla of Kriegsmarine ships dash from Brest through the English Channel to northern ports; British fail to sink any one of them
- February 15 - World War II: Singapore surrenders to Japanese forces.
- February 19
  - World War II: 242 Japanese warplanes attack Darwin, Australia.
  - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs executive order 9066 allowing the United States military to define areas as exclusionary zones. These zones affect the Japanese on the West Coast, and Germans and Italians primarily on the East Coast.
- February 20 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace
- February 22 - World War II: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defense of the nation collapses.
- February 23 - Japanese submarine I-17 fires sixteen high-explosive shells toward an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage.
- February 24 - Propaganda: The Voice of America begins broadcasting.
- February 25 - Princess Elizabeth registers for war service
- February 26 - Coal dust explosion in Honkeika mine in China - 1549 dead
- February 27 - World War II: the USS Langley, the first United States aircraft carrier, is sunk by Japanese warplanes off Java.

March


- March 9 - The Secretary of War reorganized the United States Army into three major commands - Army Ground Forces, Army Air Forces, and Services of Supply, later redesignated Army Service Forces

April-June

Army Service Forces.]]
- April 3 - World War II: Japanese forces begin an all-out assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula. Bataan fell on April 9 and the Bataan Death March began.
- April 5 - Second World War: Japanese Navy attacks Colombo in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Royal Navy Cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
- April 9 - Second World War: Japanese Navy launches air raid on Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier HMS Hermes and Royal Australian Navy Destroyer HMAS Vampire are sunk off the country's East Coast.
- April 27 - World War II: A national plebiscite is held in Canada on the issue of conscription.
- May - first test of an undersea oil pipeline in Operation Pluto
- May 6 - World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
- May 8 - World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end. This is the first time in the naval history where two enemy fleets fought without seeing each other's fleets.
- May 8/May 9 - Second World War: On the night of 8/9 May 1942, gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebelled. Their mutiny was crushed and three of them were executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
- 1942 - World War II: Second Battle of Kharkov - In the eastern Ukraine, the Soviet Army initiates a major offensive. During the battle the Soviets will capture the city of Kharkov from the German Army, only to be encircled and destroyed.
- May 15 - World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
- May 20 - First colored seamen taken into US Navy
- May 27 - World War II: Operation Anthropoid - assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague
- June 4 - World War II: Reinhard Heydrich dies in Prague due to the assassination by Czechoslovak paratroopers (Operation Anthropoid)
- June 4-June 7 - World War II: The Battle of Midway.
- June 7 - World War II- Japanese forces invade the Aleutian Islands. This is the first invasion of American soil in 128 years.
- June 9 - World War II: Nazis burn the Czech village of Lidice as reprisal for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich.
- June 10 - World War II: the Gestapo massacred 173 male residents of Lidice, Czechoslovakia in retaliztion for the killing of a Nazi official.
- June 12 - Holocaust: Future essayist Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday.
- June 13 - The United States opens its Office of War Information, a center for production of propaganda.

July


- July 1 - July 27 - World War II: the First Battle of El Alamein
- July 9 - Holocaust: Anne Frank's family goes into hiding in an attic above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
- July 13 - World War II: German U-Boats sink three more merchant ships in Gulf of St. Lawrence.
- July 16 - Holocaust: On order from the Vichy France government headed by Pierre Laval, French police officers round-up 13,000-20,000 Jews and imprison them in the Winter Velodrome.
- July 16 - Georges Bégué and others escape from Mauzac prison camp
- July 18 - World War II: The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me-262 using only its jets for the first time.
- July 19 - World War II: Battle of the Atlantic - German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz orders the last U-boats to withdraw from their United States Atlantic coast positions in response to an effective American convoy system.
- July 22 - Holocaust: The systematic deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto begins.
- July 31 - The Oxford Committee of Famine Relief (OXFAM) founded

August-September


- August 7 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal begins - US Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with a landing on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
- August 8 - World War II: In Washington, DC, six German would-be saboteurs are executed (two others were cooperative and received life imprisonment instead).
- August 8 - Quit India resolution was passed by the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), which led to the start of a historical civil disobidience movement across India
- August 9 - Indian leader, Mohandas Gandhi is arrested in Bombay by British forces.
- August 13-14 night - In London instruments detect a massive burst of cosmic rays
- August 16 - Polish-Jewish teacher Janusz Korczak follows a group of Jewish children into Treblinka death camp
- August 19 - World War II: The Dieppe Raid - Allied forces raid Dieppe, France.
- August 22 - World War II: Brazil declared war on Germany and Italy.
- September 3 -
  - Francisco Franco fires foreign minister Serrano Súñer
  - An attempt by the Germans to liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Lakhva leads to an uprising.
- September 24 - Andrée Borrel and Lise de Baissac became the first female SOE agents to be parachuted into occupied France.

October


- October 2 - British cruiser Curacao collides with the liner Queen Mary off the coast of Donegal and sinks - 338 drowned
- October 3 - First successful launch of A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany. The rocket flew 147 kilometres wide and reached a height of 84.5 kilometres and was therefore the first man-made object reaching space.
- October 9 - Statute of Westminster Adoption Act formalizes Australian autonomy.
- October 11 - World War II: Battle of Cape Esperance - On the northwest coast of Guadalcanal, United States Navy ships intercept and defeat a Japanese fleet on their way to reinforce troops on the island.
- October 14 - A German U-boat sinks the ferry SS Caribou, killing 137.
- October 16 - Hurricane and flooding in Bombay - 40,000 dead
- October 23 - November 4 - World War II: the Second Battle of El Alamein
- October 28 - The Alaska Highway is completed.
- October 29 - Holocaust: In the United Kingdom, leading clergymen and political figures hold a public meeting to register outrage over Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews.

November

Jew
- November 3 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein ends - German forces under Erwin Rommel are forced to retreat during the night.
- November 8 - World War II: Operation Torch - United States and United Kingdom forces land in French North Africa.
- November 8 - World War II: French resistance Coup in Algiers, by which 400 French civil resistants neutralized the vichyist XIXth Army Corps and the vichyist generals (Juin, Darlan, etc.), so allowing the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers, and from there in the whole French North Africa.
- November 9 - World War II: U.S serviceman Edward Leonswki hanged at Melbourne's Pentridge Prison for the "Brown-Out" Murders of three women in May
- November 10 - World War II: In violation of a 1940 armistice, Germany invades Vichy France following French Admiral François Darlan agreement to an armistice with the Allies in North Africa.
- November 12 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal begins - A naval battle near Guadalcanal starts between Japanese and American forces.
- November 13 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal - Aviators from the USS Enterprise sink the Japanese heavy cruiser BB- Hiei.
- November 15 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal ends - Although the United States Navy suffered heavy losses, it was able to retain control of Guadalcanal.
- November 19 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor.
- November 21 - The completion of the Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (the "highway" was not usable by general vehicles until 1943, however).
- November 22 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - The situation for the German attackers of Stalingrad seems desperate during the Soviet counter-attack Operation Uranus and General Friedrich Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th army is surrounded.
- November 23 - German U-boat sinks SS Ben Lomond off the coast of Brazil. One crewman, Chinese second steward Poon Lim, is separated from the others and spends 130 days adrift until he is rescued April 3 1943
- November 27 - World War II: At Toulon, the French navy scuttles its ships and submarines to keep them out of Nazi hands.
- November 28 - In Boston, Massachusetts, a fire in the Cocoanut Grove night club kills 491 people.
- November 28 - The large-scale German "pacification" of Zamojszczyzna begins.

December


- December 2 - Manhattan Project: Below the bleachers of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiate the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction (a coded message, "The Italian navigator has landed in the new world" was then sent to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt).
- December 4 - Holocaust: In Warsaw, two Christian women, Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz risk their lives by setting up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews.

Undated


- Catavi massacre - Bolivian soldiers shoot miners
- Serial killer Singing Strangler in Melbourne
- Grand Coulee Dam finished in Columbia River
- DDT first used as a pesticide

Ongoing events


- World War II (1939-1945)
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
- 1942 in art
- 1942 in film
  - Mrs. Miniver
  - Bambi
  - Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman
  - Quattro passi fra le nuvole by Alessandro Blasetti.
- 1942 in literature
  - Mythology
- 1942 in music
  - "White Christmas" - Bing Crosby
- 1942 in rail transport
- 1942 in sports
- 1942 in television
  - April 13 - The FCC minimum programming time required of TV stations is cut from 15 hours to four hours a week during the war.

Births

Unknown date


- Roger Angleton, American murderer (d. 1998)
- Priscilla Davis, American socialite (d. 2001)

January


- January 1 - Martin Frost, American politician
- January 1 - Gennadi Sarafanov, cosmonaut
- January 2 - Hugh Shelton, American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- January 3 - John Thaw, English actor (d. 2002)
- January 5 - Maurizio Pollini, Italian pianist
- January 5 - Charlie Rose, American talk show host
- January 7 - Vasily Alexeev, Soviet weightlifter
- January 8 - Stephen Hawking, British physicist
- January 8 - Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan
- January 8 - Yvette Mimieux, American actress
- January 8 - George Passmore, English artist (Gilbert and George)
- January 15 - Charo, American singer and actress
- January 17 - Muhammad Ali, American boxer
- January 17 - Cus D'Amato, boxing manager (d. 1985)
- January 17 - Ulf Hoelscher, German violinist
- January 17 - Nancy Parsons, American actress (d. 2001)
- January 19 - Michael Crawford, singer and actor
- January 25 - Carl Eller, American football player
- January 25 - Eusébio, Portuguese footballer
- January 31 - Derek Jarman, English director and writer (d. 1994)

February


- February 1 - Terry Jones, Welsh actor and writer
- February 2 - Graham Nash, English musician
- February 5 - Roger Staubach, American football player
- February 9 - Carole King, American singer and composer
- February 12 - Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel
- February 13 - Peter Tork, American musician and actor
- February 19 - Paul Krause, American football player
- February 20 - Phil Esposito, Canadian hockey player
- February 21 - Margarethe von Trotta, German actress, film director, and writer
- February 24 - Joseph Lieberman, American politician
- February 27 - Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 28 - Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (d. 1969)

March


- March 2 - John Irving, American author
- March 2 - Lou Reed, American singer and guitarist
- March 4 - Charles C. Krulak, U.S. Marine Corps commander
- March 5 - Felipe González Márquez, Spanish politician
- March 7 - Tammy Faye Bakker, American evangelist
- March 7 - Michael Eisner, American film studio executive
- March 9 - John Cale, Welsh composer and musician
- March 13 - Dave Cutler, American software engineer
- March 16 - James Soong, Taiwan politician
- March 17 - John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994)
- March 23 - Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and political figure
- March 25 - Aretha Franklin, American singer
- March 25 - Richard O'Brien, English-born actor and writer
- March 26 - Erica Jong, American author
- March 27 - John E. Sulston, British chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- March 27 - Michael York, English actor

April


- April 2 - Hiroyuki Sakai, Japanese chef
- April 3 - Marsha Mason, American actress
- April 3 - Wayne Newton, American singer
- April 5 - Peter Greenaway, Welsh filmmaker
- April 5 - Pascal Couchepin, Swiss Federal Councilor
- April 6 - Barry Levinson, American film producer and director
- April 14 - Valeriy Brumel, Russian athlete (d. 2003)
- April 14 - Valentin Lebedev, cosmonaut
- April 26 - Bobby Rydell, American singer
- April 26 - Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat

May


- May 2 - Jacques Rogge, Belgian International Olympic Committee president
- May 5 - Tammy Wynette, American musician (d. 1998)
- May 9 - John Ashcroft, United States Attorney General
- May 12 - Ian Dury, British musician (d. 2000)
- May 17 - Taj Mahal, American singer and guitarist
- May 18 - Albert Hammond, English-born musician and composer
- May 18 - Nobby Stiles, English footballer
- May 19 - Gary Kildall, American computer scientist (d. 1994)
- May 22 - Theodore Kaczynski, American bomber
- May 22 - Calvin Simon, American musician (P Funk)
- May 26 - Levon Helm, American musician (The Band)
- May 28 - Stanley B. Prusiner, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

June


- June 3 - Curtis Mayfield, American musician (d. 1999)
- June 10 - Preston Manning, Canadian politician
- June 12 - Bert Sakmann, German physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 17 - Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian International Atomic Energy Agency director, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- June 18 - Roger Ebert, American film critic
- June 18 - Paul McCartney, English musician and composer (The Beatles)
- June 18 - Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor

July


- July 4 - Floyd Little, American football player
- July 4 - Prince Michael of Kent
- July 7 - Carmen Duncan, Welsh-born actress
- July 10 - Pyotr Klimuk, cosmonaut
- July 10 - Ronnie James Dio, American singer
- July 13 - Harrison Ford, American actor and producer
- July 13 - Roger McGuinn, American musician
- July 15 - Mil Mascaras, Mexican professional wrestler
- July 17 - Tim Brooke-Taylor, English radio and television personality
- July 23 - Myra Hindley, English murderer
- July 24 - Chris Sarandon, American actor
- July 27 - Dennis Ralston, American tennis player
- July 29 - Tony Sirico, American actor

August


- August 1 - Jerry Garcia, American musician (d. 1995)
- August 2 - Isabel Allende, Chilean writer
- August 4 - David Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 2005)
- August 7 - Garrison Keillor, American writer and radio host
- August 19 - Fred Thompson, U.S. Senator and actor
- August 20 - Isaac Hayes, American singer and actor
- August 26 - Dennis Turner, British politician
- August 28 - Sterling Morrison, American musician (d. 1995)

September


- September 1 - John Lange, American scientist
- September 19 - Freda Payne, American singer and actress
- September 22 - David Stern, American commissioner of the National Basketball Association
- September 28 - Marshall Bell, American actor
- September 29 - Madeline Kahn, American actress (d. 1999)
- September 29 - Jean-Luc Ponty, French jazz violinist
- September 30 - Frankie Lymon, American singer (d. 1968)

October


- October 11 - Amitabh Bachchan, Indian actor
- October 12 - Melvin Franklin, American musician (d. 1995)
- October 13 - Jerry Jones, American football team owner
- October 19 - Andrew Vachss, American author and attorney
- October 20 - Earl Hindman, American actor (d. 2003)
- October 20 - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- October 21 - Elvin Bishop, American musician
- October 22 - Annette Funicello, American actress
- October 23 - Michael Crichton, American author
- October 26 - Bob Hoskins, British actor

November


- November 1 - Ralph Klein, Premier of Alberta
- November 8 - Angel Cordero Jr., Puerto Rican jockey
- November 8 - Fernando Sorrentino, Argentine writer
- November 10 - Robert F. Engle, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 10 - Hans-Rudolf Merz, Swiss Federal Councilor
- November 13 - John P. Hammond, American singer
- November 15 - Daniel Barenboim, Argentine-born pianist and conductor
- November 17 - Martin Scorsese, American film director
- November 20 - Joe Biden, U.S. Senator from Delaware
- November 27 - Henry Carr, American athlete
- November 27 - Jimi Hendrix, American musician (d. 1970)
- November 28 - Paul Warfield, American football player
- November 29 - Michael Craze, British actor (d. 1998)
- November 29 - Philippe Huttenlocher, Swiss baritone

December


- December 4 - Gemma Jones, British actress
- December 6 - Peter Handke, Austrian novelist
- December 7 - Peter Tomarken, American game show host
- December 9 - Dick Butkus, American football player
- December 11 - Donna Mills, American actress
- December 17 - Paul Butterfield, American musician (d. 1987)
- December 20 - Bob Hayes, American athlete
- December 21 - Carla Thomas, American singer
- December 29 - Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor

Unknown date


- Moammar Al Qadhafi, leader of Libya

Deaths


- January 6 - Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian International Olympic Committee president (b. 1876)
- January 14 - Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and writer (b. 1883)
- January 16 - Carole Lombard, American actress (b. 1908)
- January 26 - Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (suicide) (b. 1868)
- February 19 - Frank Abbandando, American gangster (executed) (b. 1910)
- February 28 - Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (sinking ship) (b. 1889)
- March 1 - Cornelius Vanderbilt III, American military officer, inventor, and engineer (b. 1873)
- March 8 - José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player (b. 1888)
- March 10 - William Henry Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- March 21 - J.S Woodsworth, Canadian politician (b. 1874)
- April 15 - Robert Musil, Austrian-born novelist (b. 1880)
- April 17 -

Thompson submachine gun

 The Thompson submachine gun, also known as the Tommy Gun, was an American submachine gun (SMG) that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in gangster films of the time, being used both by criminals and by law enforcement officers. The "Tommy Gun" was also known as the "Chicago Typewriter" and "Chicago Piano", and was favored for its compact size and high volume of automatic fire. Known as the 5th-best weapon in the world on Ultimate, a television program on the Discovery Channel.

Service

In the United States, it was used by law enforcement, most prominently by the FBI, until 1976, when it was declared obsolete. All Thompsons in U.S. government possession were destroyed, except for a few token museum pieces and training models. Thompsons were also used extensively by the U.S. military during World War II, but with modifications to simplify production and reduce cost. These were commonly carried by both non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers. Due to its gangster-era and World War II connections, Thompsons are highly sought as collector's items. An original M1928 gun in working condition can easily fetch $20,000 or more. Semi-automatic replicas are currently produced by the Auto-Ordnance Company (a division of Kahr Firearms.) Approximately 1,700,000 of these weapons were produced, with 1,387,134 of them being the simplified WWII M1 variant.

Variants

Persuader & Annihilator

There were two main models that preceded major production. The 'Persuader' was a belt fed version worked on 1918, and the Annihilator was fed from a 20 round box magazine which was an improved model worked on in 1918 and 1919. Also the 50 and 100 round magazine were developed.

M1921

The first major production model. 15,000 guns were produced by Colt Firearms. In its original design, it is fashioned more like a sporting weapon. It was quite expensive to make, with the original retail cost around $225 (equal to roughly $2,100 in 2005), with high-quality wood furnishings and finely-machined parts. Saw some military use with the U.S. Marine Corps in Nicaragua, but not type classified.

M1927

The M1927 was the semi-automatic only version of the M1921.

M1928

The M1928 was famous throughout its career with police and criminals and in motion pictures. It was the first type widely used by military forces, with the US Navy and Marine Corps as major buyers through the 1930s. With the start of World War II, major contracts from Britain and France saved the manufacturer from bankruptcy. This model had an official adoption, with a name also resulting M1928 abrev. the same as the orginal name. Caliber: .45 ACP
Mass, empty: 4.9 kg
Length: 852 mm
Rate of Fire: 700 RPM
Capacity: 20 or 30 rounds box magazine, 50 or 100 rounds drum magazine

M1928A1

This variant entered mass production before Pearl Harbor as on-hand stocks of the M1928 ran out. Changes included a horizontal forearm in place of the distinctive vertical foregrip and a provision for a military sling. With new US contracts for Lend-Lease shipments abroad and the needs of American armed forces, two factories supplied M1928A1 Thompsons during the early years of WWII. The weapon was mostly used in the US armed forces by the Marines, who supplied it to units in the Pacific Theater of Operations. It was faster and cheaper to manufacture than the M1928. Though the weapon could use both the 50- or the 100-round drum as well as the 20- or 30-round magazines, active service showed the drums were more prone to jamming. The weapon was not very accurate and was therefore only used at close range. 562,511 of these guns were made. Caliber: .45 ACP
Mass, empty: 4.9 kg
Length: 852 mm
Rate of Fire: 800 RPM
Capacity: 20 or 30 rounds box magazine, 50 or 100 rounds drum magazine

M1

The M1 was a result of further simplification. It utilized a simple blow-back system of operation and the bolt handle was moved to the side. It also could be fired in semi-automatic. Removed were the slots adjoining the magazine well that allowed use of the drum magazines, the Cutts compensator at the muzzle that limited "rise" when firing, the flip up and adjustable rear sight (which was replaced with a fixed peep hole rear sight), the characteristic cooling fins on the barrel and the Blish lock feature of the bolt also disappeared. The less-expensive and easily manufactured "stick" magazines were used exclusively in this version, with a new 30-round version joining the familiar 20-round type. It also has a permanently attached buttstock and was first issued in 1943. Caliber: .45 ACP
Mass, empty: 4.78 kg
Length: 811 mm
Rate of Fire: 700 RPM
Capacity: 20 or 30 rounds box magazine

M1A1

The multi-piece firing pin of the M1 was supplanted by a simplified firing pin machined into the face of the bolt. The 30-round magazine was very common. Caliber: .45 ACP
Mass, empty: 4.78 kg
Length: 811 mm
Rate of Fire: 700 RPM
Capacity: 30 rounds box magazine

External links


- [http://www.mikesmachineguns.com/ Thompson pictures and videos]
- [http://www.colttommygunner.com/ Colt Thompson Cyber Museum]
- [http://www.auto-ordnance.com/ Official Tommygun Home Page]
- [http://www.nfatoys.com/tsmg/default.htm The Unofficial Tommy Gun Page]
- [http://www.geocities.com/nasenoviny/ThompsonEN.html Nase noviny]
- [http://www.saf.org/LawReviews/PSharpe1.html Second Amendment Foundation]
- [http://www.rt66.com/~korteng/SmallArms/arms.htm/ Research site about the Korean War and the weapons used]
- [http://www.geocities.com/tsmg_dm/ Website in spanish about the Thompson in the popular culture] Category:Submachine guns Category:World War II American infantry weapons Category:World War II submachine guns ja:トンプソンM1短機関銃 ms:Submesingan Thompson

Grease gun (tool)

A grease gun is a common workshop and garage tool used for lubrication. The purpose of the grease gun is to apply lubricant through an aperture to a specific point, usually on a grease nipple. The channels behind the grease nipple lead to where the lubrication is needed. The aperture may be of a type that fits closely with a receiving aperature on any number of mechanical devices. The close fitting of the apertures ensures that lubricant is applied only where needed. There are three types of grease gun:- 1. Hand-powered, where the grease is forced from the aperture by back-pressure built up by hand cranking the trigger mechanism of the gun, which applies pressure to a spring mechanism behind the lubricant, thus forcing grease through the aperture. 2. Hand-powered, where there is no trigger mechanism, and the grease is forced through the aperture by the back-pressure built up by pushing on the butt of the grease gun, which slides a piston through the body of the tool, pumping grease out of the aperture. 3. Air-powered (pneumatic), where compressed air is directed to the gun by hoses, the air pressure serving to force the grease through the aperture. The grease gun is charged or loaded with any of the various types of lubricants, but usually a thicker heavier type of grease is used. Category:Metalworking hand tools Category:Woodworking Category:Automobiles

Chauchat

The Chauchat (pronounced 'show-shah') was the primary light machine gun used by the French in World War I (Also known as the CSRG or the Gladiator) Over 250,000 were manufactured, making it the most widely manufactured automatic weapon of World War I. It was also among the first light machine gun designs of the early 1900s. The program set the standard for 20th century firearm projects- a new lighter automatic firearm that used cheap construction techniques. Like many later projects later in the century that sacrificed quality for quantity, the firearm itself had often noted performance issues though it did have many features that would become more common, such as a pistol grip and select-fire. The CSRG name comes from people involved in its production and development:Lois Chauchat, Charles Sutter, and Paul Ribeyrolles, and its other name, Gladiator.

Overview

The Chauchat designs traces back to 1907 from a design based on the Hungarian Rudolph Frommer, and further developed by Captain Lois Chauchat. It fired the 8mm Lebel rifle rounds at the relatively slow rate of 250rpm. The design had a open spaces in the magazine. This allowed the remaining bullets to be seen and saved weight. However, it also allowed mud and debris to find their way into the inner workings of the gun quite easily and in the muck-ridden environment of trench warfare this was an invitation to disaster. There was a similar problem when using belt fed firearms on the move as well, the floppy belts would get mud on them. The most frequent malfunction was the failure to extract spent shells, meaning the next round would become wedged in an occupied chamber, thereby seizing up the mechanism. In any case, the cartridge used was originally conceived for a bolt-action rifle, just like all the other rifle rounds in use at the time. The gun was easier to handle than heavier and medium machine guns of the period, such as the Madsen machine gun and was also several pounds lighter than the Lewis gun. Because the firearm weighed much more than the regular french rifle, but fired the same round from about the same length barrel, the amount of actual recoil would be about the same- and the felt recoil similar. It employed a 'long recoil' system throwing the force against the user's shoulder (as opposed to a rifle which has no recoil system). It was so advanced that the many untested concepts caused problems (some point to inadequate ammunition) and it has sometimes been referred to as "the worst machine-gun ever issued to any army at any time in history". In fairness, the mere fact that the firearm was made at all is quite notable, Germany, for example did not field similar weight light machine gun at all during WWI, and it would not be until WW2 that Germany fielded a light machine gun that used similar stamped construction techniques. The Chauchat was built of a rather shoddy stamped metal construction and of such poor quality that oftentimes its parts were not interchangeable between guns, meaning that a new gun could not be assembled from the parts of two others. However, this use of stamped material to build many weapons quickly and at low cost presaged the manufacturing methods used in World War II, which, with the refinements developed in the inter-war years, led to the more reliable mass-production of automatic weapons such as the Sten, MP-40, MG-42 and so on.

Performance & Comparison

French sources at the time considered the gun's performance very poor but acceptable because they had no other way to produce many automatic weapons in a short timeframe that could use existing ammunition. Given the lack of other light automatic weapons available at the time this is not unreasonable; the nearest comparable weapons include the Hotchkiss M1909 or Madsen machine gun, both of which was more expensive to make but more reliable. The Lewis Gun was also more reliable, but was a different sort of machine gun;it was several pounds heavier, more expensive, and unlike the chauchat was used on tripods, tanks, and aircraft, in addition to serviing as a light machine gun. The Chauchat does not compare well to the submachine guns of WWI, which had vastly shorter range than the Chauchat. The Italian Villar-perosa and Beretta Model 1918, the first two submachine guns fielded in WWI used the 9mm Glisenti (a weak 9 mm round) from a much shorter barrel, and were made with more traditional manufacture methods. The MP18, which entered service a couple months after the Berretta, also used a reduced 9 mm round (a reduced power Luger round). Compared to the Chauchat, these other automatic firearms were fielded vastly smaller numbers (thousands rather than hundreds of thousands), and had much shorter range (tens of meters rather than hundreds of meters). They did all use box magazines to feed rounds;the Berretta 1918 used a top mounted 'banna' type, the 1918 a side mounted 'snail', and the Chauchat a bottom attached semi-circle (or box magazine on the 30-06). In comparison to the BAR, the CSRG was a few pounds heavier, but was cheaper and had a integrated bipod. Unlike much heavier air-cooled and water-cooled machine guns (such as the various Maxim models), the CSRG was not meant for pro-longed fires. The advantage was to field more, more mobile automatic firearms in addition to heavier models. For sustained fire the french mainly used the Hotchkiss M1914, and to a more limited extent the St. Etienne M1907 (though the M1907 was not successful).

American Chauchats

In 1917, after America had entered World War I, the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) was given Chauchats bought from the French allies. They received a mix of ones chambered for 8mm Lebel and ones designed for the US .30-06 caliber round. The idea was to simplify ammunition supply (they could share stocks of 8 mm), though it probably created more problems than it fixed since both types were still needed. The performance of the M1917 .30-06 Chauchat was even worse than the original Chauchat and not surprisingly it was soon unceremoniously dumped by the troops who used it. The 30-06 version used a box magazine rather than the semi-circle one. No further .30-06 caliber versions were produced and when supplies of the superior but more expensive Browning Automatic Rifle became available they were immediately acquired. Thereafter the AEF only used the Chauchat - in its original French M1915 version - when necessary. The U.S. Marines had been using 30-06 chambered Lewis guns, and was not very happy about having to use the French firearms which caused supply issues. The Army however, which had rejected the Lewis (Mainly because Mr. Lewis had a bitter feud with the man essentially in charge of Army procurement), and primarily had the Hotchkiss M1909 for a light machine gun at the time. Along with the Chauchat, the US also bought Hotchkiss M1914 machine guns as well, which was a much heavier model meant for sustained fire. Following the war it was alleged that the adaptation of the Chauchat design for US .30-06 rounds had used incorrect measurements but in any case the radical differences in size, shape, impulse and power of the 8mm Lebel and .30-06 US rounds would explain the alleged disastrous performance of the M1917 .30-06 Chauchat.

Finnish use and Vietnam

In WW2, during the Winter War and Continuation War between Russia and Finland, over 5,000 Chauchats were donated to Finland and, for lack of anything better, found use. Some remnants of the Chauchat design are reported to have appeared in the 1960s during the Vietnam War.

External link


- [http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/mgun_chauchat.htm Chauchat Gun] on [http://www.firstworldwar.com/index.htm firstworldwar.com]

See also


- Hotchkiss M1909 light machine gun
- List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces Category:Machine guns of France Category:World War I machine guns Category:American World War I weapons Category:Light machine guns

Lancaster

Lancaster can refer to:

Places

In the United Kingdom:
- Lancaster, Lancashire
- The City of Lancaster, the local government district containing Lancaster In the United States:
- Lancaster, California
- Lancaster, Kansas
- Lancaster, Kentucky
- Lancaster, Massachusetts
- Lancaster, Minnesota
- Lancaster, Missouri
- Lancaster County, Nebraska
- Lancaster, New Hampshire
- Lancaster, New York:
  - Lancaster (town), New York
  - Lancaster (village), New York (within the Town of Lancaster)
- Lancaster, Ohio
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania:
  - Lancaster, Pennsylvania (city)
  - Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
  - Lancaster Township, Pennsylvania
- Lancaster, South Carolina:
  - Lancaster, South Carolina (city)
  - Lancaster County, South Carolina
- Lancaster, Texas
- Lancaster, Virginia:
  - Lancaster, Virginia (city)
  - Lancaster County, Virginia
- Lancaster, Wisconsin In Canada:
- Lancaster, Ontario

People


- Burt Lancaster
- Don Lancaster
- Joseph Lancaster
- Kelvin Lancaster
- Mark Lancaster
- Martin Lancaster
- Ron Lancaster

Others


- Avro Lancaster - the World War II-era bomber aircraft
- House of Lancaster - a British royal dynasty:
- Duchy of Lancaster - one of only two British duchies
- Lancaster - a 1982 computer game
- Lancaster Barnstormers - a minor league baseball team of the Atlantic League

MP34

The MP18 was a submachine gun used by the German Army during World War I. Produced from 1916 to 1945, it and its derivatives were also later used in World War II.

History

In 1915 the German Rifle Testing Commission at Spandau decided to develop a new weapon for trench fighting. Originally intending to modify an existing weapon, technical issues made this impractical so the Commission determined that a completely new kind of weapon was needed. Hugo Schmeisser eventually designed a weapon to fulfill the requirements. This weapon was designated Maschinenpistole 18.I (MP18). The MP18 was a solid weapon, for it was a soundly engineered piece of equipment with near commercial grade fittings. The MP18 had a well machined walnut butt stock and breech block, and the blow back mechanism was made of the finest materials. Produced by Bergmann, it served in the later part of the war. It was used by the German police force after the end of the war. The MP28.II was an improved version of the MP18, used by the German police and by SS units. A version of this weapon was made in Switzerland known as the SIG M1920, and one by Steyr Solothurn in Austria known as the MP34.

Operation

The original MP18 was designed to use the Snail drum magazine that was designed for use in the long barreled Luger Artillery model pistol. This rotary design type of magazine holds 32 rounds of 9mm ammunition and the user would have to load the magazine with a separate, and unique loading tool. As the snail drum magazine was originally designed for the Luger pistol, a special sleeve was required when the Snail drum was used on the MP18. This sleeve was slipped over the top part of the magazine and was used to stop the Snail drum from being inserted too far into the receiver and jam the firearm when it was fired. Later modifications to the MP18 allowed the use of a staggered box type magazine as used in the later developed MP40 sub-machine gun. The MP18 could only fire in the fully automatic mode, while the later developed MP28.II was designed to allow the user to select single shot or fully automatic fire modes.

Service

The MP18 would prove to be an excellent weapon. Its basic design would influence later submachine gun designs, and copies of it were made in several countries, such as the British Lanchester SMG and the Japanese Type 100. The open bolt design left one problem: if the butt was given a hard knock while the bolt was fully forward and a loaded magazine was inserted, the gun would accidentally fire. Soldiers liked to leave the bolt of their firearm forward so dirt and debris would not enter into the barrel and chamber that would cause a malfunction to occur when the firearm needed to be fired. Later sub-machine gun designs like the Sten gun were designed to allow the cocking handle to be pushed inwards therefore locking the closed bolt to the tubular receiver casing. This design change prevented accidental discharges when the bolt was left forward and a loaded magazine was inserted.

External links


- [http://www.cruffler.com/historic-july00.html Historic Arms] Category:Submachine guns Category:World War I infantry weapons Category:World War II German infantry weapons Category:World War II submachine guns ja:ベルグマンMP18短機関銃

MP40

The MP40 (Maschinenpistole 40) was a submachine gun developed for and used extensively by Nazi Germany during World War II. __TOC__

History

The MP40 was descended from the MP38, the differences being in cost-saving alterations, especially the use of more pressed rather than machined parts and an improved safety. The changes resulted from experiences with the several thousand MP38s, (in service since 1939), used during the Invasion of Poland. The changes were incorporated into an intermediate version (MP38/40), and then used in the initial MP40 production version. Just over 1 million would be made of all versions in the course of the war. The designer of the MP38/40 was Heinrich Vollmer not Hugo Schmeisser.

Specifications

An MP38 can be easily distinguished from an MP40 by a round hole in the magazine feed, and a series of small grooves along the length of the upper cylinder. The initial production MP40 had a smooth side on the magazine receiver, the main production was actually the MP40/I which had small indented grooves on the magazine side to strengthen it. The MP40/II was the experimental 64 round variant. There is some variation in modern sources with naming of the variant numbers. The design actually used a similar amount of stamped sheet metal parts for its day as some other weapons, but is unique in that had a folding metal stock with plastic furniture rather than wood stock. Among the era's submachineguns, the design was about average and was neither the cheapest, most reliable or most powerful but was regarded as satisfactory overall. The gun had relatively low recoil even fired fully automatic. This is due to its slower rate of fire. Nevertheless, it gave the weapon a respectable accuracy compared to the American Thompson submachine gun. Near the end of the war for example, a few thousand Sten SMGs were made by Nazi Germany, since they were cheaper to produce. The weapons magazine spring were found to wear out very quickly, and cause jams if loaded fully with 32 rounds so they were nearly always loaded with 1-2 rounds left out, giving a capacity of 30. At one point a double magazine was also experimented with 64 round capacity, with the double magazine being slid horizontally to use one magazine and then the next; the weapon was trialed on the eastern front but did not prove a success, as the design was cumbersome. It was designed primarily to combat the Soviet PPSh-41, but it was found it was easier to salvage the Soviet gun and its ammo. The MP40 had an overall length of 833 mm, though its retracting stock could allow the weapon to shorten to 630 mm. The odd 'spur' near the end of the barrel was designed to allow the troops to hook the MP40 onto the firing ports of armoured personnel carriers, such as the Sdkfz 251 half-track. half-track

Variants and developments


- MP41: Technically different from the MP40 even though it looked similar. A wooden stocked weapon used by police units.
- MP40/I - main production version
- MP40/II - experiment with a 64 round magazine. In the 1930s, its precursor weapon was developed. Though it was informally known as EMP 36, it was a factory prototype, not a deployed military weapon.

MP40s in films

Unlike the impression given by films (particularly 'Where Eagles Dare'), television series and pulp novels, MP40s were typically only issued to platoon and squad leaders, the majority of soldiers carrying Karabiner 98k rifles. The MP40 was often called the Schmeisser, after weapons designer Hugo Schmeisser. Although the name was evocative, Hugo Schmeisser himself did not design the MP40, but helped with the design of the MP41, which was effectively a MP40 with an old-fashioned wooden rifle stock, and the Sturmgewehr 44. Also, Schmeisser did not work for Erma, but for Haenel.

See also


- List of submachine guns
- List of common World War II infantry weapons
- List of World War II firearms of Germany

External links


- [http://www.smallarmsreview.com/january.htm Small Arms Review: The MP36 The Missing Link]
- [http://www.nazarian.no/wep.asp?id=140&group_id=4&country_id=60&lang=0 Nazarian`s Gun`s Recognition Guide on MP-38 / 40] Category:Submachine guns Category:World War II German infantry weapons Category:World War II submachine guns ms:MP40 ja:エルマ・ベルケMP40短機関銃

.45 ACP

The .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) pistol cartridge was designed by firearms designer John Browning. Based upon his earlier .380 ACP pistol cartridge, the .45 ACP was introduced along with Colt M1911 pistol adopted by the US Army in 1911. The round was later used in several submachine guns.

Design

submachine gunThe US Cavalry, based on testing in battle, decided that existing .38 caliber pistol cartridges appearing in the early 1900s were not adequate to replace the current cavalry revolver, a .45 Colt Single Action Army. The US Cavalry demanded stopping power similar to the .45 Colt cartridge (sometimes erroneously called the ".45 Long Colt"). Colt had been working with Browning on a .41 caliber cartridge in 1904, and in 1905 when the Cavalry asked for a .45 caliber equivalent, Colt modified the pistol design to fire a .45 caliber version of the prototypical .41 caliber round. The original round that passed the testing fired a 200 grain (13 g) bullet at 900 ft/s (275 m/s), but was later changed to a 230 grain (15 g) bullet at about 850 ft/s (260 m/s). The resulting .45 ACP cartridge is similar in performance to the .45 S&W cartridge, and thus slightly less powerful than the .45 Colt cartridge.

Performance

The result is one of the world's most effective combat pistol cartridges, one that combines very good accuracy and stopping power for use against human targets. The cartridge also has relatively low muzzle blast and flash, as well as moderate recoil. Like most pistol cartridges, it is a low-velocity round, and thus not effective against body armour. Another drawback for large-scale military operations is the bullet's large size and greater material costs in manufacturing compared to the 9 mm Luger cartridge. Even in its full metal jacket form the .45 ACP cartridge has a reputation for effectiveness against human targets, because its large bullet creates a deep and substantial wound channel. Hollow-point configurations increase the expansion and energy-transfer potential of the round. Being a moderate-powered round on the energy scale, .45 ACP bullets have little tendency to overpenetrate, which otherwise results when a projectile passes through an intended target with enough velocity to injure another person. The combination of stopping power and controlled penetration makes the .45 ACP practical for police use. Many US hostage rescue teams prefer the .45 ACP because of these qualities. Today most of the US military uses the 9 mm Parabellum cartridge, but the accuracy of the .45 ACP cartridge has ensured its continued popularity with large caliber sport shooters. Many US Special forces and police units (such as the Army's Delta Force, Navy Seals and Air Force Para Rescue) still use this round in the form of modified 1911A1s and Heckler und Koch's SOCOM Mk. 23s and USP Tacticals.

Muzzle velocity


- 14.7 g (230 gr) Full Metal Jacket: 260 m/s (860 ft/s)
- 11.9 g (185 gr) CCI/Speer Gold Dot JHP (from 5in (127 mm) barrel): 317 m/s (1041 ft/s)
- 14.7 g (230 gr) Federal Hi-Shok JHP (from 5 in (127 mm) barrel): 260 m/s (860 ft/s) + P loads
- 11.9 g (185 gr) JHP: 350 m/s (1150 ft/s)
- 14.7 g (230 gr) JHP: 290 m/s (950 ft/s)

Load variants

Several manufacturers market pre-loaded .45 ACP rounds in sizes ranging from 117 to 230 grains (8 to 15 g), with the most popular commercial load being the standard military loading of a 230 grain (15 g) FMJ bullet at around 850 ft/s (260 m/s). Specialty rounds are available in weights under 100 grains (6.5 g) and over 260 grains (16.8 g); popular rounds among reloaders and target shooters include 185 and 230 grain (12 and 15 g) bullets. Hollowpoint rounds intended for maximum effectiveness against live targets are designed to expand upon impact with soft tissue, both increasing the energy transferred from the round to the target and enhancing the wound-creating power of the expanded round. Some ammo brands came under fire from anti-gun groups, and are now only sold to qualified law enforcement purchasers.

Synonyms


- .45 Auto
- 11.43 x 23 mm

Weapons using the .45 ACP


- M1911
- HK USP45 (Also Compact, Match, and Tactical variations)
- HK SOCOM Mk. 23
- HK UMP45
- Beretta 8000 Cougar
- Thompson submachine gun
- Reising
- M3 "Grease Gun"
- MAC-10
- M16K
- De Lisle carbine rifle
- FP-45 Liberator
- GLOCK 21, GLOCK 30, GLOCK 36
- Sig P220 (Also R and ST variations)
- S&W .45 Hand Ejector US Service Model of 1917 (US - Revolver - .45 ACP)
- S&W Model 25-2 (Revolver - .45 ACP: Model of 1955 Target)
- S&W Model 625 (US - Revolver - .45 ACP: Model of 1988 .45 Target Stainless)
- S&W Model 625 Mountain Gun (US - Revolver - .45 ACP: Model of 1989 .45 Light Weight 39.5 oz)

See also


- List of firearms
- List of handgun cartridges
- List of rifle cartridges
- List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces

External links


- [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_10_49/ai_107488554 Massad Ayoob's 2003 article on the approaching 100th anniversary of the .45 ACP] 45 ACP

Cartridge (weaponry)

A cartridge or round packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head (centerfire ammunition) or at its rim (rimfire ammunition). Electrically-fired cartridges have also been made; see below. A cartridge without a bullet is called a blank.

Design

The cartridge seals a firing chamber in all directions except down the bore. A firing pin strikes the primer, igniting it. The spark from the primer ignites the powder. Burning gases from the powder expand the case to seal against the chamber wall. The projectile is then pushed in the direction that releases this pressure, down the barrel. After the projectile leaves the barrel the pressure is released and the cartridge case is pulled out of the chamber. Critical specifications include its caliber, bullet weight, expected velocity, maximum pressure, headspace, overall length and primer type. The diameter of a bullet is measured either as a decimal fraction of an inch, or in millimeters. The length of a cartridge case may also be designated in millimeters. Where two numbers are together, the first is typically the diameter of the barrel's lands (or sometimes the diameter of the bullet itself), and the second is the length of the cartridge case. For example, the 7.62 x 51 mm uses a bore diameter of 7.62 mm and has an overall case length of 51 mm. Most high-powered guns have relatively small bullets moving at high speeds. This is because bullet energy increases proportionately to bullet weight and as the square of velocity. Therefore, a bullet going twice as fast has four times the energy (see physics of firearms). Bullet speeds are now limited by starting bore pressures, which in turn are limited by the strength of materials and the weight of gun people are willing to carry. Larger cartridges have more powder, and usually higher velocities. The lethality of pistol ammunition is not limited by the ammunition, but by the accuracy and doctrine of the shooter. Rounds with these energies have insufficient momentum to knock people down (the recoil would break wrists), and move too slowly to cause significant hydrostatic shock.

Centerfire

Of the hundreds of different designs and developments that occurred, essentially only two basic differences remain. All current (civilian) firearms are either rimfire or centerfire. The military is still trying to perfect electrical firing, which does away with the primer. Centerfire uses a centrally located primer, which, in most cartridges used by civilians, can be replaced, so that the expensive brass cartridge cases can be reused. This is called Boxer primed. The military uses a very similar system, called Berdan priming, which is fractionally cheaper, but prevents the case from being easily re-used. With care, they can be reloaded, however, and are easier for guerillas/terrorists to reload, as the new "primer" can be as simple as a bit of tin can and a match head, unlike the multi-stage process required for making a boxer primer.

Rimfire

Rimfire, of which only the popular .22 LR remains in common use, was a popular solution before the centerfire design was fully perfected. It can only be used for fairly low powered cartridges, as the case has to be soft enough to be deformed by the firing pin, which detonates the priming compound in the rim. In the past, 9 mm cartridges were available, as well as .177, .25, etc. cartridges. BB and CB caps were common, as well as .22 Short and .22 Long. Today, .22 LR (Long Rifle) easily accounts for over 99% of all rimfire ammunition shot. Recently, a .177 rimfire cartridge was released, but whether it catches on is another matter. Rimfire rounds are normally a soft lead bullet, and can be supersonic or subsonic. They are often gilded with copper to try to keep lead off the hands of the shooter, since it is a low-level poison.

Cartridges in use

copper There is great variety in the length and diameter of cartridges for the different kinds and calibres of rifles and pistols. The best cartridge for different purposes is subject to much discussion. However there are standard uses for certain calibres, and these are a reliable guide to recommended uses. It is important to note that equivalent caliber is by no means equivalent power. Generally speaking, "stopping power" is determined by the weight of the bullet, the terminal ballistics of the bullet -- does it stay straight and in one piece, tumble, or "mushroom" on impact -- and the charge of gunpowder accelerating it. For example, a .22 pistol round is almost exactly the same caliber as a .223 Remington (5.56 x 45 mm NATO) rifle round, but the .223 is vastly more powerful. The following list samples only a few very well-known cartridges; for a complete list, see List of cartridges (weaponry), pistol and rifle. The list is roughly ordered by cartridge power.
- .22 Long Rifle or .22LR cartridge is used for target shooting and hunting. Despite the name, it is used in some target pistols.
- 9 mm can refer to a variety of pistol cartridges, but most commonly it means 9 x 19 mm "Luger" or "Parabellum". It is used in a variety of automatic handguns and submachine guns, though law enforcement and military users are moving away due to its poor penetration against body armor.
- 7.62 x 39 mm cartridges are used in the Kalashnikov AK-47. This is the most fired cartridge in history. Kalashnikov did not invent the "medium power" automatic rifle cartridge, but it brought the concept into practical mass-production.
- 5.56 x 45 mm is NATO's standard assault rifle and light machine gun cartridge. It is a military adaptation of the .223 Remington.
- 7.62 x 51 mm is NATO's standard sniper rifle and medium machine gun cartridge. In the 1950's it was the standard NATO cartridge for rifles, but recoil and weight proved problematic for the new assault rifles designs such as the FN FAL. It is itself derived from:
- .30-06, (approx 7.7 mm) the standard US Army rifle cartridge for the first half of the 20th century. It is a "full-power" rifle cartridge suitable for hunting medium sized game. It was most famously used in the M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle.
- .50 Browning Machine Gun is used in heavy machine guns and super-high-powered sniper rifles by NATO armies. Such rifles are intended for destroying military matériel such as sensitive parts of helicopters and aircraft. Civilian enthusiasts use them for long-distance target-shooting. : See also: List of cartridges (weaponry), pistol and rifle

History

The original cartridge for military small arms dates from 1586. It consisted of a charge of powder and a bullet in a paper tube. Thick paper is still known as cartridge paper from its use in these cartridges. This cartridge was used with the muzzle-loading military firearm, the base of the cartridge being ripped or bitten off by the soldier, the powder poured into the barrel, and the bullet then rammed home. Before the invention of the firelock or flint-lock, about 1635, the priming was originally put into the pan of the wheel-lock and snaphance muskets from a flask containing a fine-grained powder called serpentine powder. Later the pan was filled from the cartridge above described before loading. The mechanism of the flint-lock musket, in which the pan was covered by the furrowed steel struck by the flint, rendered this method of priming unnecessary, as, in loading, a portion of the charge of powder passed from the barrel through the vent into the pan, where it was held by the cover and hammer. The next important advance in the method of ignition was the introduction of the copper percussion cap. This was only generally applied to the British military musket (the Brown Bess) in 1842, a quarter of a century after the invention of percussion powder and after an elaborate government test at Woo