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Special pages :
Cartridge
| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 22 January 1858 |
Reproduced from The New American Cyclopaedia
Source : Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 18
Cartridge, a paper, parchment, or flannel case or bag containing the exact quantity of gunpowder used for the charge of a fire-arm, and to which, in some instances, the projectile is attached. Blank cartridge, for small arms, does not contain a bullet; ball cartridge does. In all small-arm cartridge the paper is used as a wad, and rammed down. The cartridge for the French Minié and British Enfield rifle is steeped in grease at one end, so as to facilitate ramming down. That of the Prussian needle gun contains also the fulminating composition exploded by the action of the needle.[1]Cartridges for cannon are generally made of flannel or other light woollen cloth. In some services, those for field service at least have the projectile attached to the cartridge by means of a wooden bottom whenever practicable; and the French have partially introduced this system even into their naval service. The British still have cartridge and shot separated, in field as well as in naval and siege artillery.
An ingenious method of making paper cartridges without seams has been lately introduced into the royal arsenal, Woolwich, England. Metallic cylindrical hollow moulds, just large enough for a cartridge to slip over, are perforated with a multitude of small holes, and being introduced into the soft pulp of which cartridge paper is made, and then connected with an exhausted receiver of an air-pump, are immediately covered with a thin layer of the pulp. This, on being dried, is a complete paper tube. The moulds are arranged many together; and each one is provided with a worsted cover, like the finger of a glove, upon which the pulp collects, and this being taken off with it serves as the lining with which the best cartridges are provided.
A kind of cartridge is in use for sporting pieces, made of a network of wire containing the shot only. It is included in an outer case of paper. The charge of shot is mixed with bone dust to give compactness. When the piece is fired, the shot are carried along to a much greater distance without scattering than if charged in any other way.
- ↑ On the Minié and Enfield rifles and the needle gun see Engels' work The History of the Rifle in this volume.— Ed.