What and how are bullets for rifled weapons made of? Currently, the industry produces a very large number of various types of ammunition. Previously, almost all cartridges were made as carbon paper and had a very simple design, but today the technology for the production of small arms and cartridges has gone far ahead. It is no exaggeration to say that the most talented designers and inventors are involved in the military-industrial complex, and their activities are very well funded, which, of course, is bearing fruit.
A bit of history
The prototype of the bullet was an ordinary stone. Someone may be surprised, but it really is. It was with this "shell" that the ancient people killed wild animals, getting their own food. Only after many, many millennia, an unknown inventor came up with how to increase the destructive power of a stone. People began to use sling. The stone, which was untwisted on a leather belt, flew with much greater speed than the stone, which was thrown by hand. What were bullets made in those days? As such, there was no weapons production yet. "Bullets" (they are stones) gathered from the surface of the earth and set to work.
Only in the tenth century AD, firearms appeared. Its homeland is Ancient China, where it was first used in the conventional sense of the bullet for us. What was the gun made of? The inventor used bamboo as a barrel - a fairly strong material. According to some reports, bamboo during tensile testing can withstand ten times greater load than steel of ordinary quality. Many are also interested in what bullets were made of at that time. Surprisingly, in those days, bullets cast from lead. This material, like many others (for example, antimony, tin), has been known to mankind since ancient times. And ancient people appreciated the properties of lead, namely its low melting point.
Small arms have undergone a significant evolution. In April 2013, an event took place in Russia that thundered around the world and marked a new milestone in the development of weapons production technologies. This is a statement by representatives of the Ministry of Defense about the abandonment of lead tracer bullets and the transition to the use of armor-piercing shells with a steel tip.
Migne bullet
Captain Mignet, a citizen of France, became famous for his invention all over the world back in 1848. In those days, people already had an idea about rifled weapons, but it did not have wide popularity. The main reason for this was charging problems: in order to impart rotation to the bullet while it is moving along the barrel, one very important condition must be observed - the bullet must fit snugly against the inner spiral wall.
How did the captain solve this problem? What did he make bullets from? All ingenious is simple. Mignier proposed an original way to solve the problem: to install a steel core on the back of a lead bullet. When gunpowder detonated gunpowder by a shock wave, the core was driven into a lead tip, which led to an increase in its diameter to the dimensions necessary to produce a high-quality shot.
The appearance of a cartridge with a sleeve
A little more time passed, and the Mignet bullet was replaced by a cartridge with a sleeve. What did bullets with a sleeve be made of? The damaging element itself was still (and remains in many cases today) from the usual lead. A variety of materials could be used to make the liner. Thanks to this invention, it became possible to load weapons not from the barrel, but from the breech.
Cartridge Design Elements
In combat and hunting weapons, so-called unitary cartridges are used. A mandatory attribute of such a shell is a metal sleeve. It connects all the constituent elements into the cartridge: capsule, charge (gunpowder) and the bullet itself.
What are shells made of? The main material for the production of live ammunition is brass. Hunting cartridges can be used many times, such products are made of plastic (wall) and brass (capsule). But hunters often use shots rather than bullets.
Ordinary bullet device
A bullet is the main and most important component of a weapon. It is she who is a striking element. The whole variety of cartridges can be divided into two classes: cartridges with an ordinary bullet and cartridges with bullets of a special design and purpose.
What material are bullets made of? Their device is actually not as simple as it might seem at first glance. We say with confidence that the modern bullet is a masterpiece of engineering.
Ordinary bullets (for hitting open targets and unprotected enemy forces) consist of the following elements: shell, core and shirt. In most cases, the material is lead, although there are alternative materials that can replace lead.
What is the function of the bullet core for the machine? What are they made of? The answer is simple: the core is introduced into the structure to increase the breakdown power of the ammunition, and the material is steel with high hardness.
The device of special bullets
Ammunition for special purposes is usually divided into bullets of a single and combined principle of action. The first include tracer, incendiary, explosive, armor-piercing and other bullets. However, at present, preference is given to dual-use ammunition: armor-piercing tracer, armor-piercing incendiary and others.
Bullets of this class can be used in a variety of weapons, ranging from anti-aircraft guns and ending with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. What are bullets made for carrying out special tasks? The design of such cartridges is more complicated compared to conventional ammunition.
So, a bullet for conducting tracer fire, in addition to a steel core and a shirt, has a tracer, thanks to which the bullet’s flight path is visible in the dark. Incendiary materials contain a substance that ignites when a bullet enters the gap as a result of compression of the cavity and heating.
How and what pneumatic bullets are made of
Bullet material for airguns is ordinary lead. It is this material that allows you to achieve optimal performance, as it is heavy and easily deformed.
But with production technology, everything is not as simple as it seems. Bullets for airguns can be obtained by casting, cold stamping, and rolling. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.
These bullets are subject to very stringent quality requirements. In accordance with international standards, bullets of one batch should not have a weight difference of more than 0.005 grams. To achieve such accuracy is quite difficult, given the small size of the product and the fast pace of production.