U.S. patent number 3,599,568 [Application Number 04/444,142] was granted by the patent office on 1971-08-17 for long-range shotshell.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation. Invention is credited to Earl R. Jenkins, Richard J. Shellnutt.
United States Patent |
3,599,568 |
Shellnutt , et al. |
August 17, 1971 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
LONG-RANGE SHOTSHELL
Abstract
A cartridge including a casing, said casing having a base at one
end and a mouth at the other end, a propellant in said casing
adjacent said base, ignition means to ignite said propellant, wad
means positioned over said propellant, a projectile-surrounding
member adjacent said wad means, a plurality of elongated
projectiles arranged in said member and extending substantially
longitudinally of said casing, filler means dispersed in and
occupying the spaces between said projectiles to maintain the
projectiles in a predetermined arrangement and control the
dispersion of the projectiles, and a closure closing said
mouth.
Inventors: |
Shellnutt; Richard J.
(Northford, CT), Jenkins; Earl R. (Clinton, CT) |
Assignee: |
Olin Mathieson Chemical
Corporation (N/A)
|
Family
ID: |
23763675 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/444,142 |
Filed: |
March 31, 1965 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
102/455; 355/67;
102/703 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F42B
7/04 (20130101); F42B 10/08 (20130101); F42B
5/03 (20130101); Y10S 102/703 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F42B
7/00 (20060101); F42B 7/04 (20060101); F42B
10/00 (20060101); F42B 10/08 (20060101); F42b
007/02 (); F42b 013/16 () |
Field of
Search: |
;102/42,42C,38,50,92.5,93,43P,95 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Stahl; Robert F.
Claims
What we claim is:
1. A cartridge including a casing, said casing having a base at one
end and a mouth at the other end, a propellant in said casing
adjacent said base, ignition means to ignite said propellant, wad
means positioned over said propellant, a projectile-surrounding
member adjacent said wad means, a plurality of elongated
projectiles arranged in said member and extending substantially
longitudinally of said casing, filler means dispersed in and
occupying the spaces between said projectiles to maintain the
projectiles in a predetermined arrangement and control the
dispersion of the projectiles and a closure closing said mouth.
2. The cartridge of claim 1 in which said filler means is a
granular substance.
3. The cartridge of claim 1 in which said projectiles are arranged
in said casing in a pattern including an outer circular row, the
projectiles in said circular row being canted inwardly at an angle
relative to the longitudinal axis of said cartridge.
4. The cartridge of claim 1 in which said projectiles are arranged
in said casing in two concentric circular rows, an outer row
including a plurality of projectiles each canted inwardly toward
the central axis of said casing and an inner row including a
plurality of projectiles axially aligned with the casing.
5. The cartridge of claim 1 in which said member is an open-ended
cup including a sidewall and base, said cup having a plurality of
slits extending longitudinally through the sidewall and into the
base to divide said cup into a plurality of sections hinged
centrally of the base.
6. The cartridge of claim 5 in which said projectiles each have an
elongated body, a pointed nose and a plurality of fins, said fins
being canted at a slight angle to increase the stability of said
projectile.
7. The cartridge of claim 1 in which said wad means and said member
are a single integral unit molded from plastic.
8. The cartridge of claim 1 in which said closure is an integral
closure formed by infolding the sidewall adjacent the mouth of the
casing and the base of the casing is formed integral with the
sidewall.
9. A long-range shotshell type cartridge comprising a casing, a
propellant charge in said casing, wad means positioned over said
propellant including a flanged obturating wad having a skirt
portion directed toward said propellant, a cup-shaped
projectile-carrying member positioned over said wad means, said
cup-shaped member having a sidewall and a base, a plurality of
slits extending through said sidewall and into said base to allow
said member to separate into a plurality of segments as it leaves
the barrel of a firearm, a plurality of elongated finned
projectiles positioned in said cup in a predetermined arrangement,
at least some of said projectiles being canted inwardly toward the
axis of said casing, a filler dispersed in and filling the spaces
between said projectiles to maintain said arrangement until the
projectiles leave the gun barrel, and a layer of said filler means
in a space formed between the ends of said projectiles and a
closure of said casing to facilitate opening said closure.
10. The cartridge of claim 9 in which said filler is granulated
polyethylene.
11. The cartridge of claim 9 in which said slits divide said member
into four pie-shaped segments connected centrally of the base.
12. The cartridge of claim 9 in which said projectiles are arranged
in two concentric rows, the projectiles in the outer row being
canted inwardly toward the axis of said casing and the projectiles
in the inner row being axially aligned with the casing.
Description
This invention relates to a long-range shotshell.
This invention, more specifically, relates to a shotshell having an
effective range two or more times greater than the range of a
conventional shotshell.
To obtain this increased range, the shotshell of this invention is
provided with elongated, needlelike finned projectiles in place of
the ordinary round shot normally found in conventional shotshells.
These elongated projectiles are positioned in a protective cup
placed inside the shotshell casing. A filler material is dispersed
in the spaces between the individual projectiles to hold the
projectiles in a predetermined orientation as they are driven down
the barrel of a shotgun or the like.
This invention will now be described in detail with a reference to
the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a long-range shotshell made in
accordance with this invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of the barrel-protecting cup member
used in the shotshell embodiment shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a top-plan view of the cup member shown in FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of a projectile used in the
shotshell of this invention.
FIG. 6 shows an alternate embodiment of this invention, utilizing
an integral wad structure.
FIG. 7 shows an integral wad and cup structure which can be used
with this invention.
Referring to the drawings, and particularly FIG. 1, we show a
shotshell formed according to this invention and including a
tubular casing 1 formed from paper or rigid polyethylene. A
cup-shaped metallic head 2 is fixed to base 3 of casing 1. A wound
base wad 4 is compressed into the base 3 to frictionally retain
base 3 in metallic head 2. A primer opening 5 is formed in the
metallic head 2 and the base wad 4 communicating with the interior
of the casing. A primer 6 is positioned in said primer opening. A
charge of propellant powder 7 is positioned above the base wad.
Positioned over the powder charge is a cup wad 8 and filler wad
structure 9. Positioned over the filler wad 9 is a
projectile-carrying cup 10.
As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cup 10 is preferably cut into four
pie-shaped sections, 11, 12, 13, and 14, by four slits which extend
longitudinally through the sidewall and into the bottom of the cup
leaving only a portion 15 uncut to hold the cup together. It has
been found that this configuration allows the cup to separate
immediately from the projectiles 16 as the cup 10 and projectiles
16 emerge from the gun barrel without imparting any canting force
to the projectile, which will affect the stability and the
dispersion patterns of the projectiles. The cup 10 may be cut to
provide fewer than or more than four sections so long as the cup
readily separates from the projectiles upon leaving the gun
barrel.
As seen in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the projectiles 16 are preferably
loaded into the shotshell in two concentric rows. The projectiles
in the outer row are preferably canted inwardly at an angle of
approximately 15.degree. (included angle) with the finned ends
adjacent the sidewall of the cup 10 and the tips 17 of the
projectiles brought together to form an outer circle as seen in
FIG. 2. The inner row of projectiles are positioned axially aligned
with the casing. This arrangement has been found to be preferable
in providing a tighter dispersion pattern than the alternate
arrangement of positioning all the projectiles axially aligned with
the shotshell casing.
As seen in FIG. 1, a filler 18, such as granulated polyethylene, is
dispersed in the spaces existing between the projectiles. The
filler holds the projectiles in a predetermined alignment in the
casing and maintains the alignment as they travel down the barrel
of the firearm. The filler is very helpful in maintaining
controlled dispersion of the projectiles since it holds them in a
predetermined alignment as they emerge from the muzzle of the
barrel. A metallic disc 19 is positioned in the bottom of the cup
10 to prevent the projectile fins 20 from cutting into the bottom
of the cup member 10 as the projectiles 16 are accelerated out of
the cartridge casing.
The mouth 21 of the cartridge casing is closed by infolding to
provide a well-known and conventional integral closure 22.
It should be noted that when the projectiles are loaded in the
casing, a space exists between the closure and the tips of the
projectiles. This space is also filled with filler 18. This
provides a cushioning layer of material between the closure 22 and
projectiles which acts to open the closure upon firing of the
cartridge. This arrangement prevents the pointed tips 17 of the
projectiles from becoming embedded in the closure and interfering
with the dispersion pattern of the shotshell as it is fired.
Referring now to FIG. 5, we show an enlarged view of the projectile
16 used in this invention. The projectile 16 includes a pointed tip
17 at one end, an elongated body 23 and a plurality of fins 20
formed integral with or secured to the other end. Preferably, four
fins are provided on each projectile. The fins 20 are canted at a
slight angle relative to a normal angle to increase the flight
stability of the projectile. A canted angle of about 1.degree.25'
has been found satisfactory.
Referring now to FIG. 6, we show a long-range shotshell similar to
the embodiment of FIG. 1 but varying in certain details. The casing
30 shown in FIG. 6 is a plastic casing of the type disclosed in
U.S. Pat. No. 3,171,350, having a tubular body portion 31 of high
tensile strength and integral head portion 32.
The casing 30 of FIG. 6 requires no separate base wad and is
provided with a conventional primer 33. A powder charge 34 is
located inside the casing, adjacent to the shell primer. An
over-powder wad 8', filler was 9', disc 19' and projectile-carrying
cup 10' are provided in casing 30, which are structurally and
functionally the same as those shown in the FIG. 1 embodiment.
Projectiles 16 are shown positioned in casing 30 all axially
aligned with respect to the sidewall of the casing. While this
arrangement of the projectiles may not be as effective under all
firing conditions as the canted arrangement shown in the embodiment
of FIG. 1, it does provide a satisfactory and workable
arrangement.
As in the FIG. 1 embodiment, a granulated filler is positioned in
the casing in the spaces provided between the projectiles and over
the projectiles between the tips and the shell closure. The mouth
of the casing 30 is closed by infolding in the same manner as the
casing shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 7 is shown an integral wad and projectile-carrying cup
member 40 which can be used in place of the separate over-powder
wad, filler wad, and projectile-carrying cup described above.
Member 40 includes an obturating skirt portion 41, a filler portion
42, and a projectile-carrying cup portion 43. The cup 43 is
provided with slits 44 which allow the cup to open up and release
the projectiles as they leave the gun muzzle.
Of course, any combination of elements which function as an
over-powder wad, filler wad, and projectile-enclosing cup is
contemplated. In some instances, it is even contemplated that the
filler wad or its equivalent structure may be eliminated should it
be desired to provide space for longer projectiles or other
reasons.
A sample, made in accordance with this invention, comprising five
rounds, each having 20 projectiles, and fired at 150 yards, had an
extreme spread of the 10 closest projectiles of 60.6 inches.
At 150 yards the projectiles were moving with a velocity sufficient
to cause penetration through at least one side of an infantryman's
helmet.
This is at least twice the effective range which can be achieved
with buckshot or regular shot.
While this invention has been described in detail with reference to
certain preferred embodiments, it is understood that variations and
design changes are contemplated which are within the spirit and
scope of the appended claims.
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