I learned something new about Cordite!

[JRD]

Cordite is not a canister grade powder for reloaders, nor has it been used for a couple generations, but it is interesting to me and I learned something new about cordite loading a moment ago that I have to share.

I had read years ago that cordite lengths were placed into a straight walled .303 case prior to forming the neck, but in this video at 1:54 it shows cordite being loaded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXNXUpOozDg

Cordite came wound on spools and was trimmed to length on the fly before being loaded into the case. Also notice the strands required to fill the case are all wound together. I suppose varying the charge weight was done by adjusting the trim length.

I hope you guys find it as amusing as I did when made the observation.

Jason

[MUSTANG]

Years ago I read that England during WWII was having house wives and single women loading at home. They had primed cases, cordite and FMJ bullets provided and they cut inserted the cordite and seated the FMJ bullets at home. Have not seen this reference in 30 to 40 years; but remember reading about it.

[sharps4590]

Ha! How cool izzat?!?!? I'd always heard the same as you, about how cordite was loaded. Boy, if you were going to catch all that was going on you had to watch close. Sure ain't like "How It's Made"....lol!

[buckwheatpaul]

It was fascinating to watch....very complex for that time!

[farmbif]

I want some of that stuff, love the way they seat all those bullets at the same time.

[higgins]

I don't believe a machine could feed cordite into a case that had been necked; I believe they just neglected to mention the step where the case is necked down. I have broken down several British military .303 rounds for various reasons. The cordite is packed in the case tight enough that I had to get pointed tweezers and pull a couple of strands out before they would fall out on their own. they also didn't show the card wad being placed on top of the cordite, so don't assume every step was included in the film. I don't know whether velocity was regulated by the number of sticks of cordite or the length of the sticks, but what little Mk7 ball I have chronographed was more than close enough to 2440 fps for government work.

Cordite was also used in artillery. Years ago I saw in a documentary about Gallipoli divers bringing up strands of artillery cordite that had been submerged since WWI. It looked like wooden dowels covered in the crud that grows on things in the sea. When wiped off and left in the sun to dry for a bit It would burn like unconfined gunpowder should.

[Ohio686]

Thanks for sharing that video. Very neat to watch.

[Thumbcocker]

Cordite did what the British wanted it to do for a long time.

[MT Gianni]

When a novelist writes about the smell of cordite you can almost bet that the ammo was loaded in the 1930's or he/she has no clue.

[MUSTANG]

According to Citations on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordite


Close-up of cordite filaments in a .303 British Rifle cartridge (manufactured in 1964).


Production ceased in the United Kingdom around the end of the 20th century, with the closure of the last of the World War II cordite factories, ROF Bishopton.

[Texas by God]

A toothpick dispenser for a powder trickler?

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[higgins]

When a novelist writes about the smell of cordite you can almost bet that the ammo was loaded in the 1930's or he/she has no clue.

Most of them have no clue. They think cordite is just another word for any type of gunpowder. Same as calling any soft point bullet a "dum dum". Sounds impressive, and they think it means any old soft point bullet - not ones made at a specific arsenal long ago in India (I think).

[Thumbcocker]

Most of them have no clue. They think cordite is just another word for any type of gunpowder. Same as calling any soft point bullet a "dum dum". Sounds impressive, and they think it means any old soft point bullet - not ones made at a specific arsenal long ago in India (I think).

Yup. And for decades after "The Maltese Falcon" was written every handgun was an "automatic revolver".

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[15meter]

Yup. And for decades after "The Maltese Falcon" was written every handgun was an "automatic revolver".

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But there is an automatic revolver...................


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webley...matic_Revolver


Plus a few others.

[Thumbcocker]

But there is an automatic revolver...................


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webley...matic_Revolver


Plus a few others.

Never said there wasn't or that I didn't know what it was.

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[gunther]

Just happened to watch part of "The Maltese Falcon" last night. Bogey hit all the buttons for the description of a Webley Fosbery 45 automatic revolver. Never have seen one, but the photos I've seen make them out to be ungainly and big. And overly complicated. The gal who shot Sam Spade's partner would have needed both hands to manage one of those.

[Thumbcocker]

I think Ian did a review on forgotten weapons.

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[LIMPINGJ]

gunther here’s a gal shooting one with one hand.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=G8UT4PVfkpo&feature=share

[desi23]

Cordite is interesting stuff. Some years ago I wound up with a large quantity of military 303 that had been under water. The clips had rusted onto the cases and it was being disposed of as scrap. I started out breaking the ammo down for the bullets but discovered that the military grade sealant had worked and the inside of the cases were clean and dry. A couple whacks with an impact puller would dislodge the cordite and wad. I decided to try reloading the charges into new brass. It was easy to drop most of the charge in then shove the individual sticks remaining in most of the way. The eraser end of a pencil worked to seat the cordite completely followed by the wad. The bullet could then be seated with my press.

I found they shot nicely, no pressure signs and decent accuracy. Non corrosive primers shortened clean up time too. After that little experiment I tore all the rest of them down (took a while, there were @ 2000 rounds in the lot). I determined the actual charge weight of the cordite loads as it was the easiest way to get the right amount when working from loose cordite. Simply fed them onto the scale till the weight was right then loaded them. I've shot up most of it since but still have enough left for @ 300 rounds if I feel the need to load some (have 200 loaded up sitting in a can already). They do take a little extra time to load but I usually have more time than money anyway.

[GONRA]

GONRA remembers a few "Webley Fosbery .455 automatic revolvers" on the surplus market decades ago.
Golden State Arms or Martin B. Retting?
Big clunky pistols. Believe Brits used 'em a little?
Don't have one in my Reference Collection to eyeball / shoot.....