Towards a “600 m” lightweight General Purpose Cartridge, v2015 Emeric DANIAU, DGA Techniques Terrestres, Bourges.
[email protected] Additions and modifications in red, compared to previous version. Part one: the long trend in Individual Weapons From the beginning of small-arms to the 19th century, the development of hand-held weapons was driven by the need i) to increase the safety and reliability ii) to increase the practical range and iii) to increase the practical rate of fire. Safety and reliability was the first field of improvement, with the introduction of the matchlock, flintlock and percussion caps, along with improved quality controls for the black powder. Evolution of the individual weapon's practical range, against a 1.6 m standing man in average wind conditions, and practical rate of fire (RoF) is given in Figure 1. Weapons that actually entered into service are symbolized by a green dot and a black label; unsuccessful programs are symbolized by a red tag and a red label and will be detailed in this paper because unsuccessful programs provide valuable information. 1909 Rifle Program Mle 1917 Mle 49 Mle 1898D FSA 7.62 mm Mle 1907-15 FAMAS 1979 Mle 1886M 1985 MSD rifle PUC600 Mle 1866 PUC300 Mle 1874 1917-1918 Ribeyrolles carbine Mle 1857 Figure 1: Evolution of the range and rate of fire of individual weapons used by the French army during the last 150 years 1 The pre WWI industrial era After the rifled barrel came into general use, there was little to do to increase the practical range apart from increasing the muzzle velocity (a solid way to reduce the projectile time of flight to the target).