Explosive bullets - bullets with an explosive charge (EX), initiated when a bullet hits a target or after a certain period of time after a shot. Pentrite ( TEN ), RDX, and other explosives are usually used for the main charge; TNT is used less often, since its energy is insufficient in such a small volume; may contain only incendiary composition ( phosphorus , termite , etc.), ignited by the igniter capsule. They are completely destroyed when hit even in relatively weak objects: tarpaulin, plywood, tree branches, etc.
It should be noted that the term "explosive bullet" at the colloquial level is often applied to any bullets that are prohibited for use in hostilities, and in addition to actually explosive bullets it is also used for expansive and fragmenting bullets, which, strictly speaking, is incorrect. Examples of applying explosive to passively collapsing bullets can also be found in English literature. However, the possibility of the complete destruction of expansive bullets differs little from that of a conventional non-shell - the very first known variant of a bullet. In addition, these types of bullets are divorced by Russian law in the "Law on Weapons": its article 5 explicitly prohibits the use of explosive bullets in the civilian sector (self-defense weapons, sports, hunting), but at the same time expansive bullets are specified separately in the criminalistic requirements of the federal district and more often All allowed for hunting. Therefore, the application of this name to expansive bullets should be recognized as incorrect.
In domestic reference books and specialized literature on ammunition, the term "explosive bullet" applies only to bullets with an explosive charge. Early explosive bullets were usually divided into "shock" and actually explosive. The former contained only the impact composition (such as the filling of the capsule) and were simpler in design. The second contained initiating ( capsule ) and explosive ( blasting explosive ) charges. During the First World War, “shock” bullets ceased to be used due to increased danger in circulation. Today, explosive bullets include mainly various types of ammunition of instant action (MD) and sighting (P). In addition, since the explosion power of a rifle bullet is not large enough against protected targets, the explosive charge is very often supplemented by an incendiary composition to expand the damaging factors, which is implemented in bullets of the combined action of PZ, MDZ, ZMDBCh. Explosive rifle caliber bullets found the most widespread use in the fight against aviation during the First World War, and are used to a limited extent in aviation to this day. As far as is known, pistol bullets containing explosives have never been mass-produced, although experimental samples exist.
Prohibition of the use of explosive bullets during hostilities
On May 4, 1868, Minister of War Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin addressed a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and State Chancellor Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov asking for assistance in organizing an international conference. The aim of the conference was to ban the explosive bullets that the Minister of War found "a purely barbaric means not justified by any military demands." The famous Russian international lawyer Fedor Fedorovich Martens describes the refusal of the Russian Empire to use explosive bullets [1] :
The honor of this undertaking belongs to the Minister of War, Adjutant General Count D.A. Milyutin . The Minister of War’s appeal to the State Chancellor of May 4, 1868 indicates experiments conducted in the Russian and foreign armies with the use of explosive bullets without a capsule, the ignition and rupture of which occurs after hitting an object of low density (for example, bread, carcasses of animals and etc.). In the event of a rupture of such a bullet inside the human body, the wound will be fatal and very painful, since these bullets fly into ten or more fragments. Moreover, the products of combustion of a bursting charge, having a very harmful effect on the human body, make suffering even more painful. Original text (Russian) The honor of this cause belongs to the Minister of War, Adjutant General Count D. A. Milyutin. The relation of the Minister of War to the State Chancellor, dated May 4, 1868, indicates experiments performed in Russian and foreign armies by explosive bullets without a capsule, ignition and rupture of which occur after an impact into an object having insignificant density (e.g. animals, etc.). In the event of a rupture of such a bullet inside a human being, the wound will be fatal and very painful, as these bullets scatter into ten and more fragments. Moreover, the constituent parts of shock gunpowder, acting very harmfully on the human body, increase the suffering completely uselessly. |
Already in November, the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868 approved an international ban on the use of bullets that "have the property of explosives or are equipped with an impact or combustible composition." This ban on the use of explosive and incendiary bullets later, in the Hague conventions and declarations (1899 and 1907) , was also extended to “easily expanding or flattening in the human body” - that is, expansive bullets.
However, these prohibitions only work on the use in hostilities against enemy forces, not limiting the civilian and hunting sectors, and also allowing very free interpretations of the use of enemy equipment in battle. Due to the initial high cost and specifics of application in the civilian market, explosive bullets do not have any significant weight. The production of explosive explosive ordnance has never stopped, but in the vast majority of cases, such bullets are positioned as designed to combat technology.
It is also worth mentioning the attitude to explosive (and expansive) bullets in aviation during the First World War. Usually, at least Germans and even Frenchmen treated captive pilots very nobly, but if explosive or expansive bullets were found in the ammunition of a downed plane, the pilot was shot. Later, the Germans began to supply their pilots with written orders in which the pilot was directly ordered by the superior commander to use such cartridges, respectively, now the pilot was no longer responsible for the prohibited bullets. The French soon adopted this practice, and as a result, explosive bullets were used by both sides. (information from Yu. Halperin "Air Cossack Verdun")
Cartridge Samples
One of the most famous was the British aviation cartridges of the First World War .303 caliber designed by John Pomeroy: PSA Mk I HE and PSA Mk II HE [2] , which exploded directly upon contact with the skin of an airplane or airship. The German aviation “measuring” Luft-Einschiess (LE) cartridges are known which exploded after the moderator was triggered at a distance of 400 m - usually planes are fired from shorter distances, so the bullet exploded after being hit.
Of the domestic cartridges, the most widely known sighting incendiary bullet (PZ) [3] under the cartridge 7.62x54R, which has its own igniter capsule and a small explosive charge with incendiary composition. The typical sample is a “anti-aerostat” cartridge for a 12.7 × 108 large-caliber machine gun with a ZMDBCh (Incendiary Instant High Sensitive) bullet, adopted in 1966. This bullet was the development of the MDZ incendiary bullet, but was intended to explode upon contact with the thinnest shell of balloons, leaving holes in it with an area of 200-300 cm² (hole diameter ~ 16..20 cm). By 1972, a self-liquidator was built into the bullet, but soon they stopped releasing the cartridge in connection with the cessation of flights of American reconnaissance balloons. [four]
An example of a modern sniper cartridge with an explosive bullet is the 12.7x99 mm NATO cartridge with the Raufoss Mk.211 multi-purpose (explosive armor-piercing incendiary) bullet, which is capable of penetrating a lightly armored target and, after penetrating, inflict significant damage on enemy personnel, scattering the incendiary mixture with an explosion.
Application Specifics
First of all, such bullets were used by snipers to destroy charging boxes. Later they began to be used as a measure to increase the reach of fire due to a visible gap and increased lethal force of the bullet at the end. It should be noted that at short and medium distances an explosive bullet is only slightly more efficient than an expansive one, but much more expensive in production. [5] There is evidence that during the Great Patriotic War, explosive bullets were widely used by German jaeger units, since in mountainous conditions it is very difficult to precisely aim at once. Today, the use of explosive bullets against enemy manpower is not only banned, but also considered unjustified, since all tasks are effectively solved in cheaper ways. However, large-caliber explosive bullets to defeat the enemy behind lightly armored shelters are still being created and produced.
Despite the existing international ban, explosive bullets found widespread use in aviation during the First World War , as they were very effective in combating balloons and weakly protected enemy aircraft. It is also important that outbreaks of ruptures of such bullets, which are clearly visible even in the daytime, make it possible to correct firing ahead of the actual result ( tracer bullets appeared later and do not allow to see the hit itself). During World War II, in small calibers, they were gradually replaced by more effective armor-piercing incendiary inextricable ammunition. Large-caliber incendiary bullets of the explosive type still have some application in aviation.
In artillery, sighting bullets were used to adjust the fire, but at close range they are now completely replaced by tracer bullets. In addition, explosive (PZ) rifle caliber bullets are widely used in training artillery calculations, since they are much cheaper than full-size cannon and howitzer shells.
See also
- Expansive bullet
- Incendiary bullet
- Tracer bullet
Links
- ↑ Martens F.F. The Eastern War and the Brussels Conference 1874-1878 - St. Petersburg: Type. Ministry of Railways, 1879. - S. 103.104. - 596 p.
- ↑ The Development of RAF Guns and Ammunition from World War 1 to the Present Day .
- ↑ Bolotin D.N. History of Soviet small arms and ammunition / Computer layout N. Yu. Grunechev. - St. Petersburg: POLIGON , 1995 .-- S. 60. - 303 p. - ISBN 5-85503-072-5 .
- ↑ Bolotin D.N. History of Soviet small arms and ammunition / Computer layout N. Yu. Grunechev. - St. Petersburg: POLIGON , 1995 .-- S. 240-242. - 303 s. - ISBN 5-85503-072-5 .
- ↑ Bullet article in the Encyclopedia4u.com online reference guide .