GB1204214A - Improvements in recoilless guns - Google Patents

Abstract

1,204,214. Recoilless guns; cartridges. BRITISH AIRCRAFT CORP. Ltd. 8 April, 1969 [8 Jan., 1968], No. 1087/68. Headings F3A and F3C. A recoilless gun comprises a barrel 4 having a rearwardly opening socket 2 formed at the rear end thereof and in which a cartridge case having a nozzle 14 at its rearward end and a missile can be mounted. The missile may be loaded into the barrel through the socket 2 before the cartridge case is placed in position. Means are provided for connecting the cartridge case to the socket 2 and one or more bleed passages 46 extend from a forward portion of the barrel to the socket such that, after the firing of the cartridge the connecting means retains the cartridge case in the socket until the missile clears the entrance port(s) of the bleed passage(s) 46. Then propellant gas passes to the socket 2 to urge the cartridge ease away from the walls thereof and cause the breaking or disengagement of the connecting means to allow the cartridge case and nozzle to be ejected rearwardly from the gun. In the construction shown the propellant charge 20 and igniter 42 are annular members arranged between the outer wall of the cartridge case and a perforated member 22. The missile 26 is provided with a driving band 28 and fins 30. The connecting means consists of a nip 32 attached to the cartridge case and provided with teeth 36 mounted on the ends of frangible arms 34, the teeth sitting in notches in the outer surface of the socket 2. A longitudinal groove extends between each notch and the end face of the socket along which grooves the teeth travel in the cartridge loading operation. The grooves may narrow towards their forward ends (Fig. 2, not shown). The teeth may be each provided with a sloping face such that they slide out of the notch when gas forces the cartridge case rearwardly or further gas bleed passages may communicate directly with the notches (Fig. 4, not shown). The socket may be frusto-conical with a complementary frustoconical cartridge case. The nozzle of the cartridge case may be formed by a part spherical member mounted in a cylinder by radial arms (Fig. 3, not shown). The socket may be of a frusto-conical configuration (Fig. 5, not shown).