US3096715A - Armor-piercing projectiles - Google Patents

Description

ARMOR-PIERCING PROJECTILES Filed Feb. 28, 1959 INVE/V TOR GEORGES DUFOUR 7 7 A ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice 3,096,715 Patented July 9, 1963 3,096,715 ARMOR-PIERCING PROJECTILES Georges Dufour, Geneva, Switzerland, assignor to Brevets Aero-Mecaniques S.A., Geneva, Switzerland, a society of Switzerland Filed Dec. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 862,401 Claims priority, application Luxembourg Jan. 19, 1959 3 Claims. (Cl. l02-52) The present invention relates to armor-piercing projectiles for guns having a barrel provided with rifles, such projectiles including a core of a hard material surrounded by an ogive made at least partly of a light material, the terms light material" including not only light metals and alloys but also all other substances such as plastic materials having a density substantially lower than that of steel.

The invention is more especially concerned with armorpiercing shells of small calibre.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide a projectile of this type which is better adapted to meet the requirements of practice, not only from the point of view of their armor-piercing properties but also from the point of view of the preservation of the barrel of the gun from which they are fired.

According to this invention, the ogive of such a projectile includes a rear portion of a cross-section smaller than the maximum cross-section of the front portion of said ogive, this rear portion, which surrounds the rear portion of the core, being itself surrounded by a base also made of a light material, said base including a rearward extension surrounded by a ring of a hard material in which is fixed at least one driving or rotating band for giving the projectile its spin.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawing, given merely by way of example and in which the only figure illustrates an armor-piercing projectile of small calibre made according to this invention, one half being shown in elevation and the other half in axial section.

The essential element of this projectile, which is to perform the armor-piercing function thereof, is a core 1, having a pointed front end, which should of course store up the maximum possible of kinetic energy under the smallest possible volume so that it is made of a high density material (hard sintered metal, tungsten carbide and so on The point of core 1, which is not very sharp, so as to obtain a good armor-piercing effect, is covered by an ogive of sharper shape made of a light material such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy, copper or magnesium, such an ogive improving the ballistic properties of the projectile and also its armor-piercing action due to the lubricating effect exerted when said ogive is crashed against the point of impact.

This ogive includes the following portions: on the one hand, asharp front portion 2 adapted to cover the point of the core and which advantageously leaves a free space between the ogive and the core in which can be packed a burningcomposition 3, for instance an incendiary one; thisfront portion 2 extends to the rear end of the ogive of the core, behind which said core becomes cylindrical, and on the other hand, arear portion 4 substantially of cylindrical shape, surrounding the rear portion of the core, thisrear portion 4 of the ogive being of a diameter smaller than that of the base offront portion 2.

Thisrear portion 4 of the ogive is engaged in thefront portion 5 of a base also made of a light material, thisfront portion 5 having the shape of a hollow cylinder opened at the front, the outer wall of which has a diameter equal to the external diameter of the projectile, whereas its inner wall is a cylindrical wall adapted to fit on therear portion 4 of the ogive.

This base includes, behind itsfront portion 5, an extension 6 in the form of a hollow cylinder opened at the rear; the outer wall of which is of a diameter smaller than the external diameter of the projectile, whereas its inner wall limits a recess adapted to receive apowder composition 7, for instance an incendiary one or a tracing one.

A rear ring 8 of a hard material, for instance of steel, is fitted and secured, for instance by screwing, around extension 6, the outer wall of ring 8 being of a diameter equal to the external diameter of the projectile. This ring 8 carries a driving or rotating band 9, for instance of copper, sintered iron, soft steel or any suitable material, of an external diameter greater than that of the projectile body. This band 9 is for instance partly inserted in a groove provided in ring 8.

Advantageously, before fitting therear portion 4 of the ogive into thefront portion 5 of the base, there is inserted, along the front edge of saidrear portion 5, aring 10 of a hard metal such as steel, thisring 10 bearing against ashoulder 11 provided between thefront portion 2 of the ogive and itsrear portion 4. Thus, saidring 10 is finally caught betweenshoulder 11 and thefront edge 12 of thebase 5.

Ring 10 is flush with thefront portion 2 of the ogive and the active area of said ring (area in contact with the inner surface of the gun barrel) projects slightly beyond the outer wall of theportion 5 of the projectile.

The rear portion of the projectile is guided in the gun barrel by two portions B and C ofring 10, said portions preferably having a diameter equal to that of the active area ofring 10.

The chief advantages of such a projectile are as follows: the ratio of the weight of core 1 to the total weight of the projectile which reaches about 54% for a 20 mm. shell as above described is very satisfactory since the armorpiercing projectiles thus obtained have substantially the same weight as shells of other types to be fired from the same gun; the portions of the projectiles made of light material do not risk to clog the inner wall of the gun barrel; accuracy of firing, due to the double guiding at the front at A and at the rear at B and C, remains unchanged during the travel of the projectile through the gun barrel.

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to be a practical and efi'icient embodiment of my invention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

l. A projectile which comprises, in combination, an armor piercing core, an ogive mounted on said core to surround it, said ogive being made of a material of a density much lower than that of said core, said ogive having a cylindrical rear portion of a cross section smaller than the maximum cross section of its front portion, the outer wall of said ogive forming, between said front portion and said rear portion thereof, a rearwardly facing annular shoulder, a cylindrical base fitting tightly around said ogive rear portion, said base being made of a material of at least approximately the same density as said ogive, the front edge of said base being at a distance from said shoulder and facing it, a solid front guiding ring of a material harder than that of said ogive fitted on the side wall of said rear portion of the ogive, extending from said shoulder to said base front edge and having an outer diameter slightly greater than that of said base and that of the outer edge of said shoulder, a rear cylindrical extension of said base integral therewith, said extension having an outer diameter smaller than that of said base, a rigid rear cylindrical guiding ring fitting tightly around said rear extension, said rear ring being made of a material different from that of said rear extension and of substantially the same hardness as that of said front ring, said rear ring further having an outer diameter substantially equal to that of said base and to that of the outer edge of said shoulder, and a driving band of a metal softer than that of said guiding rings fixed around said rear ring for giving the projectile its spin, said driving band having an outer diameter greater than that of said guiding rings and further having an axial length substantially less than the axial length of said rear guiding ring.

4 2. A projectile according to claim 1 and further including a powder charge inserted between the point of the core and the front portion of the ogive.

3. A projectile according to claim 1 and further including a powder charge disposed in a recess formed in said base extension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,411,073 Whitney Nov. 12, 1946 2,724,334 Norton et a1. Nov. 22, 1955 2,900,914 Ciccone Aug. 25, 1959 2,975,710 Read Mar. 21, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 197,329 Switzerland July 16, 1938 586,174 Great Britain Mar. 10, 1947

Claims (1)

1. A PROJECTILE WHICH COMPRISES, IN COMBINATION, AN ARMOR PIERCING CORE, AN OGIVE MOUNTED ON SAID CORE TO SURROUND IT, SAID OGIVE BEING MADE OF A MATERIAL OF A DENSITY MUCH LOWER THAN THAT OF SAID CORE, SAID OGIVE HAVING A CYLINDRICAL REAR PORTION OF A CROSS SECTION SMALLER THAN THE MAXIMUM CROSS SECTION OF ITS FRONT PORTION, THE OUTER WALL OF SAID OGIVE FORMING, BETWEEN SAID FRONT PORTION AND SAID REAR PORTION THEREOF, A REARWARDLY FACING ANNULAR SHOULDER, A CYLINDRICAL BASE FITTING TIGHTLY AROUND SAID OGIVE REAR PORTION, SAID BASE BEING CMADE OF A MANTERIAL OF AT LEAST APPROXIMATELY THE SAME DENSITY AS SAID OGIVE, THE FRONT EDGE OF SAID BASE BEING AT A DISTANCE FROM SAID SHOULDER AND FACINT IT, A SOLID FRONT GUIDING RING OF A MATEIRAL HARDER THAN THAT OF SAID OGIVE FITTED ON THE SIDE WALL OF SAID REAR PORTION OF THE OGIVE, EXTENDING FROM SAID SHOULDER TO SAID BASE FRONT EDGE AND HAVING AN OUTER DIAMETER SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THAT OF SAID BASE AND THAT OF THE OUTER EDGE OF SAID SHOULDER, A REAR CYLINDRICAL EXTENSION OF SAID BASE INTEGRAL THEREWITH, SAID EXTENSION HAVING AN OUTER DIAMETER SMALLER THAN THAT OF SAID BASE, A RIGID REAR CYLINDRICAL GUIDING RING FITTING TIGHTLY AROUND SAID REAR EXTENSION, SAID REAR RING BEING MADE OF A MATERIAL DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF SAID REAR EXTENSION AND OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME HARDNESS AS THAT OF SAID FRONT RING, SAID REAR RING FURTHER HAVING AN OUTER DIAMETER SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THAT OF SAID BASE AND TO THAT OF THE OUTER EDGE OF SAID SHOULDER, AND A DRIVING BAND OF A METAL SOFTER THAN THAT OF SAID GUIDING RINGS FIXED AROUND SAID REAR RING FOR GIVING THE PROJECTILE ITS SPIN, SAID DRIVING BAND HAVING AN OUTER DIAMETER GREATER THAN THAT OF SAID GUIDING RINGS AND FURTHER HAVING AN AXIL LENGTH SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE AXIAL LENGTH OF SAID REAR GUIDING RING.

Images