Alloys or metallic compositions – Zinc base
Patent
1995-10-20
1998-03-17
Ip, Sikyin
Alloys or metallic compositions
Zinc base
420524, 102501, F42B 704
Patent
active
057283494
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to material primarily for sport-shooting ammunition. Hunting and sporting ammunition is normally produced from lead, which applies both to ball ammunition and to BB-shot or pellet ammunition.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of lead, particularly lead pellets, for hunting purposes has a pronounced negative affect on the environment. About 600 tonnes of lead are scattered annually over the countryside in Sweden alone, in conjunction with sport-shooting activities.
When using lead pellets for hunting purposes, a very large quantity of lead is scattered throughout the countryside in an uncontrollable fashion, which is negative from an environmental aspect.
One particularly negative aspect of the use of BB lead pellets or shot to shoot birds is that the pellets are scattered in a manner which results in some of the pellets being ingested by birds and resulting in lead poisoning. Naturally, this can lead to the death of some birds. Furthermore, people who, in turn, eat birds which have eaten lead shot will also ingest a certain amount of lead.
On the other hand, lead ammunition has very good ballistic properties and also high energetic properties, in other words lead pellets produce a satisfactorily high energy impulse when striking the target. These properties are, to a great extent, allied with the specific gravity of lead, i.e. its density.
It would seem that those weapons used for hunting and sporting purposes are designed and dimensioned for use with lead ammunition.
Iron ammunition in the form of iron pellets is also available commercially. The density of iron, however, is too low to provide the same good ballistic and energetic properties of lead, and consequently iron pellets have a limited use.
Furthermore, iron pellets generate a higher barrel pressure, partly because the pellets are harder than lead pellets, and consequently the pellets do not deform equally as easily in the confinement of the barrel. Iron pellets also subject the barrels of the shotgun to greater wear than lead pellets.
Obviously, it would be desirable to be able to replace lead with a material that possesses the same good properties as lead with regard to density and hardness, and which at the same time is less hazardous to the environment.
Hunting ammunition material is described in Swedish Patent Specification No. 9203336-4. The ammunition material according to this patent specification includes at least one of the materials tungsten carbide (WC) or ferrotungsten (FeW) in powder form, and a material of low melting point which functions to bind the powder material to a coherent body. The powder material and the binding material are included in the ammunition material in proportions such as to give the ammunition material a density which corresponds to or is in the same order of magnitude as the density of lead.
The material just mentioned is, however, primarily intended for hunting purposes. The material is relatively expensive to produce, however, making it uneconomical for sport-shooting, where a normal sportsman may use 3,000-10,000 cartridges in a season. The cartridge price of the ammunition is relatively unimportant when the ammunition is used for hunting purposes.
The above-described problem associated with the use of lead pellets or shot is also discussed in the International Publication No. WO 91/00491. WO 91/00491 describes an ammunition in which lead pellets have been replaced with a non-toxic alloy which contains primarily bismuth, or is comprised at least more than 50% bismuth. The remainder of the alloy is said to comprise zinc, tin, antimony or the like, or a mixture thereof. The publication states that a very high bismuth content, more particularly a bismuth content of up to 98%, is particularly preferred, since the ballistic properties of the pellets will then approach or be essentially the same as the ballistic properties of lead pellets.
However, bismuth is an expensive material which demands a kilo price of about thirt
REFERENCES:
patent: 4115604 (1978-09-01), Bernstein
patent: 5189252 (1993-02-01), Huffman et al.
Hansen, P.M., Constitution of Binary Alloys, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1958, pp. 346-347.
Ip Sikyin
Mangels Alfred J.
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