Abstract: A wad or basewad for ammunition includes an ignition chamber. The ignition chamber can be integrally formed with the payload wad, basewad, or battery cup or can be attached to the payload wad, basewad, or battery cup. The ignition chamber communicates with a primer of the ammunition to receive and contain the primer blast for at least an initial period of time. This facilitates faster initial ignition of the propellant of the ammunition, and consequently allows higher performance levels to be achieved. Other advantages regarding other applications of this invention include cleaner burning loads, greater economy, and lower perceived recoil.

Abstract: A wad for ammunition cartridges, including shotshell cartridges, includes a wad body having a series of separable fingers. A shot confinement tube is located within the wad body, surrounded by the separable fingers. The confinement tube extends longitudinally along the wad body and defines a recess in which an ammunition payload is received and is contained upon firing of the ammunition cartridge and as the wad is separated from the ammunition payload.

Abstract: Disclosed is sabot and a firearm round for a firearm. The sabot includes a compression section defining a payload receiving chamber. The payload chamber receives a slug to form the firearm round. Additionally, the sabot includes a solid section connected to the compression section. The solid section can include a powder cup section for sealing ignition gasses. Typically, the sabot is formed from a high density polyethylene.

Abstract: A wad or basewad for ammunition includes an ignition chamber. The ignition chamber can be integrally formed with the wad or basewad or can be attached to the wad or basewad. The ignition chamber communicates with a primer of the ammunition to receive and contain the primer blast for at least an initial period of time. This facilitates faster initial ignition of the propellant of the ammunition, and consequently allows higher performance levels to be achieved. Other advantages regarding other applications of this invention include cleaner burning loads, greater economy, and lower perceived recoil.

Abstract: A wad for ammunition cartridges, including shotshell cartridges, includes a wad body having a series of separable fingers. A shot confinement tube is located within the wad body, surrounded by the separable fingers. The confinement tube extends longitudinally along the wad body and defines a recess in which an ammunition payload is received and is contained upon firing of the ammunition cartridge and as the wad is separated from the ammunition payload.

Abstract: An ammunition cartridge includes: a basewad disposed within a tube proximate the aft end of the tube; a projectile wad disposed within the tube proximate a fore end of the tube; a propellant charge disposed within a chamber formed between the projectile wad and the basewad; and a projectile disposed within the tube between a forward facing surface of the projectile wad and the fore end of the tube. The aft end of the projectile wad has a powder cup skirt formed thereon, and a chamfer is formed around an outer perimeter of a lip of the powder cup skirt. The chamfer allows the powder cup skirt to be slidably received within a skirt of the basewad to form the chamber. The chamfer provides a clearance at the powder cup skirt lip, which helps to insure undisturbed entry into the mouth of the basewad skirt.

Abstract: A buckshot round for use in large, smooth-barreled weapons, such as an M203 or M79 grenade launcher, wherein the round itself acts as the firing barrel. In particular, a lethal buckshot round is provided, wherein an inner metal cylinder (barrel portion) is encased in an outer jacket, and a shot wad is contained in the inner metal cylinder, such that the inner metal cylinder acts as a barrel for firing of the buckshot from the smooth-barreled weapon. The barrel portion of the buckshot round acts as the firing barrel, and prevents contact of the buckshot with the weapon barrel during firing, thereby providing an accurate firing pattern and preventing damage to the weapon barrel.

Abstract: An ammunition cartridge includes: a basewad disposed within a tube proximate the aft end of the tube; a projectile wad disposed within the tube proximate a fore end of the tube; a propellant charge disposed within a chamber formed between the projectile wad and the basewad; and a projectile disposed within the tube between a forward facing surface of the projectile wad and the fore end of the tube. The aft end of the projectile wad has a powder cup skirt formed thereon, and a chamfer is formed around an outer perimeter of a lip of the powder cup skirt. The chamfer allows the powder cup skirt to be slidably received within a skirt of the basewad to form the chamber. The chamfer provides a clearance at the powder cup skirt lip, which helps to insure undisturbed entry into the mouth of the basewad skirt.

Abstract: A projectile is provided, in accordance with the present invention that includes a gas seal, a wad absorption zone, a core hull, a mass of projectile core particles within the hull and an actuator member. The hull is a cylindrical member having an open end and made from a material, such as soft plastic, that is characterized by the ability to peel back upon itself on impact, thereby releasing the mass of core particles after impact. The actuator, is releasably fixed to the hull open end, has an exterior side and an interior side and one or more stem members projecting into the mass of core particles. Upon impact, the actuator is released from the hull open end and continues to be propelled forward, along with the core particles. When the projectile impacts a target, the hull peels backward upon itself thereby releasing the actuator and the mass of projectile core particles.

Abstract: Two-element wad with pneumatic damping designed for the cartridge industry formed by two interchangeable elements connected to each other and which consist of a case and a damper-shutter. The case incorporates a series of foldable flaps and a valve that regulates the damping and injects air. Both the case and the damper-shutter have crosssectional walls and a convexo-concave shape that can absorb radial deformations to the symmetry axis of the wad. The damper-shutter has a four-fold action: it withstands the flexion and deformation of the material, the friction against the walls, and the compression of the air contained in the damper-shutter.

Abstract: An outer jacket (14), an inner jacket (15) and an explosive charge (16) are ach independently manufactured on one of three parallel production lines (1, 2, 3) and assembled on a contiguous assembly line (4). The jackets (14 and 15) are designed to have a sufficient shape stability to be handled as separate components, and obtain the required firing strength due to their assembly. By changing the inner jacket (15), the ammunition body manufactured in this way can be prepared with different active bodies as suited for the application intended.

Abstract: In combination with a cartridge case having a tubular wall and a head closing one end of the wall, a primer disposed through the head and a propellant charge in the case, a collapsible basewad is disclosed which comprises a unitary body between the charge and the head. The unitary body has an upwardly concave upper portion opening to the propellant charge and a generally cylindrical base portion. The upper portion is deflectable. These portions and the tubular wall define therebetween an annular cavity rearward of the propellant charge. This cavity is collapsed upon ignition of the propellant charge by deflection of the upper portion thereby reducing the recoil felt by the shooter without adding any parasitic weight to the projectile load. The upper portion of the basewad preferaly has an inverted truncated hollow cone shape.

Abstract: An improved shot wad structure has a longer outer wad cup, a shorter inner wad cup and a plastic wad insert, and is useful in a shotshell with hard shot pellets, such as steel or tungsten shot. The outer cup, formed of a soft, low tensile strength material, such as polyethylene, is capable of obturating combustion gases produced in a gun barrel when the shotshell is fired, whereas the inner cup, formed of a tough, high tensile strength material, such as nylon, is adapted to support a shot column and is capable of withstanding compressive forces generated by shot acceleration to protect the barrel from being scored by the hard shot.

Abstract: A plastic shot shell wad incorporating an improved cushioning mechanism. A cushioning effect is provided by connecting a wad with a shot cup by means of two levels of parallel walls separated by an intermediate planar member. A lower level of walls is connected to a wad portion and an upper level of walls is connected to the shot cup portion. As a charge in a shotgun shell is ignited, the lower walls will be forced through the intermediate member, which provides a resistance which has a cushioning effect. As the lower walls move forward, they will become interleaved with the upper walls. By properly locating the upper and lower walls, tilting of the wad with respect to the shot cup after firing can be minimized.