280/30 FN FAL Rifle The following is an excellent article taken from historyofwar.org: (Antill, P. (29 July 2009), The EM-2 (Rifle No. 9, Mk 1): Britain's Original Bullpup Rifle, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_EM-2_rifle.html) Background At the end of...

In 1951, tests were done at Frankford Arsenal with British .280 cal bullets that were supplied by ROF Radway Green using Cal .30 Light Rifle FAT 1E1 cases necked down to verify the performance of the British bullets.  The first specimen was loaded with the 140gr....

At the end of WW2 the British were one of the few major powers to not have a self-loading rifle in service. They were still using the .303 British No. 4 Lee Enfield dating from the late 19th century. Combat experience during both world wars questioned the need for...

The notes I have with this cartridge states that it was originally from Bill Woodin via the collection of the late Peter Skala. It has been floating around in the unidentified tray for a long time and I have not been able to find any info either in the ECRA Database...

This is the version from 1913, with a larger capacity case.   

Experimental cartridge from around 1910 in order to produce a cartridge that would give a continuous 1,000 yard danger space (not rising above the height of a man standing on level ground)   

JD Pedersen started the development of his cartridge in 1923 at Springfield Armory. The first rifles were made in 1925, so test barrels were used in the beginning. There were a number of changes to the case as well as many different bullets were tested. The first case...

As early as 1908, the Chief Superintendent of Ordinance Factories in Britain recommended to the Director of Artillery that .256 inch caliber ammunition to a new design should be made up for trail to gain experience with high velocity rimless cased ammunition. These...

This cartridge was based on a patent that was taken out by two French designers in 1908, namely Mentaine and Degaille with some input from Laird, a British engineer who appears to have been responsible for the production of the rifle at Coventry Ordnance Works, a...

This round was also developed by Olin Corporation in July 1952 based on the .30 Light Rifle case necked to .27 cal. Specimen has a GM jacket with steel core.      

This was developed in June 1928 by Frankford Arsenal with a double taper case under drawing FB-9887. This cartridge was also used in the trials to determine wounding power against flesh. It was part of the trials done by the Ordnance Department to investigate sub...

This cartridge dates from 1927 for the experimental BANG semi-auto rifle by Danish designer Søren Hansen Bang. It was sent to the US for military testing and despite some minor faults performed relatively well. John Garand used the Bang design to improve on his...

The following is an extract from IAA Journal 459:48-49 (Jan/Feb 2008) by the late Bill Woodin. H. F. Kohlbacker of Buffalo, New York, was a co-worker and contemporary of Charles Newton and was engaged in research and development for the Newton Arms Company, and later...

In early 1912 Dr. F.W. Mann obtained 500 untrimmed Cal. 30 Krag draw pieces for experiments to design a .25 calibre high velocity rifle. Cases were formed by A.O. Niedner into various lengths and shoulder angles. Production of the .30 Krag had already been...

This was a rimmed experimental cartridge dating from 1922 from Frankford Arsenal following the design of two rimless cartridges, (see HWS 1 p. 266). The rimmed version was made from empty 30-40 Krag (Cal. .30 Mod.1898) cases and used the same case capacity and bullet...

This round was developed by Olin Corporation in July 1952 based on the .30 Light Rifle case. The bottom specimen has a lead core bullet.      

This was the final design in the series and was called the Cal. 224 Winchester E5 and dates from 1963. This was a bottlenecked case with a reduced rim.   

The 224 Winchester E4 was an experimental cartridge and may have been based on the 25 Winchester case. There is no record of any rifle for this cartridge and it might have been used in a special test barrel.   

This cartridge was developed from the 224 Winchester Experimental Ball to correct the pressure problems encountered during testing. It has a longer neck and utilised a lighter bullet.   ...

This is a prototype cartridge by Winchester in 1957 for the development of a .224 caliber cartridge for a light military rifle. Some of the early loads had to be removed because of high chamber pressures.   

Experimental cartridge developed in 1965 by Frankfort Arsenal and was based on a shortened 222 Remington case. The bunter only had R – P, with the 222 Rem removed.   

The US Ordnance Department did some experimentation in 1893 regarding a sub .30cal rifle. Frankford Arsenal was instructed on the 4th of January 1895 to supply a .22 cal. case and bullets for testing. There were also plans to develop a .20 cal. rifle, but results of...

There were three versions of the .303/.22 Machine gun training cartridge developed between 1925 and 1929, but none ever entered service. They were intended for use in indoor 25 yard ranges in Vickers guns with specially modified barrels. The first pattern used an all...

This is a duplex loading of the 22-06 but with elongated neck. It was fired in a modified M1 rifle during the SALVO 2 trials and was also tested at Aberdeen Proving Grounds during January 1959. The rifle shown below is a modified M1 for the duplex test and was...

Designed by Frankfort Arsenal for trials at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 1957. Cartridge was unofficially called the 22-06.   

This round was developed by Remington for Springfield Armoury in 1957. Remington called this round the .22 Experimental, but it was called the Cal. 224 Infantry Rifle by Springfield Armoury as part of their Small Caliber High Velocity Weapon System. It was based on a...

The US Naval Research Lab procured a quantity of 300 H&H cases from Olin in the early 1970’s.        

This round is also called the Cal. 22 Duplex cartridge (Cal. 30 Light Rifle Case with Elongated Neck). Tests indicated good accuracy and wound ballistics at short range, but because of the light bullets (35gr. and 41gr.), it was ineffective over longer ranges. The...

In November 1952 the US Army Operations Research Office at Johns Hopkins University initiated the SALVO program. It was a study on US infantry weapons and their effectiveness in combat. Studies were done at Ballistics Research Labs (BRL) as well as Aberdeen Proving...

This was an internal Colt development during 1971 – 1972 for a Small Caliber Machine Pistol (SCAMP), made by modifying 22 Hornet cases. During August 1971, IVI in Canada produced 1,000 cases and bullets that were correctly headstamped, but as there was no military...

Development started in 1951 for use in the SCHV or Small Caliber High Velocity programme conducted at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The first specimen used a 30 Carbine case loaded with a commercial bullet. The second specimen used a modified 222 Remington case. It was the...

   Ballistics Research Lab at Aberdeen Proving Grounds prepared a study entitled "An Effectiveness Study of the Infantry Rifle" early in 1952. Small Caliber High Velocity (SCHV) rounds were developed with the idea in mind that lightweight projectiles fired...

  Dummy loading with brass case, GMCS bullet and blackened primer. Case filling is an inert salt to simulate the correct weight.    The US Army instituted the Serial Bullet Rifle (SBR) Program in 1965 in an attempt to develop a high velocity, low recoil...

Assumed to be part of the Cal .17 development program. This is one of the cases from probably the late 60’s that were found at Frankfort Arsenal in a commercial 222 REM 20 round box. There is no other info available as to the exact tests these were used in....

   In the late 1960’s the Air Force Armament Laboratory began work on an improved aircrew survival weapon designed to be lethal yet small and lightweight. Colt Industries was given a contract to develop a weapon using the ’stockless rifle’ concept. The...

Experimental triplex round from Dardick during the 1950’s to early 1960’s. The idea was to increase hit probability with a three round burst.      

Frankford Arsenal development during the early 1970’s during their work into “micro-caliber” rounds. It consisted of research into wound ballistics and testing was done at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and at Edgemoore. Various projectiles were tested.