0.303/7.92 Filling Production Process

[LANCS]

I have just interviewed a former worker from Standish Kynoch K2 factory, due to her age her memory is not what it should be and can't remember the name of the process or what she did properly for 4 years from the age of 17.

From what she told me and remembering her shed number I believe she worked in the loading area.

What would the process/stages of loading a 0.303/7.92 case be ?

All she can recall is that she stood on a stool at the side of a machine scooping fresh cases out of a wicker basket/box with her hands approx 10 at a time and loading them into a rotating ring that never stopped.

She thought there were 3 machines carying out this process and her shed had 3 rooms, she mentioned powder on the floor that occasionaly sparked and snaked and sizzled across the floor putting it out with an extinguisher, they wore rubber shoes to prevent grit on outdoor shoes causing sparks.

She mentioned caps once but struggled to recall these.

Any information especialy photos would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

Mark

 

[TonyE]

There is a major difference between loading .303 and 7.92mm, because the .303 is codite loaded and the 7.92mm nitrocellulose. This means that because the cordite is in sticks the propellant must be loaded before the case is necked, which in turn means the case cannot be annealed after necking to relieve neck stresses. The 7.92mm on the other hand can be necked and annealed before the propellant is loaded because it is in flake form. Also, the BESA was very sensitive about the case hardness gradient so the preparation of the cases was very important.

There is a very good description of the manufacturing and loading procedure for the .303 in the Text Book of Small Arms 1929 which is available as a reprint and may even be on-line somewhere.

It sounds like your lady was using a loading machine and feeding it 7.92mm capped cases. There should not be powder on the floor but I suppose some spillage is inevitable

Regards
TonyE.

 

[LANCS]

Tony

After checking the building No out she worked in the 7.92mm loading shed, powder on the floor could be explained why they were told off when missing loading a cartridege in one on the holes in the ring, I assume the powder would load into a empty space ? hence some spillage

Regards

Mark

 

[TonyE]

I guess it would depend on the machine they were using. On modern loading machines the absence of a case is detected and the machine moves on, but back then I suspect you are correct and the powder would dump into the empty space.

Regards
TonyE

 

[LANCS]

I assume the references to "Dupoint Powder" in the records would mean the nitrocellulose powder ?

Regards

Mark

 

[TonyE]

Yes, Dupont (the American chemical corporation, not Dupoint) powders had been used by Britain since WWI and ICI's Nobel division at Ardeer had obtained a licence to manufacture it.

The official specification for the propellant for British 7.92mm ammo was about 45 grains of ICI NRN (Nobel's Rifle Neonite) which was a Dupont powder made by ICI, but whether they were loading that or imported Dupont powder I do not know.

Regards
TonyE

 

[LANCS]

It just states the MoS as the supplier.

 

[mausernut]

Was the BESA so specific about the cartridges fired in it, that using german 7,92 was a no-no? The danish army used BESAs in their armoured cars and Centurions, but replaced them with Browning 1919's in the mid fifties.
-S

 

[TonyE]

No, the initial problems with the BESA were a bit more complex.

One of the attractions of the BESA was that it would function well with all makes of ammunition. Most of the development trials had taken place with Czech ammunition but when ICI Kynoch ammuntion was used separated cases occurred. It was found that Kynoch's standard 7.92mm cases, which they had been selling worldwide, were too hard and so efforts were made to produce a case with a softer case hardness gradient. This was achieved and after a successful trial of 500,000 rounds in February 1938 the ammunition was approved as Ball Mark Iz.

A second problem was that the barrels manufactured by BSA had a slightly different leed to those made by the Czechs. It was found that the standard Kynoch bullet from their commercial contract "Model 1937" round mentioned above had a fatter bullet ogive compared to the Czech. This could cause bullets to stick in the leed and it was feared that if a live round was unloaded it could leave a bullet in the bore with potential catastrophic effects if another round was fired. Therefore the Ball mark Iz bullet was given the slimmer profile of the original Czech bullet.

Firing German made ammunition was not a problem and the gun functioned well. I have seen quotes that say the German ammunition was not as accurate in the BESA because of the difference in the barrel leed but I have not seen any official evidence of this.

Regards
TonyE