THE GENESIS OE THE METALLIC CARTRIDGES. 



l 37 



THE GENESIS OF THE METALLIC 

 CARTRIDGES. 



Capt. Philip Reade, U. S. A. 



In 1886 George W. Morse patented a mov- 

 able base cartridge. The rear end is closed by 

 a flanged-headed reinforce cup which enters 

 into the case for a distance not exceeding 

 a quarter of an inch. This is driven into the 



THEhJElALUC Qf\pTF\lDGE.lpVENTED IfJ l&jrf 



GEOftGE W. MORSE Of /V]flS& ?f\J. I&J8 



rear end of the unexpanded case water tight, 

 or just as the percussion primer fits in its cap 

 pocket. Its front edge is covered and packed 

 with a rubber ring about one-twentieth of an 

 inch thick. At first, this rubber ring was cut 

 from machine-drawn rubber tubing ; after- 

 wards, it was moulded. " Nothing does so 

 perfectly as rubber," says Mr. Morse. " My 

 model cartridges were prepared by hand 

 tools, constructed by myself. All of my 

 models are roughly made ; 1 have not the 

 means to perfect these devices." 



On June 17, 1885, General S. V. Benet, 

 Chief of Ordnance, U. S. A., directed the 

 commanding officers of Frankford Arsenal, 

 Penn., to convene a board to consist of Lieu- 

 tenants MacNutt and Baker and Mr. Gill, 

 master armorer, to examine and try the 

 Morse sliding base, rubber, gas-check brass, 

 also copper, movable base cartridges. The 

 inventor called them, " The Morse movable- 

 base cartridges." Some were brass cases with 

 copper bases; some were brass cases with 

 brass bases. They were tested in competi- 

 tion with Frankford Arsenal copper shells 

 by J. E. Carr. 



As a result, Mr. Morse asked to have his 

 cartridges " submitted to any test that human 

 skill could devise." The tests lasted for 

 twelve months. The Arsenal trials included 



the dry metal tests— trying to break the case 

 in the gun; trials to ascertain the best length 

 and forms of movable base; strength of cap 

 pocket; trying different methods of crimping 

 the shell to hold the ball; trying annealing 

 the mouth of the case to prevent splitting; 

 covering many thousands of fires, sometimes 

 200 rounds from a single shell— all done 

 without care or regard to the extraction of 

 the shell. 



No instance occurred where the gun failed 

 to extract the whole case when opened, 

 whether it had been resized before firing or 

 not. The firing of a single Morse shell in the 

 same gun without resizing was carried to 

 over 100 rounds without injury. 



On May 27, 1886, the Chief of Ordnance, 

 U. S. A., General Benet, notified Mr. V. D. 

 Stockbridge, attorney for Mr. Morse, that 

 the merits of the Morse cartridge had im- 

 pressed him so favorably, after Departmental 

 trial, that he had ordered 1,000,000 of them 

 made for issue to the Army for thorough 

 trial in the hands of troops during the en- 

 suing summer. He stated that " vulcani/ed 

 rubber has been found to stand the test of 

 time in connection with tinned brass cases 

 charged with powder and ball;" and added 

 that "some had been brought to his attention 

 that had been stored at the National Armory 

 for about 25 years and the cartridges were 

 in apparently as good condition as when 

 first stored away." These Morse car- 

 tridges are thus officially certified to as hav- 

 ing been made in i86i-'2 in the United States. 

 Gen. Benet knew that Geo. W. Morse was 

 the original inventor of the primed, expan- 

 sive, metallic-cartridge system of breech- 

 loading fire-arms, patented Oct. 28, 1856; 

 of long practical experience, and that his in- 

 ventions were valuable to the military ser- 

 vice. He, therefore, encouraged and aided 

 him for many years; but just as in 1879, when 

 company commanders diversely reported 

 on the Winchester cartridge, also as when, 

 in i867-'8, differing opinions were held by 

 the troops regarding the relative merits ol 

 the Spencer and Remington rifle systems; 

 company commanders could not agree, and 

 the Morse movable base cartridge was 

 abandoned. Mr. Morse died a few years 

 ago, and his last patented cartridge is now 

 forgotten. 



Morse published a pamphlet in 1886 re- 

 garding his movable base cartridge with re- 

 sizing and reloading tools. In it he says : 

 "The Morse system embraces all firearms 

 which use the modern metallic cartridge- 

 case as an obturator or gas check, by what- 

 ever name such guns are known infantry 

 arms, repeating or magazine guns, and ma- 

 chine guns. All are based upon the same 

 principles which were first set forth in 

 Morse's patents, Nos. 15,995 and [5,996, da- 

 ted October 28, 1856. 



The first cartridge cases were made oi lead 

 and its alloys. (See Morse's models, patent 

 above mentioned.) Some of these cases wen- 

 riveted to solid iron heads, like the Hotchkiss 

 cartridge; others had heads fastened to the 

 case with an eyelet, like the Boxer cartridge; 



