Designing Small Weapons

Jose Herrera-Ramirez, Luis Zuñiga-Aviles

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000597011
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Mechanical Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This book focuses on developing small weapons, following the lifecycle of a firearm from design to manufacture. It demonstrates how modern technologies can be used at every stage of the process, such as design methodologies, CAD/CAE/CAM software, rapid prototyping, test benches, materials, heat and surface treatments, and manufacturing processes. Several case studies are presented to provide detailed considerations on developing specific topics.

Small weapons are designed to be carried by one person; examples are pistols, revolvers, rifles, carbines, shotguns, and submachine guns. Beginning with a review of the history of weapons from ancient to modern times, this book builds on this by mapping out recent innovations and state-of-the-art technologies that have advanced small weapon design. Presenting a comprehensive guide to computer design tools used by weapon engineers, this book demonstrates the capabilities of modern software at all stages of the process, looking at the computer-aided design, engineering, and manufacturing. It also details the materials used to create small weapons, notably steels, engineering polymers, composites, and emerging materials. Manufacturing processes, both conventional and unconventional, are discussed, for example, casting, powder metallurgy, additive manufacturing, and heat and surface treatments.

This book is essential reading to those in the field of weapons, such as designers, workers in research and development, engineering and design students, students at military colleges, sportsmen, hunters, and those interested in firearms.

Dr. Jose Martin Herrera-Ramirez is a military engineer with experience in the field of weapon and ammunition development. After receiving his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the Paris School of Mines in France, he was the head of the Applied Research Center and Technology Development for the Mexican Military Industry (CIADTIM). He now researches the development of metallic alloys and composites at the Research Center for Advanced Materials (CIMAV) in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Dr. Luis Adrian Zuñiga-Aviles is a military engineer with wide experience in the field of weapon and ammunition development. He was head of the prototypes and simulation departments at the Applied Research Center and Technology Development for the Mexican Military Industry (CIADTIM) and head of engineering of the Production directorate. He received his PhD in Science and Technology on Mechatronics from the Center for Engineering and Industrial Development (CIDESI) in Queretaro, Mexico. He now researches the new product design and development for military application, machinery, robotics, and medical devices in the Faculty of Medicine at the Autonomous University of Mexico State (UAEMex) and the Faculty of Engineering at UAEMex as part of the Researchers for Mexico program CONACYT.

1 History of the Design of Small Weapons

DOI: 10.1201/9781003196808-1

1.1 Introduction

The history of land armament has several periods, which are well defined:

1.1.1 The First Period

The first period comprises the use of the combatant’s own strength as a driving force. Whether he was using the spear, the ax, the sword, the lance, the mace, the pike, or the saber [1], he has to draw on his physical energy to use these weapons. The same happened when used weapons that store this energy to restore it in a single blow, with greater power and brutality, as is the case with bows [2], crossbows [3], ballista, or catapults [4, 5, 6]. In front of the offensive armament of antiquity, there is its corresponding defensive armament, such as leather or wood shields up to the use of metallic armor.

1.1.2 The Second Period

The second period arises with the use of gunpowder [7], which provided man with a new source of energy a thousand times greater than that provided by muscle. It is interesting to affirm that the first use of chemical reaction energy to create movement had military purposes, taking several centuries for the same phenomenon to be applied to peaceful uses. In this sense, centuries later, a new source of energy much more powerful than chemical energy was applied for the first time to military purposes; we refer to nuclear energy.

If the appearance of gunpowder on the battlefields revealed wide horizons in the art of war, the development of firearms was not rapid due to the slow progress of the mechanical and chemical arts. For this reason, firearms originally offered almost the same danger for the user as for the enemy. Effective performance of firearms had to be achieved to make them safe, mobile, and accurate. The transformation took place over the centuries. Progress was so slow that even during World War I (1914–1918), the main combatants started the conflict with cavalry forces, equipped with sabers and helmets [8].

1.1.3 The Third Period

At the end of the second period, the pace of progress began to accelerate by virtue of the advantages produced as a consequence of the industrial revolution at the beginning of the 20th century. The third period started from this time, which marked the great development of science. The armament progressed in a few years what it could not achieve in centuries of the previous period. The rate of fire of the artillery was greatly increased; the use of black powder, which generated those smoke clouds characteristic in the battle paintings of the French Empire and Revolution, disappeared thanks to the invention of the smokeless powder [9]; the power of the projectiles was greatly increased because of the use of new substances. Finally, the organization, power, range, and mobility of artillery materials changed their qualities and appearance to such a degree that the difference with those used some 10 years earlier is radical.

In small-caliber firearms, the transformation was much more remarkable. Thus, the old one-shot rifle is replaced by the repeating rifle, while automatic weapons made their appearance. One year of a world war is enough to consider these weapons as essential for the infantry, rapidly developing an extensive series of models: automatic pistol, automatic rifle, machine gun, and sub-machine gun.

Simultaneously with the improvement of traditional weapons, others were born. The internal combustion engine left the laboratories and was immediately applied to motor vehicles and aircraft, which were soon used by the military to install weapons on them, thus achieving great mobility of firearms [10]. On the other hand, the advances of the steel industry and the ease of transporting thick armor plates on engine-powered chassis opened new paths to the struggle between the projectile and the armor.

The characteristic of this period is the appearance of a considerable number of auxiliary firearm accessories. Power, ammunition consumption, and range are high and, therefore, the guarantee of maximum performance is required. For this, it is necessary to accurately determine the targets to be destroyed, to carry out a good preparation of the shot, a target quick fix, and a maximum fire concentration; new techniques derived from optics, acoustics, electromagnetism, electronics, infrared, and ultrasound, among others, allowed to solve these issues satisfactorily. Thus, sighting, fire control, reference and detection, transmission, and remote control accessories arose. Without these accessories, the firearms would only be like a blind monster, ineffective in combat.

Finally, this third period is differentiated from the previous ones by the speed with which the firearms and accessories expire. Progress is so fast that a firearm that has just entered in service is obsolete due to the increase in power of the armament in front of it: the small-caliber anti-tank guns have been eliminated due to the increased protection of armored units, or simply replaced by a more powerful one.

1.1.4 The Fourth Period

We should distinguish an important fourth period in the history of weapons, which began on August 6, 1945, with the dropping of the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima [11]. Although this date marked an event of capital significance, this chapter will deal with the third period. The goal is to comprehend the fundamental laws of contemporary weapons to take them as a basis in modern weapon design, as well as in the choice of optimal materials and manufacturing processes.

1.2 Evolution of Firearms

The appearance of firearms is uncertain, but several references report their first uses in the early 13th century [7,12, 13, 14] (Figure 1.1). The models began to emerge imprecisely but with enough force to be classified into infantry armaments and artillery material.

FIGURE 1.1 Evolution of firearms.

The first firearms were heavy, unmanageable, and inaccurate. The gunpowder for the priming charge had to be placed at the last moment. Thus, the shooter was unable to move with his weapon when he had already loaded it. He quickly needed a wick to light the bait, from which the slowness and imprecision of the shot are deduced.

1.2.1 The Hand Cannon

The hand cannon [12] is considered the oldest type of small arms, being the most simplistic form of metal barrel firearms, mechanically speaking [13]. Its first recorded use was during the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260. It was made of bronze or wrought iron, fixed to a frame or stock with metal or leather straps. It could be used by infantry or cavalry. This weapon did not have any type of firing mechanism; instead, it was manually ignited through a touch hole at the breech end of the barrel.

1.2.2 The Matchlock System

The matchlock system was introduced by the Janissary corps of the Ottoman army in 1440 [14]. It consisted of a slow-burning cord (match) placed in a clamp at the end of a small serpentine-shaped lever, a kind of early trigger. Similar to the hand cannon, the matchlock was loaded through the muzzle, with the difference that the priming gunpowder was ignited by the cord, which was introduced into the touch hole to ignite the main charge. Despite these advances, firearms were still trouble to operate: accurately aiming was difficult and users had to go through the complicated reloading process after every shot.

1.2.3 The Wheellock System

It was not until the beginning of the 16th century when the pan and the firing mechanism fitted to firearms, greatly improving them. Portable firearms from the early 16th century had a caliber of about 18 mm, which will last until 1850. Their maximum range was 200 m, but the practical range was much less. The rate of fire did not exceed one shot per 2 min. In addition, they had a great sensitivity to rain, which could make them totally useless. To correct this serious ...