AMMUNITION, a military term which includes projectiles used with ordnance, rifles and similar weapons, together with the requisite propellents, fuses, cartridges and means of ignition.
Ammunition for ordnance Berthold Schwartz, a German monk, is credited with the in vention of cannon in Europe in 1313. The first projectiles used with these primitive weapons were bolts, darts, stone shot and "langridge." The darts, made of iron and feathered with brass, were wrapped in leather to prevent windage. "Langridge" con sisted of bits of iron, nails, flints, and similar material, which were ordinarily contained in a sack or container and may be con sidered the forerunner of grape and case shot. The propellent charge was gunpowder, fired by red hot bars or spikes. Round shot of metal were known in early times but did not entirely super sede stone shot until the 17th century, for economical and prac tical reasons.
The use of shell was advocated at a very early date, but the absence of fuses made their successful employment dangerous and difficult. The original shell were known as "grenades" when spherical, and "bombs" when oblong, the word shell itself being of later introduction. In 1376 shell were used at Jadra by the Venetians, and later, in 1421, shell were employed at the siege of St. Bonif ace in Corsica. These shell were fitted with a prim itive fuse consisting of "sheet iron tubing with priming." At about this time also, the method of ignition by red hot iron was superseded by priming the vent with loose powder. The shell of this period consisted of two hemispheres of stone or bronze joined with hoops and hinged. Shot still remained the paramount projectile for guns. About the middle of the 15th century case shot were used at the siege of Constantinople, and the first incendiary shell was invented by Valturio in 146o.
Improvements were slow in these early times but the use of metal, particularly cast iron, was gradually extended as the guns improved in design. In the 16th century "hail shot" were used, which were similar to case shot with the addition of a bursting charge, and they also had a primitive match fuse which was ignited by the propellent charge. A German projectile of this type was invented by Zimmerman in 1573 in which the bursting charge filled half the container. In 1543 shell filled with "wild fire" were known in England, and the use of shell in Europe was on the increase. In 1579 Stephen Batory, king of Poland, sug gested the employment of red hot shot, but little use was made of the device. The idea persisted, however, and was fully ex ploited at the siege of Gibraltar in In 1596 Sebastian Halle suggested the idea of the modern time fuse and modern percussion fuses ; but the chemistry of the day could not provide the requisite chemicals, and the fuse of the time remained the simple iron tube filled with composition. During the 17th century attempts were made to improve fuses, and in 165o a primitive fuse was tried, based on the principle of a flint lock. It was not successful, and the gunner still awaited a satisfactory "percussion powder." In 1672 a gunner in the service of Van Galen, prince bishop of Munster, invented the carcass. It contained incendiary matter and had a primitive fuse.
This projectile developed into a spherical projectile with vents. Its use persisted until the 19th century, when it disappeared with muzzle loading ordnance. In 1681 bombs were fired at sea by the French at the bombardment of Algiers. During this period smoke shell made their appearance, being paper projectiles which re placed earlier smoke balls.
General improvement in ammunition occurred in the 18th century, and in 1784 Shrapnel invented the projectile which bears his name. It differed in principle from previous similar pro jectiles in that its charge was in reality an opening charge and was not intended to impart velocity to the contained bullets. The use of shell was becoming more general and was being ex tended to guns as well as mortars. The standard material was cast iron, but bronze, lead, brass and glass were also tried.
The 19th century witnessed enormous improvements in war material generally. In 1800 Howard isolated mercury fulminate, and shortly afterwards Forsyth patented a percussion mixture and Hawkins invented a percussion cap. The consequent de velopment of fuses was rapid. Percussion fuses were introduced about 1842 and improved means of ignition led to practicable time fuses of modern principle in 1864 and time and percussion fuses in 1867. The evolution of these types led logically to the modern fuse. In 1855 the introduction of Martin's shell, which was filled with molten iron, made red hot shot obsolete. Quilted grape and Caffin's grape were both in use but died out with muzzle-loading ordnance.
The introduction of rifled ordnance involved considerable changes in ammunition, and elongated projectiles were intro duced and were provided with means of rotation, such as lead coats, studs and gas checks, leading finally to the modern pro jectile with driving bands. The shell began gradually to oust the shot. In 1865 steel shot were introduced for use against iron clads, but owing to expense they were superseded by Palliser chilled iron shot in 5867. In 1887 forged steel armour-piercing shot were introduced and lingered on in various services until quite modern times, but all shot of this type have been largely super seded by armour piercing shell. The development of shell was rapid, and between 188o-1890 steel became the paramount material. The development of common high explosive and armour piercing shell now becomes a matter of modern history. Segment shell and ring shell were born and died. To sum up, the 19th century saw the gradual decline of shot and case shot and the rise of the modern shell.