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150-422: Squad automatic weapons usually fire the same cartridge (though heavier- bullet variants are preferred) as the assault rifles or battle rifles carried by other members of the unit. This reduces logistical requirements by making it only necessary to supply one type of service ammunition to a unit. These weapons are light enough to be carried and operated by one infantryman, unlike medium machine guns (such as

300-414: A competitive Olympic sport prior to World War I . For smoothbore weapons such as shotguns, small metallic balls known as shots are typically used, which is usually contained inside a semi-flexible, cup-like sabot called " wadding ". When fired, the wadding is launched from the gun as a payload-carrying projectile, loosens and opens itself up after exiting the barrel, and then inertially releases

450-422: A flash pan , to a metallic percussion cap mounted on top of a "nipple" or cone), to serve as a source of activation energy to set off the shot. Such loading procedures often require adding paper/cloth wadding and ramming down repeatedly with a rod to optimize the gas seal , and are thus clumsy and inconvenient, severely restricting the practical rate of fire of the weapon, leaving the shooter vulnerable to

600-410: A projectile ( bullet , shot , or slug ), a propellant substance ( smokeless powder , black powder substitute , or black powder ) and an ignition device ( primer ) within a metallic , paper , or plastic case that is precisely made to fit within the barrel chamber of a breechloading gun, for convenient transportation and handling during shooting. Although in popular usage the term "bullet"

750-460: A spring -loaded hammer to strike a percussion cap placed over a conical "nipple", which served as both an " anvil " against the hammer strike and a transfer port for the sparks created by crushing the cap, and was easier and quicker to load, more resilient to weather conditions, and more reliable than the preceding flintlocks. Modern primers are basically improved percussion caps with shock-sensitive chemicals (e.g. lead styphnate ) enclosed in

900-399: A "bottleneck" one, whose frontal portion near the end opening (known as the "case neck ") has a noticeably smaller diameter than the main part of the case ("case body "), with a noticeably angled slope ("case shoulder ") in between; or a "straight-walled" one, where there is no narrowed neck and the whole case looks cylindrical . The case shape is meant to match exactly to the chamber of

1050-465: A brass case can be work-hardened to withstand the high pressures, and allow for manipulation via extraction and ejection without rupturing. The neck and body portion of a brass case is easily annealed to make the case ductile enough to allow reshaping so that it can be handloaded many times, and fire forming can help accurize the shooting. Steel casing is used in some plinking ammunition, as well as in some military training ammunition (mostly from

1200-621: A brass pin projecting from the side and struck by the hammer. This pin also afforded the means of extracting the cartridge case. This cartridge was introduced in England by Lang, of Cockspur Street, London, about 1845. In the American Civil War (1861–1865) a breech-loading rifle, the Sharps , was introduced and produced in large numbers. It could be loaded with either a ball or a paper cartridge . After that war, many were converted to

1350-475: A bullet attached to the top. Flobert then made what he called " parlor guns " for this cartridge, as these rifles and pistols were designed to be shot in indoor shooting parlors in large homes. These 6mm Flobert cartridges do not contain any powder. The only propellant substance contained in the cartridge is the percussion cap. In English-speaking countries, the 6mm Flobert cartridge corresponds to .22 BB Cap and .22 CB Cap ammunition. These cartridges have

1500-479: A bullet in a paper cartridge. Thick paper is still known as " cartridge paper " from its use in these cartridges. Another source states the cartridge appeared in 1590. King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden had his troops use cartridges in the 1600s. The paper formed a cylinder with twisted ends; the ball was at one end, and the measured powder filled the rest. This cartridge was used with muzzle-loading military firearms, probably more often than for sporting shooting,

1650-419: A confined space—such as the cartridge casing (reinforced by the chamber wall) occluded from the front by the projectile (bullet, or wadding containing shots / slug ) and from behind by the primer (supported by the bolt / breechblock ). When the pressure builds up high enough to overcome the crimp friction between the projectile and the case, the projectile separates from the case and gets propelled down

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1800-424: A continuous taper on the case wall, helps the cartridge to line up concentrically with the bore axis, contributing to accuracy. The front opening of the case neck, which receives and fastens the bullet via crimping , is known as the case mouth . The closed-off rear end of the case body, which holds the primer and technically is the case base , is called the case head as it is the most prominent and frequently

1950-658: A direct and dangerous enemy and a "new combat target". It decided to send personnel abroad to engage in activities in opposition to China. In July 1978, the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party discussed possible military action against Vietnam in order to disrupt Soviet deployments and, two months later, PLA General Staff recommended punitive actions against Vietnam. By the end of July 1978, China ended all of its aid programs to Vietnam and recalled all of its experts from Vietnam. In September 1978,

2100-681: A license for his patent, and this is how the S&;W Model 1 saw the light of day in 1857. The patent didn't definitely expire until 1870, allowing Smith & Wesson competitors to design and commercialize their own revolving breech-loaders using metallic cartridges. Famous models of that time are the Colt Open Top (1871–1872) and Single Action Army "Peacemaker" (1873). But in rifles, the lever-action mechanism patents were not obstructed by Rollin White's patent infringement because White only held

2250-676: A lighter experimental 4.85mm cartridge, they were forced to redesign the weapon to take the 5.56mm NATO cartridge. The L85 IW ( Individual Weapon ) was the rifle version and was designed to replace the 9mm L2 Sterling SMG and 7.62mm L1A1 SLR Rifle . The L86 LSW ( Light Support Weapon ) was the automatic rifle version and was intended to replace the L4 BREN gun and supplement the FN MAG general-purpose machine gun , replacing it at section level. Teething problems, low quality parts, poor ergonomic design and an inability to be wielded left-handed made

2400-426: A modern gun must not only load and fire the piece but also provide a method of removing the spent case, which might require just as many added moving parts. Many malfunctions occur during this process, either through a failure to extract a case properly from the chamber or by allowing the extracted case to jam the action. Nineteenth-century inventors were reluctant to accept this added complication and experimented with

2550-692: A new attack wave was sent in with eight PLA divisions joining the battle. After capturing the northern heights above Lạng Sơn , the PLA surrounded and paused in front of the city in order to lure the VPA into reinforcing it with units from Cambodia. This was the main strategic ploy in the Chinese war plan as Deng did not want to risk escalating tensions with the Soviet Union. After three days of bloody house-to-house fighting , Lạng Sơn fell on 6 March. The PLA then took

2700-613: A patent concerning drilled cylinders and revolving mechanisms. Thus, larger caliber rimfire cartridges were soon introduced after 1857, when the Smith & Wesson .22 Short ammunition was introduced for the first time. Some of these rifle cartridges were used in the American Civil War, including the .44 Henry and 56-56 Spencer (both in 1860). However, the large rimfire cartridges were soon replaced by centerfire cartridges, which could safely handle higher pressures. In 1867,

2850-551: A plan for a proposed 1956 election meant to unify the partitioned Vietnam. Instead, the South held a separate election that was widely considered fraudulent, leading to continued internal conflict with communist factions led by the Viet Cong that intensified through the late 1950s. With supplies and support from the Soviet Union, North Vietnamese forces became directly involved in the ongoing guerrilla war by 1959 and openly invaded

3000-443: A quantity of shot (pellets) or an individual slug for shotguns ), and align it with the barrel bore to the front; it holds the primer at the back end, which receives an impact from a firing pin and is responsible for igniting the main propellant charge inside the case. While historically paper had been used in the earliest cartridges , almost all modern cartridges use metallic casing. The modern metallic case can either be

3150-611: A relatively low muzzle velocity of around 700 ft/s (210 m/s). French gunsmith Benjamin Houllier improved the Lefaucheux pinfire cardboard cartridge and patented in Paris in 1846, the first fully metallic pinfire cartridge containing powder in a metallic cartridge. He also included in his patent claims rim and centerfire primed cartridges using brass or copper casings. Houllier commercialised his weapons in association with

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3300-435: A round bullet and either brass or paper casing. The cartridge was loaded through the breech and fired with a needle. The needle-activated centerfire breech-loading gun would become a major feature of firearms thereafter. Pauly made an improved version, protected by a patent, on 29 September 1812. Probably no invention connected with firearms has wrought such changes in the principle of gun construction as those effected by

3450-427: A simple capsule, and the corresponding case has two small flash holes with a bulged bar in between, which serves as the "anvil" for the primer. Boxer primers, patented by Royal Artillery colonel Edward Mounier Boxer also in 1866, are more complex and have an internal tripedal "anvil" built into the primer itself, and the corresponding case has only a single large central flash hole. Commercially, Boxer primers dominate

3600-525: A small button-shaped capsule. In the early paper cartridges , invented not long after the percussion cap, the primer was located deep inside the cartridge just behind the bullet, requiring a very thin and elongated firing pin to pierce the paper casing. Such guns were known as needle guns , the most famous of which was decisive in the Prussian victory over the Austrians at Königgrätz in 1866. After

3750-495: A smaller hammer that had a hollow to fit on the nipple when released by the trigger. The shooter placed a percussion cap (now made of three parts of potassium chlorate , two of fulminate of mercury and powdered glass) on the nipple. The detonating cap thus invented and adopted brought about the invention of the modern cartridge case, and rendered possible the general adoption of the breech-loading principle for all varieties of rifles, shotguns, and pistols . This greatly streamlined

3900-438: A solid head of thicker metal, has been generally substituted. Sino-Vietnamese War Status quo ante bellum ; Both sides claim victory Second Third The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by other names ) was a brief conflict that occurred in early 1979 between China and Vietnam . China launched an offensive ostensibly in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978, which ended

4050-413: A specific cartridge type is tightly controlled and few types are interchangeable in any way. Exceptions do exist but generally, these are only where a shorter cylindrical rimmed cartridge can be used in a longer chamber, (e.g., .22 Short in .22 Long Rifle chamber, .32 H&R Magnum in .327 Federal Magnum chamber, and .38 Special in a .357 Magnum chamber). Centerfire primer type (Boxer or Berdan, see below)

4200-417: A squib load obstructing the barrel will generate dangerously high pressure, leading to a catastrophic failure and potentially causing severe injuries when the gun blows apart in the shooter's hands. Actor Brandon Lee 's infamous accidental death in 1993 was believed to be caused by an undetected squib that was dislodged and shot out by a blank . Beginning in the 1860s, early metallic cartridges (e. g. for

4350-419: A steel frizzen , or a shock-sensitive brass or copper percussion cap ( caplock ) placed over a conical-shaped cone piece with a hollow pipe to create sparks . When the primer powder starts combusting, the flame is transferred through an internal touch hole called a flash hole to provide activation energy for the main powder charge in the barrel. The disadvantage Is that the flash pan cAN still be exposed to

4500-543: A variety of caseless or self-consuming cartridges before finally accepting that the advantages of brass cases far outweighed this one drawback. The first integrated cartridge was developed in Paris in 1808 by the Swiss gunsmith Jean Samuel Pauly in association with French gunsmith François Prélat . Pauly created the first fully self-contained cartridges: the cartridges incorporated a copper base with integrated mercury fulminate primer powder (the major innovation of Pauly),

4650-451: A wadding, as the wadding obturates the bore better and typically slides less frictionally within the barrel. When a propellant is ignited and begins to combust , the resulting chemical reaction releases the chemical energy stored within. At the same time, a significant amount of gaseous products are released, which are highly energetic due to the exothermic nature of the reaction. These combustion gases become highly pressurized in

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4800-649: Is interchangeable, although not in the same case. Deviation in any of these specifications can result in firearm damage and, in some instances, injury or death. Similarly, the use of the wrong type of cartridge in any given gun can damage the gun, or cause bodily injury. Cartridge specifications are determined by several standards organizations, including SAAMI in the United States, and C.I.P. in many European states. NATO also performs its own tests for military cartridges for its member nations; due to differences in testing methods, NATO cartridges ( headstamped with

4950-479: Is known as its external ballistics , and its behavior upon impacting an object is known as its terminal ballistics . A bullet can be made of virtually anything (see below ), but lead is the traditional material of choice because of its high density, malleability , ductility , and low cost of production . However, at speeds greater than 300 m/s (980 ft/s), pure lead will melt more and deposit fouling in rifled bores at an ever-increasing rate. Alloying

5100-403: Is often used to refer to a complete cartridge, the correct usage only refers to the projectile. Cartridges can be categorized by the type of primer. This can be accomplished by igniting a small charge of an impact -sensitive explosive compound or by an electric-sensitive chemical mixture that is located: at the center of the case head ( centerfire ); or inside the rim ( rimfire ); or inside

5250-841: Is that propellant gas can blow back past the neck and leak into the chamber. Constituents of these gases condense on the (relatively cold) chamber wall, and this solid propellant residue can make extraction of fired cases difficult. This is less of a problem for small arms of the former Warsaw Pact nations, which were designed with much looser chamber tolerances than NATO weapons. Aluminum-cased cartridges are available commercially. These are generally not reloaded, as aluminum fatigues easily during firing and resizing. Some calibers also have non-standard primer sizes to discourage reloaders from attempting to reuse these cases. Plastic cases are commonly used in shotgun shells , and some manufacturers offer polymer -cased centerfire pistol and rifle cartridges. As firearms are projectile weapons ,

5400-558: Is time he got spanked" ( 小朋友不听话，该打打屁股了 ). Deng sought an endorsement from the United States in order to deter the Soviet Union from intervening when China launched a punitive attack against Vietnam. He informed Carter that China could not accept Vietnam's "wild ambitions" and was prepared to teach it a lesson. According to United States National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski , Carter reserved judgment, an action which Chinese diplomats interpreted as tacit approval. Deng returned to China on 8 February 1979, and on 9 February, made

5550-415: Is to cover the bare lead in a protective powder coat , as seen in some rimfire ammunitions. Another solution is to encase a lead core within a thin exterior layer of harder metal (e.g. gilding metal , cupronickel , copper alloys or steel), known as a jacketing . In modern days, steel, bismuth , tungsten , and other exotic alloys are sometimes used to replace lead and prevent release of toxicity into

5700-699: The Cold War period, the standard squad automatic weapon in the British Army was the FN Mag -derived L7. The most common squad automatic weapons in use today are derived from two basic patterns: the Kalashnikov-based RPK or the purpose-designed FN Minimi . The People's Liberation Army initially used the Type 56 LMG as the primary light machine gun to replace all of its obsolete WW2 LMGs. After

5850-607: The Colt Canada Light Support Weapon ) as their squad automatic weapon. All other branches use the FN Minimi for this role. The Russian support weapon concept was designed around providing one standard cartridge that could be used by the clip-fed rifle ( SKS ), magazine-fed assault rifle ( AK-47 ) and belt-fed light machine gun ( RPD ). The SKS and RPD were dropped as being less effective than hoped. The RPK, with its magazine and parts commonality with

6000-532: The Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company , Rollin White , had been the first in America to conceive the idea of having the revolver cylinder bored through to accept metallic cartridges ( circa 1852), with the first in the world to use bored-through cylinders probably having been Lefaucheux in 1845, who invented a pepperbox-revolver loaded from the rear using bored-through cylinders. Another possible claimant for

6150-550: The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , the remaining French acquiesced while waiting for the return of French forces to the region. The Kuomintang supported French restoration, but Viet Minh efforts towards independence were helped by Chinese communists under the Soviet Union's influence. The Soviet Union at first indirectly supported Vietnamese communists, but later directly supported Hồ Chí Minh. The Soviets nonetheless remained less supportive than China until after

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6300-699: The M1919 Browning ) that require a crew to operate at full effectiveness; or heavy machine guns (such as the M2 Browning or the DShK ) which fire more powerful cartridges but are also crew-served and typically also require a mounting platform to be operable. One of the first weapons used in this role was the Madsen machine gun . Although limited in today's terms, the Madsen was introduced in an era when

6450-687: The MG36 was never adopted by the German Army as the differences and benefits to the G36 were seen as marginal, resulting in the order being cancelled. The 5.56mm NATO MG4 is the standard platoon-level support weapon of the German Army, adopted in 2005. The 7.62mm NATO MG5 resembles the MG4 and is the new general-purpose machine gun of the German Army, adopted in 2015. In the 1980s the Italian military considered

6600-545: The Montigny mitrailleuse or the Snider–Enfield rifle ) were produced similarly to the paper cartridges, with sides made from thick paper, but with copper (later brass) foil supporting the base of the cartridge and some more details in it holding the primer. In the 1870s, brass foil covered all of the cartridge, and the technology to make solid cases, in which the metallic cartridges described below were developed, but before

6750-536: The Sino-Soviet split , during the time of Leonid Brezhnev when the Soviet Union became communist Vietnam's key ally. The war itself involved numerous events that had major impacts throughout Indochina. Two major conferences were held to bring about a resolution. Finally, on 20 July 1954, the Geneva Conference resulted in a political settlement to reunite the country, signed with support from China,

6900-562: The Sino-Vietnamese War , the PLA adopted the drum-fed Type 81 LMG for high mobility, which was later replaced by QJB-95 since the adoption of QBZ-95. However, the PLA changed back to belt-fed QJB-201 light machine guns since 2021. West Germany's original plan in the late 1980s was to adopt the new 5.56mm Heckler & Koch G41 assault rifle (a variant of the HK33) to replace the 7.62mm Heckler & Koch G3 battle rifle and

7050-563: The Soviet Union , its Cold War communist adversary, was unable to protect its Vietnamese ally. The Sino-Vietnamese War is known by various names in Chinese and Vietnamese. The neutral names for the war are 中越战争 (Sino-Vietnamese war) in Chinese and Chiến tranh biên giới Việt-Trung (Vietnamese-Chinese border war) in Vietnamese. The Chinese government refers to the war as the "Self-defensive war against Vietnam" ( 对越自卫反击战 ) or

7200-535: The Vietnam War . Intended originally as an automatic rifle capable of delivering suppressing " walking fire " in the advance, the BAR came to be used in the light machine gun role. During World War II , as the importance of having a source of mobile automatic fire increased, the number of BARs in a unit also increased, until in some units it represented 1 in 4 of the weapons present in a squad. During its long service in

7350-465: The former Soviet republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan), along with Russia and China. Steel is less expensive to make than brass, but it is far less corrosion-resistant and not feasible to reuse and reload. Military forces typically consider service small arms cartridge cases to be disposable, single-use devices. However,

7500-409: The gun barrel , imparting high kinetic energy from the propellant gases and accelerating the projectile to its muzzle velocity . The projectile motion driven by the propellant inside the gun is known as the internal ballistics . Because the main propellant charge are located deep inside the gun barrel and thus impractical to be directly lighted from the outside, an intermediate is needed to relay

7650-404: The handloader market due to the ease of depriming and the ability to transfer sparks more efficiently. Due to their small size and charge load, primers lack the power to shoot out the projectile by themselves, but can still put out enough energy to separate the bullet from the casing and push it partway into the barrel – a dangerous condition called a squib load . Firing a fresh cartridge behind

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7800-399: The ignition . In the earliest black powder muzzleloaders , a fuse was used to direct a small flame through a touch hole into the barrel, which was slow and subjected to disturbance from environmental conditions. The next evolution was to have a small separate charge of finer gunpowder poured into a flash pan , where it could start a "priming" ignition by an external source, when ignited

7950-681: The "Self-defensive counterattack against Vietnam" ( 对越自卫还击保卫边疆作战 ). The Vietnamese government calls it the "War against Chinese expansionism" ( Chiến tranh chống bành trướng Trung Hoa ). The Sino-Vietnamese War is also known as the Third Indochina War in Western historiography . Just as the First Indochina War—which emerged from the complex situation following World War II—and the Vietnam War both arose from

8100-589: The "expansive cartridge case". This invention has completely revolutionized the art of gun making, has been successfully applied to all descriptions of firearms and has produced a new and important industry: that of cartridge manufacture. Its essential feature is preventing gas from escaping the breech when the gun is fired, by means of an expansive cartridge case containing its own means of ignition. Previous to this invention shotguns and sporting rifles were loaded by means of powder flasks and shot bags or flasks, bullets, wads, and copper caps, all carried separately. One of

8250-411: The 1880s, it was far too expensive and time-consuming for mass production and the metallurgy was not yet perfected. To manufacture cases for cartridges, a sheet of brass is punched into disks. These disks go through a series of drawing dies . The disks are annealed and washed before moving to the next series of dies. The brass needs to be annealed to remove the work-hardening in the material and make

8400-522: The 2nd Corps, from the invasion forces of Cambodia to reinforce the defense of Hanoi . The conflict had a lasting impact on the relationship between China and Vietnam , and diplomatic relations between the two countries were not fully restored until 1991. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Sino-Vietnamese border was finalized. Although unable to deter Vietnam from ousting Pol Pot from Cambodia, China demonstrated that

8550-485: The 4.7mm Heckler & Koch G11 carbine to replace the 9mm IMI MP2 Uzi and Heckler & Koch MP5 . The end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany in 1990 forced everyone to scramble for a cheap alternative. The G36 family was created from a proof-of-concept prototype rechambered to fire the 5.56mm NATO cartridge. It is composed of an assault rifle (G36), light machine gun (MG36), assault carbine (G36K), and PDW (G36C). Though produced, presented and ordered,

8700-589: The British military musket (the Brown Bess ) in 1842, a quarter of a century after the invention of percussion powder and after an elaborate government test at Woolwich in 1834. The invention that made the percussion cap possible was patented by the Rev. A. J. Forsyth in 1807 and consisted of priming with a fulminating powder made of potassium chlorate , sulfur, and charcoal, which ignited by concussion. This invention

8850-569: The British war office adopted the Eley – Boxer metallic centerfire cartridge case in the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifles, which were converted to Snider-Enfield breech-loaders on the Snider principle. This consisted of a block opening on a hinge, thus forming a false breech against which the cartridge rested. The priming cap was in the base of the cartridge and was discharged by a striker passing through

9000-604: The CMEA and, on 3 November, the Soviet Union and Vietnam signed a 25-year mutual defense treaty, which made Vietnam the "linchpin" in the Soviet Union's "drive to contain China". (However, the Soviet Union had shifted from open animosity towards more normalized relations with China soon after.) Vietnam called for a special relationship between the three Indochinese countries, but the Khmer Rouge regime of Democratic Kampuchea rejected

9150-594: The Chinese, regardless of ethnicity. The Chinese received a significant number of defectors from the Thu Lao ethnic minority in Vietnam during the war. During the war China received as migrants the entire A Lù based population of the Phù Lá ethnic minority. China received so many defectors from the ethnic minorities in Vietnam that it raised shock among Vietnam which had to launch a new effort to re-assert dominance over

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9300-543: The Eastern Zone, Vietnam invaded Cambodia on 25 December 1978. By 7 January 1979, Vietnamese forces had entered Phnom Penh and the Khmer Rouge leadership had fled to western Cambodia. The offensive took the Chinese by surprise, and its Phnom Penh embassy fled to the jungle with the Khmer Rouge where it remained for 15 days. However, the fall of the Khmer Rouge was not a surprise, but from China's perspective, Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia threatened China's interests on

9450-563: The Gulf of Tonkin. By the mid-1970s, the relationship between China and Vietnam was strained. The tensions between the two countries developed in relation to a number of issues, including Vietnam's support of the Soviet side during the Sino-Soviet split, Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia, Vietnam's mistreatment of ethnic Chinese in Vietnam, and border conflicts. China grew concerned about

9600-640: The Indochina peninsula and its position among non-communist Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states of Southeast Asia. Members of ASEAN saw Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia as a blatant violation of international borders and an act of aggression. China supported the ethnic minority United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races against Vietnam during the FULRO insurgency against Vietnam . The Vietnamese executed collaborators who worked for

9750-626: The M60. Initially the contenders were built around a new intermediate cartridge, but the problems with approval for a new third American-backed standard NATO cartridge forced its abandonment. The program then selected between the control group weapons: the FN Minimi (XM249) and Heckler & Koch HK 23 (XM262) chambered for the improved 5.56mm SS109 round. The FN Minimi was adopted as the M249 because it could optionally fire from magazines from an integral magazine port rather than requiring an exchange of parts in

9900-703: The Madsen is still in limited use today. The standard machine guns of this era were of the Maxim type. Used by the British, Germans, and the Russians, these weapons were bulky, heavy, tripod-based, and water-cooled, they required a team of four men and, although excellent in the defence, were not suited to manoeuvre warfare. Another pioneering weapon in this role was the Browning automatic rifle (BAR). Introduced late in World War I , it remained in front-line service into

10050-495: The NATO cross) may present an unsafe combination when loaded into a weapon chambered for a cartridge certified by one of the other testing bodies. Bullet diameter is measured either as a fraction of an inch (usually in 1/100 or in 1/1000) or in millimeters. Cartridge case length can also be designated in inches or millimeters. Paper cartridges have been in use for centuries, with a number of sources dating their usage as far back as

10200-531: The On 15 February, the first day that China could have officially announced the termination of the 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance , Deng Xiaoping declared that China planned to conduct a limited attack on Vietnam. Thus, he further developed China's burgeoning cooperation with the United States against the Soviet Union and would take a similar stance later regarding Afghanistan . According to academic Suisheng Zhao , "[t]he proximity in

10350-538: The People's Liberation Army General Staff reached a consensus in favor of a military campaign against Vietnam. The General Staff viewed the goal of a campaign as to force Vietnam out of Cambodia, to check the Soviet Union's and Vietnam's regional ambitions in southeast Asia, and to stop Vietnamese encroachments on the border. The major breakdown in the Chinese view of Vietnam occurred in November 1978. Vietnam joined

10500-573: The SA80 suite unpopular. The magazine-fed L86 was found to not be as capable of sustained fire as a belt-fed system so it was initially supplemented by the L110A1 FN Minimi and then replaced by it. The L86's role was then changed to that of a designated marksman rifle . In United States usage, the M249 light machine gun is commonly referred to as the squad automatic weapon or SAW. In the 1970s

10650-565: The South in 1964. The United States played an ever-increasing role in supporting South Vietnam through the period. The U.S. had supported French forces in the First Indochina War, sent supplies and military advisers to South Vietnam throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, and eventually took over most of the fighting against both North Vietnam and the Viet Cong by the mid-1960s. By 1968, over 500,000 American troops were involved in

10800-552: The Soviet Union and China as a result of the Sino-Soviet split of 1956–1966, as many as 1.5 million Chinese troops were stationed along the Sino-Soviet border in preparation for a full-scale war against the Soviets. Vietnam joined the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) on June 28, 1978. Soviet military aid to Vietnam increased from $ 75-$ 125 million in 1977 to $ 600-$ 800 million in 1978. On November 3, 1978, Vietnam and

10950-421: The Soviet Union as capable of encircling its southern border. Beginning in fall 1978 and continuing through early 1979, Deng Xiaoping made a series of international trips, one goal of which was to gauge world opinion on the issues between China and Vietnam. On 29 January 1979, Deng Xiaoping visited the United States for the first time and told U.S. President Jimmy Carter : "The child is getting naughty, it

11100-649: The Soviet Union signed a formal military alliance. The Soviet Union supported Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia , launched in December 1978. Following the death of Mao in September 1976, the overthrow of the Gang of Four and the ascent of Deng Xiaoping , the Chinese leadership revised its own positions to become compatible with market aspects, denounced the Cultural Revolution , and collaborated with

11250-475: The Soviet Union's interpretation of Marxism–Leninism , in particular Khrushchev's support for peaceful co-existence and its interpretation. This led to increasingly hostile relations, and eventually the Sino-Soviet split . From here, Chinese communists played a decreasing role in helping their former allies because the Viet Minh did not support China against the Soviets. Following worsening relations between

11400-514: The Soviet Union, and Western European powers. While the Soviet Union played a constructive role in the agreement, it again was not as involved as China. The U.S. did not sign the agreement and swiftly moved to back South Vietnam . The Chinese Communist Party and the Viet Minh had a long history. During the initial stages of the First Indochina War with France, the recently founded communist People's Republic of China continued

11550-563: The Soviet Union. On 17 February 1979, a People's Liberation Army (PLA) force of about 200,000 troops supported by 200 Type 59 , Type 62 , and Type 63 tanks entered northern Vietnam in the PLA's first major combat operation since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The PLA invasion was conducted in two directions: western and eastern Vietnam quickly mobilized all its main forces in Cambodia, southern Vietnam and central Vietnam to

11700-527: The Soviet mission to expand communism. Therefore, they aided the Viet Minh and became the connector between Soviets and the Viet Minh. After the death of Joseph Stalin in March 1953, relations between the Soviet Union and China began to deteriorate. Mao Zedong believed the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had made a serious error in his Secret Speech denouncing Stalin in February 1956, and criticized

11850-604: The US against the Soviet Union. As France withdrew from a provisionally divided Vietnam in late 1954, the United States increasingly stepped in to support the South Vietnamese leaders due to the Domino theory , which theorized that if one nation would turn to communism, the surrounding nations were likely to fall like dominoes and become communist as well. The Soviet Union and North Vietnam became important allies together due to

12000-449: The US military, it was pivotal in the evolution of U.S. fireteam tactics and doctrine that continues to the present day. Modern squad automatic weapons (such as the RPK and L86 ) are modified assault rifles or battle rifles (e.g. FN FAL 50.41 and M14A1 ) that may have increased ammunition capacity and heavier barrels to withstand continued fire and will almost always have a bipod. In

12150-611: The United States began realizing that it might have to fight a conflict in the deserts and mountains of the Middle East or Near East rather than the jungles of Asia or forests of Europe and Eurasia. The Squad Automatic Weapon program was designed to create an intermediate weapon between the M16 rifle and M60 machine gun . It would have to fire tracer ammunition out to a visible range of 800 meters or more, be capable of accurate high-volume sustained fire, and be lighter and more reliable than

12300-550: The United States in the early 1970s, culminating in high level meetings with Henry Kissinger and later Richard Nixon . These meetings contributed to a re-orientation of Chinese foreign policy toward the United States . Although the Vietnamese Communists and the Khmer Rouge had previously cooperated, the relationship deteriorated when Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot came to power and established Democratic Kampuchea on 17 April 1975. The People's Republic of China , on

12450-615: The Vichy administration and forces taking control of Indochina and establishing their own puppet administration, the Empire of Vietnam . The Japanese surrender in August 1945 created a power vacuum in Indochina, as the various political factions scrambled for control. The events leading to the First Indochina War are subject to historical dispute. When the Việt Minh hastily sought to establish

12600-671: The Vietnam War. Due to a lack of clear military success and facing increasingly strident opposition to the war in the U.S., American forces began a slow withdrawal in 1969 while attempting to bolster South Vietnam's military so that they could take over the fighting. In accordance with the Paris Peace Accords by 29 March 1973 all U.S. combat forces had left South Vietnam, however North Vietnamese combat forces were allowed to remain in place. North Vietnam attacked South Vietnam in early 1975 and South Vietnam fell on 30 April 1975. The People's Republic of China started talks with

12750-455: The amount of attainable pressure inside the case, which in turn influences the accelerative capacity of the projectile. Wildcat cartridges are often made by reshaping the case of an existing cartridge. Straight-sided cartridges are less prone to rupturing than tapered cartridges , in particular with higher pressure propellant when used in blowback-operated firearms. In addition to case shape, rifle cartridges can also be grouped according to

12900-722: The appointment of its consul general to Ho Chi Minh City and informed Vietnam that it must close three of its consulates in China. On 8 July 1978, the General Political Bureau of the Vietnamese People's Army released orders to adopt an offensive strategy against China, including attacking and counterattacking within and beyond the border. Two weeks later, the National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam described China as

13050-502: The base AK-47, was more effective. It replaced the RPD as soon as manufacturing techniques allowed it to be mass-produced. The SA80 program was designed to create a family of light assault weapons that had a commonality of parts, could use the same ammunition and magazines, and would replace the UK military's collection of submachine guns, rifles, and light machine guns. Originally designed around

13200-476: The base of the cartridge being ripped or bitten off by the soldier, the powder poured into the barrel, and the paper and bullet rammed down the barrel. In the Civil War era cartridge, the paper was supposed to be discarded, but soldiers often used it as a wad. To ignite the charge an additional step was required where a finer-grained powder called priming powder was poured into the pan of the gun to be ignited by

13350-590: The bored-through cylinder is a Frenchman by the name of Perrin, who allegedly produced in 1839 a pepperbox revolver with a bored-through cylinder to order. Other possible claimants include Devisme of France in 1834 or 1842 who claimed to have produced a breech-loading revolver in that period though his claim was later judged as lacking in evidence by French courts and Hertog & Devos and Malherbe & Rissack of Belgium who both filed patents for breech-loading revolvers in 1853. However, Samuel Colt refused this innovation. White left Colt, went to Smith & Wesson to rent

13500-420: The brass malleable again ready for the next series of dies. Manufacturing bullet jackets is similar to making brass cases: there is a series of drawing steps with annealing and washing. Critical cartridge specifications include neck size, bullet weight and caliber , maximum pressure, headspace , overall length, case body diameter and taper, shoulder design, rim type , etc. Generally, every characteristic of

13650-458: The breech block. Other European powers adopted breech-loading military rifles from 1866 to 1868, with paper instead of metallic cartridge cases. The original Eley-Boxer cartridge case was made of thin-coiled brass—occasionally these cartridges could break apart and jam the breech with the unwound remains of the case upon firing. Later the solid-drawn, centerfire cartridge case, made of one entire solid piece of tough hard metal, an alloy of copper, with

13800-415: The cartridge its shape and serves as the integrating housing for other functional components, it acts as a container for the propellant powders and also serves as a protective shell against the elements; it attaches the projectile either at the front end of the cartridge ( bullets for pistols , submachine guns , rifles , and machine guns ) or inside of the cartridge ( wadding / sabot containing either

13950-444: The case dimensions of a cartridge, this is usually referring to the cartridge's overall length (COL), which in turn dictates the minimal receiver size and operating space ( bolt travel) needed by the action , into either "mini-action", "short-action", "long-action" ("standard-action"), or " magnum -action" categories. The most popular material used to make cartridge cases is brass due to its good corrosion resistance . The head of

14100-770: The case of some assault rifles, such as the H&;K G36 or Steyr AUG , the SAW is simply the standard rifle with a few parts replaced. However, the Austrian Army, though issuing the Steyr AUG rifle, does not issue the HBAR (heavy barrel) variant. Instead, the 7.62mm caliber MG74, a derivative of WW2-era German MG 42 , is issued. Light machine guns , either belt-fed or magazine-fed, may be used as squad automatic weapons, as may general-purpose machine guns ; for example, during most of

14250-418: The chamber when pulled by the extractor . The spent cartridge, with its projectile and propellant gone but the case still containing a used-up primer, then gets ejected from the gun to clear room for a subsequent new round. A modern cartridge consists of four main components: the case , the projectile , the propellant , and the primer . The main defining component of the cartridge is the case, which gives

14400-437: The chamber, the cartridge case obturates all other directions except the bore to the front, reinforced by a breechblock or a locked bolt from behind, designating the forward direction as the path of least resistance . When the trigger is pulled, the sear disengages and releases the hammer / striker , causing the firing pin to impact the primer embedded in the base of the cartridge. The shock-sensitive chemical in

14550-690: The contained shots as a hail of sub-projectiles. Shotgun shots are usually made from bare lead, though copper/ zinc – coated steel balls (such as those used by BB guns ) can also be used. Lead pollution of wetlands has led to the BASC and other organizations campaigning for the phasing out of traditional lead shot. There are also unconventional projectile fillings such as bundled flechettes , rubber balls , rock salt and magnesium shards, as well as non-lethal specialty projectiles such as rubber slugs and bean bag rounds . Solid projectiles (e.g. slugs , baton rounds , etc.) are also shot while contained within

14700-895: The control of the French. The French landed in Hanoi by March 1946 and in November of that year they ousted the Viet Minh from the city. Soon thereafter, the Viet Minh began a guerrilla war against the French Union forces, beginning the first Indochina War. Vietnam first became a French colony when France invaded in 1858. By the 1880s, the French had expanded their sphere of influence in Southeast Asia to include all of Vietnam, and by 1893 both Laos and Cambodia had become French colonies as well. Rebellions against French colonial power were common up to World War I . The European war heightened revolutionary sentiment in Southeast Asia, and

14850-417: The earliest efficient modern cartridge cases was the pinfire cartridge , developed by French gunsmith Casimir Lefaucheux in 1836. It consisted of a thin weak shell made of brass and paper that expanded from the force of the explosion. This fit perfectly in the barrel and thus formed an efficient gas check. A small percussion cap was placed in the middle of the base of the cartridge and was ignited by means of

15000-416: The elements. In modern self-loading firearms , the cartridge case also enables the action mechanism to use part of the propellant 's energy (carried inside the cartridge itself) and cyclically load new rounds of ammunition to allow quick repeated firing. To perform a firing, the round is first inserted into a "ready" position within the chamber aligned with the bore axis (i.e. "in battery "). While in

15150-743: The environment. In armor-piercing bullets , very hard and high-density materials such as hardened steel , tungsten , tungsten carbide , or depleted uranium are used for the penetrator core. Non-lethal projectiles with very limited penetrative and stopping powers are sometimes used in riot control or training situations, where killing or even wounding a target at all would be undesirable. Such projectiles are usually made from softer and lower-density materials, such as plastic or rubber . Wax bullets (such as those used in Simunition training) are occasionally used for force-on-force tactical trainings , and pistol dueling with wax bullets used to be

15300-607: The ethnic minorities and classify them. Post Vietnam War, an insurgency against Vietnam lasted among the indigenous Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesians of the Central Highlands. Assistance was sought from China by the Hmong ethnic minority. The border was frequently crossed by Chinese, Lao, Kinh, Hmong, Yao, Nung, and Tai. The Laotian Hmong and FULRO were both supported against Vietnam by China and Thailand. In February 1976, Vietnam implemented registration programs in

15450-470: The fact that if South Vietnam was successfully taken over by North Vietnam, then communism in East Asia would find its strategic position bolstered. In the eyes of the People's Republic of China, the growing Soviet-Vietnamese relationship was a disturbing development; they feared an encirclement by the less-than-hospitable Soviet sphere of influence. The United States and the Soviet Union could not agree on

15600-534: The fastening friction between the projectile (e.g. bullet) and the case neck, the projectile will detach from the case and, pushed by the expanding high-pressure gases behind it, move down the bore and out the muzzle at extremely high speed . After the bullet exits the barrel, the gases are released to the surroundings as ejectae in a loud blast , and the chamber pressure drops back down to ambient level . The case, which had been elastically expanded by high pressure, contracts slightly, which eases its removal from

15750-659: The field like the HK23. The Infantry automatic rifle program was launched by the United States Marine Corps in 2005. Its task was to find a replacement for the heavy and cumbersome M249 SAW that was serving as the Squad Automatic weapon in a fireteam at the time. Two of the weapons in the competition were the FN SCAR HAMR and a slightly modified HK416 . The weapon chosen to replace the M249

15900-542: The final decision to invade Vietnam. On 11 February, China issued orders to the Guangxi and Yunnan military commands to launch the attack on 17 February. Three days later, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issued a notice to provincial party organizations, military regions, and government ministries, announcing and explaining its view of the justifications for the upcoming attack on Vietnam.

16050-460: The firing mechanism. The evolving nature of warfare required a firearm that could load and fire more rapidly, resulting in the flintlock musket (and later the Baker rifle), in which the pan was covered by furrowed steel. This was struck by the flint and fired the gun. In the course of loading, a pinch of powder from the cartridge would be placed into the pan as priming, before the rest of the cartridge

16200-406: The flame passed through a small hole in the side of the barrel to ignite the main gunpowder charge. The last evolution was to use a small metallic cap filled with a shock sensitive explosive compound that would ignite with a hammer strike. The source of ignition could be a burning slow match ( matchlock ) placed onto a touch hole , a piece of pyrite ( wheellock )/ flint ( flintlock ) striking

16350-444: The gun that fires it, and the "neck", "shoulder", and "body" of a bottleneck cartridge have corresponding counterparts in the chamber known as the "chamber neck", "chamber shoulder", and "chamber body". Some cartridges, like the .470 Capstick , have what is known as a "ghost shoulder" which has a very slightly protruding shoulder, and can be viewed as a something between a bottleneck and straight-walled case. A ghost shoulder, rather than

16500-556: The gunsmiths Blanchard or Charles Robert. In the United States, in 1857, the Flobert cartridge inspired the .22 Short , specially conceived for the first American revolver using rimfire cartridges, the Smith & Wesson Model 1 . A year before, in 1856, the LeMat revolver was the first American breech-loading firearm, but it used pinfire cartridges, not rimfire. Formerly, an employee of

16650-511: The idea of adopting a heavy-barrelled magazine-fed 5.56mm automatic rifle. It was to accompany the 5.56mm Beretta AR70/90 assault rifle and supplement the 7.62mm MG 42/59 general purpose machine gun. A rethinking of the concept led to their adoption of the belt-fed FN Minimi instead. The Netherlands Marine Corps is the only part of the Dutch military to use the LOAWNLD (an updated version of

16800-614: The idea. On 8 December 1978, the Central Military Commission ordered the Guangzhou Military Region and Kunming Military Region to prepare for military action against Vietnam by 10 January 1979. On 25 December 1978, Vietnam invaded Democratic Kampuchea, overrunning most of the country, deposing the Khmer Rouge, and installing Heng Samrin as the head of the new Cambodian government. The move further antagonized China, which now viewed

16950-579: The indecisive aftermath of political relations, the Third Indochina War again followed the unresolved problems of the earlier wars. The major allied victors of World War II , the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, all agreed that the area belonged to the French. As the French did not have the means to immediately retake Indochina, the major powers agreed that the British would take control and troops would occupy

17100-570: The independence-minded population rallied around revolutionaries such as Hồ Chí Minh and others, including royalists. Prior to their attack on Pearl Harbor , the Japanese occupied French Indochina , but left civil administration to the Vichy French administration. On 9 March 1945, fearing that the Vichy French were about to switch sides to support the Allies, the Japanese overthrew

17250-486: The issues. Border disputes between the two countries were significant in the 1970s. One hundred sixty-four locations on the land border totaling 227 square kilometers were disputed. Because there was not yet clear border demarcation, the countries engaged in a pattern of retaliatory land grabs and violence. The number of border skirmishes increased yearly from 125 in 1974 to 2,175 in 1978. Two rounds of bilateral negotiations on border issues were unsuccessful. While

17400-484: The late 14th and early 15th centuries. Historians note their use by soldiers of Christian I, Elector of Saxony and his son in the late 16th century, while the Dresden Armoury has evidence dating their use to 1591. Capo Bianco wrote in 1597 that paper cartridges had long been in use by Neapolitan soldiers. Their use became widespread by the 17th century. The 1586 round consisted of a charge of powder and

17550-421: The lead with a small percentage of tin or antimony can reduce such fouling, but grows less effective as velocities are increased. A cup made of harder metal (e.g. copper), called a gas check , is often placed at the base of a lead bullet to decrease lead deposits by protecting the rear of the bullet against melting when fired at higher pressures, but this too does not work at higher velocities. A modern solution

17700-442: The lower end of the power spectrum, although due to the low manufacturing cost some of them (e.g. .22 Long Rifle ) are among the most popular and prolific ammunitions currently being used. Centerfire primers are a separately manufactured component, seated into a central recess at the case base known as the primer pocket , and have two types: Berdan and Boxer. Berdan primers, patent by American inventor Hiram Berdan in 1866, are

17850-453: The mainstream primer designs, while the pinfire also still exists but only in rare novelty miniature guns and a few very small blank cartridges designed as noisemakers. In rimfire ammunitions, the primer compound is moulded integrally into the interior of the protruding case rim , which is crushed between the firing pin and the edge of the barrel breech (serving as the "anvil"). These ammunitions are thus not reloadable , and are usually on

18000-409: The mass of the cartridges can affect how much ammunition a soldier can carry, so the lighter steel cases do have a logistic advantage. Conversely, steel is more susceptible to contamination and damage so all such cases are varnished or otherwise sealed against the elements. One downside caused by the increased strength of steel in the neck of these cases (compared to the annealed neck of a brass case)

18150-438: The metallic cartridge was invented, the primer was relocated backward to the base of the case, either at the center of the case head ( centerfire ), inside the rim ( rimfire ), inside a cup-like concavity of the case base (cupfire), in a pin-shaped sideways projection ( pinfire ), in a lip-like flange ( lipfire ), or in a small nipple-like bulge at the case base ( teat-fire ). Today, only the centerfire and rimfire have survived as

18300-399: The middle of the front also resulted in Vietnamese defeats. The Chinese also captured the far northeastern provincial capital, Mong Cai, analysts said. According to Vietnam, since January 1979 Chinese forces performed numerous reconnaissance activities across the border and made 230 violations into Vietnamese land. To prepare for a possible Chinese invasion, the Central Military Commission of

18450-507: The next day that China was prepared for a full-scale war against the Soviet Union; in preparation for this conflict, China put all of its troops along the Sino-Soviet border on an emergency war alert, set up a new military command in Xinjiang , and evacuated an estimated 300,000 civilians from the Sino-Soviet border. In addition, the bulk of China's active forces (as many as one-and-a-half million troops) were stationed along China's border with

18600-437: The north. The PLA quickly advanced about 15–20 kilometres into Vietnam, with fighting mainly occurring in the provinces of Cao Bằng , Lào Cai and Lạng Sơn . The Vietnamese avoided mobilizing their regular divisions, and held back some 300,000 troops for the defence of Hanoi. The People's Army of Vietnam (VPA) tried to avoid direct combat and often used guerrilla tactics. The initial PLA attack soon lost its momentum and

18750-605: The northern border. From 18 to 25 February, the 327th Infantry Division of Military District 3 and the 337th Infantry Division of Military District 4 were deployed to join Military District 1 for the defense of northwestern region. From 6 to 11 March the Second Corp (Huong Giang Corp) stationed in Cambodia was deployed back to Hanoi. The 372nd Air Division in central Vietnam as well as the 917th, 935th and 937th Air Regiments in southern Vietnam were quickly deployed to

18900-541: The other hand, also supported the Maoist Khmer Rouge against Lon Nol's regime during the Cambodian Civil War and its subsequent take-over of Cambodia. China provided extensive political, logistical and military support for the Khmer Rouge during its rule. After numerous clashes along the border between Vietnam and Cambodia, and with encouragement from Khmer Rouge defectors fleeing purges of

19050-630: The outside, making it difficult (or even impossible) to fire the gun in rainy or humid conditions as wet gunpowder burns poorly. After Edward Charles Howard discovered fulminates in 1800 and the patent by Reverend Alexander John Forsyth expired in 1807, Joseph Manton invented the precursor percussion cap in 1814, which was further developed in 1822 by the English-born American artist Joshua Shaw , and caplock fowling pieces appeared in Regency era England. These guns used

19200-418: The primer then creates a jet of sparks that travels into the case and ignites the main propellant charge within, causing the powders to deflagrate (but not detonate ). This rapid exothermic combustion yields a mixture of highly energetic gases and generates a very high pressure inside the case, often fire-forming it against the chamber wall. When the pressure builds up sufficiently to overcome

19350-450: The projectile is the effector component of the cartridge, and is actually responsible for reaching, impacting, and exerting damage onto a target. The word "projectile" is an umbrella term that describes any type of kinetic object launched into ballistic flight , but due to the ubiquity of rifled firearms shooting bullets, the term has become somewhat a technical synonym for bullets among handloaders . The projectile's motion in flight

19500-400: The projectile out of the barrel is called a squib . The cartridge was invented specifically for breechloading firearms. Prior to its invention, the projectiles and propellant were carried separately and had to be individually loaded via the muzzle into the gun barrel before firing, then have a separate ignitor compound (from a burning slow match , to a small charge of gunpowder in

19650-448: The reloading procedure and paved the way for semi- and full-automatic firearms. However, this big leap forward came at a price: it introduced an extra component into each round – the cartridge case – which had to be removed before the gun could be reloaded. While a flintlock, for example, is immediately ready to reload once it has been fired, adopting brass cartridge cases brought in the problems of extraction and ejection. The mechanism of

19800-757: The rule of the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge . The conflict lasted for about a month, with China withdrawing its troops in March 1979. In February 1979, Chinese forces launched a surprise invasion of northern Vietnam and quickly captured several cities near the border . On 6   March of that year, China declared that its punitive mission had been accomplished. Chinese troops then withdrew from Vietnam. However, Vietnam continued to occupy Cambodia until 1989, suggesting that China failed to achieve its stated aim of dissuading Vietnam from involvement in Cambodia. However, China's operation at least successfully forced Vietnam to withdraw some units, namely

19950-417: The same cartridge concept as found in small arms . In other cases, the artillery shell is separate from the propellant charge. A cartridge without a projectile is called a blank ; one that is completely inert (contains no active primer and no propellant) is called a dummy ; one that failed to ignite and shoot off the projectile is called a dud ; and one that ignited but failed to sufficiently push

20100-404: The second round of negotiations, the August 1978 Youyi Pass Incident occurred, in which the Vietnamese army and police expelled 2,500 refugees across the border into China. Vietnamese authorities beat and stabbed refugees during the incident, including 9 Chinese civilian border workers. After the second round of negotiations failed, China began conducting overflights of the border area and of

20250-417: The south while Nationalist Chinese forces would move in from the north. Nationalist Chinese troops entered the country to disarm Japanese troops north of the 16th parallel on 14 September 1945. The parallel divided Indochina into Chinese and British controlled zones (see Timeline of World War II (1945) ). The British landed in the south and rearmed the small body of interned French forces as well as parts of

20400-546: The south. Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam were required to adopt Vietnamese citizenship or leave the country. In early 1977, Vietnam implemented what it described as a purification policy in its border areas to keep Chinese border residents to the Chinese side of the border. Following another discriminatory policy introduced in March 1978, a large number of Chinese fled from Vietnam to southern China. China and Vietnam attempted to negotiate issues related to Vietnam's treatment of ethnic Chinese, but these negotiations failed to resolve

20550-460: The southern heights above Lạng Sơn and occupied Sa Pa . The PLA claimed to have crushed several of the VPA regular units. Supporting attacks were also conducted by the PLA at Quảng Ninh Province in the Battle of Mong Cai and Battle of Cao Ba Lanh but were unsuccessful. However, Bangkok analysts gave a completely different count, heavy Vietnamese resistance near Lao Cai in the west and Cao Bang in

20700-455: The standard infantry rifle was a bolt-action repeater with fixed magazines reloaded with single rounds or chargers ; sustained rapid fire with these weapons could be maintained only for very short periods of time. The Madsen was capable of fully automatic fire; despite having only limited magazine capacity, this was still more than that of the infantry rifle, and it was of the quick change detachable box magazine type. Though over 100 years old,

20850-407: The strong Soviet influence in Vietnam, fearing that Vietnam could become a pseudo- protectorate of the Soviet Union. Vietnam's claim to be the world's third largest military power following its victory in the Vietnam War also increased Chinese apprehensions. In the Chinese view, Vietnam was pursuing a regional hegemonic policy in an attempt to control Indochina. In June 1978, China rescinded

21000-412: The surrendered Japanese forces to aid in retaking southern Vietnam, as there were not enough British troops immediately available. On the urging of the Soviet Union, Ho Chi Minh initially attempted to negotiate with the French, who were slowly reestablishing their control across the area, although still under British control until hostilities had ceased. Once hostilities had ended, the British handed over

21150-667: The territory to the French. In January 1946, the Viet Minh won elections across central and northern Vietnam. On 6 March 1946, Ho signed an agreement allowing French forces to replace Nationalist Chinese forces, in exchange for French recognition of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a "free" republic within the French Union , with the specifics of such recognition to be determined by future negotiation. British forces departed on 26 March 1946, leaving Vietnam in

21300-412: The threat of close combat (particularly cavalry charges ) as well as complicating the logistics of ammunition. The primary purpose of using a cartridge is to offer a handy pre-assembled "all-in-one" package that is convenient to handle and transport, easily loaded into the breech (rear end) of the barrel, as well as preventing potential propellant loss, contamination or degradation from moisture and

21450-534: The timing of the military thrust against Vietnam, was to take advantage of the normalization to bluff the Soviets with a nonexistent US endorsement." The reason cited for the attack was to support China's ally, the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia, in addition to the mistreatment of Vietnam's ethnic Chinese minority and the Vietnamese occupation of the Spratly Islands which were claimed by China. To prevent Soviet intervention on Vietnam's behalf, Deng warned Moscow

21600-442: The use of metal cartridges. The development by Smith & Wesson (among many others) of revolver handguns that used metal cartridges helped establish cartridge firearms as the standard in the United States by the late 1860s and early 1870s, although many continue to use percussion revolvers well after that. Most of the early all-metallic cartridges were of the pinfire and rimfire types. The first centerfire metallic cartridge

21750-455: The walls on the fold of the case base that is shaped like a cup (cupfire); or in a sideways projection that is shaped like a pin ( pinfire ) or a lip (lipfire); or in a small bulge shaped like a nipple at the case base ( teatfire ). Only small-caliber rimfire cartridges and centerfire cartridges have survived into the modern day. Military and commercial producers continue to pursue the goal of caseless ammunition . Some artillery ammunition uses

21900-463: The widest part of the case. There is a circumferential flange at the case head called a rim , which provides a lip for the extractor to engage. Depending on whether and how the rim protrudes beyond the maximum case body diameter, the case can be classified as either "rimmed", "semi-rimmed", "rimless", "rebated", or "belted". The shape of a bottleneck cartridge case (e.g. body diameter, shoulder slant angle and position, and neck length) also affects

22050-404: Was gradually developed, and used, first in a steel cap, and then in a copper cap, by various gunmakers and private individuals before coming into general military use nearly thirty years later. The alteration of the military flint-lock to the percussion musket was easily accomplished by replacing the powder pan with a perforated nipple and by replacing the cock or hammer that held the flint with

22200-419: Was invented by Jean Samuel Pauly in the first decades of the 19th century. However, although it was the first cartridge to use a form of obturation , a feature integral to a successful breech-loading cartridge, Pauly died before it was converted to percussion cap ignition. Frenchman Louis-Nicolas Flobert invented the first rimfire metallic cartridge in 1845. His cartridge consisted of a percussion cap with

22350-416: Was rammed down the barrel, providing charge and wadding. Later developments rendered this method of priming unnecessary, as, in loading, a portion of the charge of powder passed from the barrel through the vent into the pan, where it was held by the cover and hammer. The next important advance in the method of ignition was the introduction of the copper percussion cap . This was only generally applied to

22500-545: Was the modified HK416, later designated the M27 IAR . The M249 SAW is still in use as a squad automatic weapon by the US Army . In 2019, US Army launched Next Generation Squad Weapon Program to find replacement for M249 SAW and replacement for 5.56×45mm NATO round. There are three competitors: Cartridge (firearms) A cartridge , also known as a round , is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging

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