DETERRING OF DOUBLE BASED BALL POWDER® WITH INORGANIC AND ORGANIC SALTS TO REPLACE DIBUTYLPHTHALATE AND PREVENT DETERRENT MIGRATION

摘要

In this effort, the Armaments Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC),along with Saint Mark’s Ball & Powder, examined the effects of surface coating, anddeterring double base BALL POWDER® Propellants. We employed a variety of organicand inorganic salts as either a surface coating or as a deterrent and compared them to grainsdeterred with dibutyl-phthalate (DBP). DBP is a toxic organic compound that is beingslowly phased out of production, and it has been shown to migrate over time, leading todecreases in ballistic efficiency of ball powders that have been stored for extended periodsof time. All samples were closed bombed to determine their relative force (RF) and relativequickness (RQ) in comparison to the DBP deterred ball powders and ensure that they aresafe to fire in a 7.62mm gun. All candidates that did not substantially exceed the RF andRQ of the baseline powders were then fired in 7.62mm rounds. Herein we present theballistic data for these gun firings. One inorganic sample demonstrated itself to be a drop inreplacement for DBP, because its ballistic profile matched perfectly to that of the DBPbaseline powder, even at a loading density 15% lower than that of the DBP baselinepowder. Furthermore, since the sample is inorganic, it should not migrate through the grainover time, thereby maintaining ballistic efficiency even after prolonged storage.