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ss consists in mounting ten of the metal drums on a reeling machine similar to those used for yarns, and winding the ten cords on to one drum. This operation is known as "ten-stranding." Furthermore, six "ten-stranded" reels are afterwards wound upon one, and the "sixty-stranded" reel is then ready to be sent away, This is done in order to obtain a uniform blending of the material. With cordite of a larger diameter, the cord is cut into lengths of 12 inches. Every lot of cordite from each manufacturer has a consecutive number, numbers representing the size and one or more initial letters to identify the manufacturer. These regulations do not apply to the Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham Abbey. The finished cordite resembles a cord of gutta-percha, and its colour varies from light to dark brown. It should not look black or shrivelled, and should always possess sufficient elasticity to return to its original form after slight bending. Cordite is practically smokeless. On explosion a very thin vapour is produced, which is dissipated rapidly. This smokelessness can be understood from the fact that the products of combustion are nearly all non-condensible gases, and contain no solid products of combustion which would cause smoke. For the same muzzle velocity a smaller charge of cordite than gunpowder is required owing to the greater amount of gas produced. Cordite is very slow in burning compared to gunpowder. For firing blank cartridges cordite chips containing no vaseline is used. The rate at which cordite explodes depends in a measure upon the diameter of the cords, and the pressure developed upon its mechanical state. The sizes of cordite used are given by Colonel Barker, R.A., as follows:-- For the .303 rifle .0375 inch diameter. " 12 Pr. B.L. gun .05 " " " .075 " " 4.7-inch Q.F. gun .100 " " 6-inch Q.F. gun .300 " " heavy guns .40 to .50 " For rifles the cordite is used in bundles of sixty strands, in field-guns in lengths of 11 to 12 inches, and the thicker cordite is cut up into 14-inch lengths. Colonel Barker says that the effect of heat upon cordite is not greater as regards its shooting qualities than upon black powder, and in speaking of the effect that cordite has upon the guns in which it is used (R.A. Inst.) said that they had at Waltham Abbey a 4.7-inch Q.F. gun that had fired
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