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When did Cordite cease to be used in the .303
Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 11:38 am
by ovenpaa
I am sure I have read in the past that Cordite was adopted for service use around 1891 however can anyone tell me when its use ended for the .303 cartridge?
Re: When did Cordite cease to be used in the .303
Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 12:44 pm
by breacher
Its still being used in all military ammo according to McNabb and Ryan etc who always seem to mention the "smell of cordite in the air" at some point.
Re: When did Cordite cease to be used in the .303
Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 1:58 pm
by Rearlugs
Cordite as a small arms propellant was effectively dropped in 1956, when the 7.62mmx51 NATO round was adopted. Cordite was not part of the agreed NATO spec for SA ammunition, as only UK manufactured it.
The last batch of .303" ammunition loaded in UK with cordite appears to be 1959 ("RG 59" headstamp). Another run of .303" was made at RG in 1973, but this was MkVIIz loaded with with nitro powder.
South Africa made cordite ammunition as late as 1961 ("U61" headstamp). Its possible that India also made some cordite ammunition much later. IIRC the cordite used by these countries was of UK origin, and the supply dried up when the production line was scrapped.
Chopped cordite, as used in .380 revolver ammunition, also disappeared in the same timeframe.