Cartridge receiving drum construction for gas-tight closure between the

Abstract

A cartridge receiving drum construction for providing gas-tight closure of a separation interstice between a gun barrel and cartridge receiving drum which is rotatably mounted in a housing of the gun adjacent the loading end of the barrel, comprising a drum having a plurality of through bores defining projectile guideways for receiving a cartridge which are alignable with the gun barrel. The end of the drum adjacent the gun barrel defines a front surface with a circular groove therein concentrically arranged around each projectile guideway. An elastic seal capable of withstanding a very high temperature is arranged in the groove and a plurality of relatively small diameter bores extend inwardly from the inner end of the groove and are connected laterally into a similar small diameter bore into the guideway at a spaced location from the front face of the drum barrel. The high pressure powder gases produced upon the ignition of the cartridge flow as one or more partial streams into the small bores which are circumferentially arranged around the guideway and floss through the bores into the grooves to form residual gas streams which deform the seal to ensure a sealing at one side of the groove and a backing at the other side. The groove has an outside diameter approxmately 8% larger than the largest case diameter of a cartridge to be fired.