OCR Text |
Show METALUSEDINTHE WAR MUNITIONS The demands of manufacturers of shrapnel and other shells and rifle cartridges constitute an Important Item of consumption In copper, spelter spel-ter and other metals. The metals needed to fill the war orders already placed may be estimated at over 10 per cent of last year's copper production produc-tion of the United States, about 7 per cent of the spelter production, and nearly 20 per cent of the lead production. produc-tion. A British lS-pounder, or 3 3-inch caliber shrapnel, requires 5 pounds 9 7-8 ounces of brass, the various brass parts and their weight being-Cartridge being-Cartridge case, 3 pounds 1 ounce, primer pri-mer -1 ounces, fuses 1 pound 7 5-8 ounces, fuse socket 8 1-2 ounces, fuse covei 2 ounces, and tube 2 3-4 ounces; total, 5 pounds 9 7-S ounces. Of this amount of brass, two-thirds is copper and one-third spelter (in some cases the copper content runs up to 70 per cent) so hat the'-'ainount of copper used In making the brass parts for one of these shells is very nearly 3 3-4 pounds. A small copper band around the shell adds 4 3-4 ounces, making the total copper 4.04 pounds. Spelter consumption per shell of Mils size is a shade under 1 pound 14 ounces, or 1.87 pounds. Lead bullets weighing 7 92 pounds, mid composed of seven parts lead to one of antimony, constitute the metal load of the projective, so that each shrapnel requires G.93 pounds of lead and .99 of a pound of antimony. Estimating the total orders for shrapnel and other shells placed here by Europe at 25.000,000 shells, these orders would call for a total of 101,-000.000 101,-000.000 pounds of copper, 46.750,000 pounds of spelter and 173,250,000 pounds of lead. The metal consumption actually Is larger, and a fair proportion of the shells placed are 4.7-lnch howitzer shells, taking more brass; and there are also some 6-Inch, 7 1-2-inch and probably 9-inch shells being made. Tho metnl consumption of shells varies va-ries as the cube of their diameter, a 6-inch shell, for instance, requiring eight times as much metal as a 3-inch of the same type. Ccpper refinery production in the United States, in 1914. amounted to 1,050,000.000 pounds. On this basis tr;e takings for shell manufacture would require nearly 10 per cent of output. Production, however, will be increased this year. Spelter production In 1914 was 721.-140,000 721.-140,000 pounds, the takings for shell manufacture thus representing about G 1-2 per cent of last year's output, which will also be higher in 1915. Lead production was 925,000.000 pounds, the takings for shells representing repre-senting nearly 19 per cent of last year's output No consideration is taken in these calculations of the other war needs of metal. Rifle cartridges, for instance, in-stance, are composed mainly of copper, cop-per, there being one pound of the red metal used in making twenty-four Lebol cartridges, a type widely used by the French army Every 125 of these cartridges made consume one pound of spelter, and a small amount of nickel. Steel consumption per shell varies more widely with the different types, and presents more difficulties in calculating. cal-culating. A finished 3.3-inch shell contains 6 pounds 15 1-4 ounces of steel, the steel shell weighing 6 pounds 5 3-4 ounces and the diaphragm dia-phragm 9 1-2 ounces. If the shell la made from a steel bar, the weight of this is about 17 pounds; while a forging forg-ing for the same purpose weighs approximately ap-proximately 14 1-2 pounds, and a "bottle" made by the seamless tube process somewhat less, A large percentage per-centage of tho steel used in wasted, which is not tho case in the other metals, the scrap of tho brass, etc., being romelted and used. |