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Gun Cotton Tube

Gspragge

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I also picked this up, not seen one before, to bad the label
was in poor shape but at least enough was left to make out
what this is. Marked the same on both ends, 13" long, 1 1/2"
diameter.
 

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I was still using these on demolitions into the late 1950s but they were being replaced by the Primer CE 1 oz.
 
There were 12 primers per inner container (your tube) and 6 x 12 primers per wooden outer container. The six inner containers were held in place by a series of wooden packing fitments that slotted into pre-cut grooves in the outer container, at two points either side in the length of the box. The lid of the outer container was secured with brass screws and sealed with shellac labels. The metal tube such as yours was also the same for the 1 oz CE primer that AE 501 refers to. If my memory is correct 1 oz primers were entirely done away with in the 1980s, although we were still using them (CE primers) at training and operationally in the early 1980s, certainly in 1982. The central hole in the primer was suitable for use with the No 27 (igniferous) and 33 (electric) detonators but first had to be `rectified', using a tool known as a rectifier, to make the hole large enough against the wax used for waterproofing. A lot of primers and 1 lb CE/TNT demolition blocks, all dating from the mid 1940s, were disposed of in bulk demolitions in `Exercise Elbow Room' in 1980.
 
Not sure if my quantity of 12 per inner container is correct. It was 12 or 10. I checked in my course notes but they don't say. Anyone know definitively?
 
[FONT=&amp]Primer GC dry 1 oz Mks 1 and 2 were used well before WW2 and were still in use up to the1950s. They were dipped in acetone to gelatinise the surface to keep out moisture, but this was not too successful. [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]An Engineering Demolitions manual of 1942 says that any damage to this surface allows damp and even air moisture over time, to cause failures. They are highly inflammable, easily ignited, but lose sensitivity at low temperatures. [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]The use of CE !oz primers Mk2 was recommended. These were already being produced in mid 1942. No CE Primer Mk 1 was ever introduced into service.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]GC Primers were in the form of a truncated cone 1.25”L x 1.35”taper to 1.15”, with a central hole. Mk1 central hole could not take the standard in service detonators No 27 plain or the No 33 electric. These detonators were based on the commercial detonator No 8 so they were not much use and Mk 1s were made obsolescent, then obsolete soon after.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]10 primers were packed in a black tin cylinder, internally varnished 12.5 to13”L x 1.625” Dia. The primers were threaded on a doubled cotton tape (see photo) attached to a varnished glaze board disc. Each primer had a protective wound glaze board sleeve internally formed to the contour of the primer, but parallel on the outside.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]6 x 10 tins were contained in a Box Wood Primer W3, external dimensions 16.125”L x 5.875”W x 7.25” Deep.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Primers CE 1 oz had the same dimensions as GC. Some early production had a small central hole and were not to be rectified because this split the waxed paper inside the hole allowing CE powder to escape. Right through WW2 the primers CE came in trade pack cardboard boxes, with 10 x primers rolled up in waxed paper, 10 packs to the box. When the operational requirements slackened (these being the primer of choice due to rain, puddles etc.) after the war, these were packed in the same W3 and tin cylinders as the GC primers. Where the primers with the small central hole were identified and packed, the boxes were marked ‘not to be rectified’ and were used where the type of task allowed Cordtex to be passed through the hole and knotted. Later CE primers had an enlarged central hole which required slight packing with a leaf, small piece of paper etc., where used with a detonator. Detonators could easily be adhesive taped in.
Sorry about the dark print. I tried to beat the curfew.












[/FONT]
 

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Black writing on a dark background does not look good! You can read it very badly!
 
I did not intend to do this and it came as a complete surprise. Unfortunately, I cut and pasted the text in Mac Pages, instead of copying and pasting, so I lost the data.
I do not know what to do about it short of redoing the whole thing.
 
I did not intend to do this and it came as a complete surprise. Unfortunately, I cut and pasted the text in Mac Pages, instead of copying and pasting, so I lost the data.
I do not know what to do about it short of redoing the whole thing.


Don't worry about it. Just think of it as having set an initiative test - those who highlight the text by passing the cursor over it so they can read it (more easily), pass...


If you do cut and pastes, it is always worth selecting all text and then clicking Automatic on the Text colour box before submitting...




Tom.
 
I do not know if this will work but at least I still have the text provided by Norman if it does not work.
I took a photo of it from email. I hope this is not sinful.
 

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