An ammunition cartridge casing is provided having a primer body and a casing body. The primer body has an inner primer portion and an outer primer portion configured to nest in conformance with an outer surface of the inner primer portion. The outer surface of the inner primer portion provides a circumferential trench having a radially outwardly extending circumferential wall portion contiguous with an axially extending circumferential wall portion. The casing body has a distal end portion and a proximal end portion. The proximal end portion of the casing body is interposed between the inner primer portion and the outer primer portion within the trench having an interlocked axially extending circumferential portion and an interlocked radially outwardly extending disc portion of the casing body entrapped between the inner primer portion and the outer primer portion. A method is also provided.

The present invention provides a polymer nose for a polymeric ammunition cartridge having a generally cylindrical neck having a projectile aperture at a first end, a shoulder comprising a shoulder top connected to the generally cylindrical neck opposite a shoulder bottom, a side wall extending from the shoulder, a groove positioned around the side wall, a skirt connected circumferentially about the groove to extend away from the groove, wherein the groove and the skirt are adapted to mate to a polymer cartridge.

The present invention provides three piece primer insert for use in polymer ammunition comprising: an upper primer insert portion comprising an upper primer insert bottom portion, a substantially cylindrical coupling element extending away from the upper primer insert bottom portion; and an upper flash aperture that extends through the upper primer insert bottom portion, a lower primer insert portion in contact with the upper primer insert portion, wherein the lower primer insert portion comprises a lower primer insert top portion positioned adjacent to the upper primer insert bottom portion at a connection joint, a lower flash aperture positioned in the lower primer insert top portion and aligned with the upper flash aperture, and a primer recess that extends away from the lower primer insert top portion to an extraction flange and in communication with the lower flash aperture; and a connecting portion that secures the upper primer insert portion and the lower primer insert portion wherein the connecting portion comprises a connecting member positioned in the upper flash aperture and the lower flash aperture, an upper tab connected to the connecting member to extend away from the upper flash aperture into the upper primer insert portion, a lower tab connected to the connecting member to extend away from the lower flash aperture into the primer recess, and a flash hole that extends from the upper tab to the lower tab to connect the upper primer insert bottom portion to the primer recess.

A cartridge that generates higher than typical chamber pressures has an enhanced means of primer retention for retaining the primer in the primer recess of the casing. The means may be a lip folded onto a conical surface, a annular groove to receive deformed primer wall portion material upon detonation, a concavity in the rearward facing wall of the primer, a check valve in the flash tube to inhibit propellant gases from reaching the primer recess, or specifically configured primers with a greater length than diameter and with greater wall thicknesses.

A base part intended for producing a cartridge case has a case base for receiving a primer, wherein a peripheral extractor recess is provided on the outer circumference of the base part. To simplify production, the extractor recess has a polygonal geometry that is formed in cross section by a closed traverse.

A modified bullet cartridge having a score line formed around a primer bore. The score line may be positioned symmetrically or asymmetrically about the primer bore. The score line may have a regular or irregular two-dimensional geometric shape. A modified bullet cartridge having a counter-bore formed superposed about a primer bore. The counter-bore may have a vertical counter-bore extension and/or a radial counter-bore extension. Adhesive is positioned in the counter-bore about a primer secured in the primer bore. The primer may have a radial flange extending radially from an exterior sidewall of the primer. The flange registers against a bottom surface of the counterbore, or within a radial flange extension if present. Adhesive is used to lock the primer flange against the counter-bore and/or radial counter-bore extension. The combination of the counter-bore, adhesive and optionally the flanged primer locks the primer to the bullet cartridge to render the cartridge unusable after one use. The bullet cartridge is rendered waterproof with the use of the adhesive.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a polymeric ammunition having a metal injection molded primer insert.

The present invention provides a polymer nose for a polymeric ammunition cartridge having a generally cylindrical neck having a projectile aperture at a first end, a shoulder comprising a shoulder top connected to the generally cylindrical neck opposite a shoulder bottom, a nose junction positioned around the shoulder bottom, a skirt connected circumferentially about the nose junction to extend away from the shoulder bottom, wherein the nose junction and the skirt are adapted to mate to a base junction in a cartridge.

An ammunition cartridge for a gun is optically initiated by a mechanism wholly within the cartridge case itself. The case has as optical primer initiation means producing light fluence to ignite a primer, which ignited primer may in turn ignite into a flashtube, and which ignited flashtube may in turn ignite a bed of propellant in said cartridge. The optical primer initiation means may be an LED, a laser diode, a VCSEL, or some other light emitting device in general. The cartridge optically initiated primer package is so sized and made electrically and mechanically seamlessly physically compatible with current ammunition cartridges such that these new cartridges are completely interchangeable. If the cartridge primer initiation means is of a percussion type, the cartridge is adapted to include an in-line piezoelectric crystal so that electrical power will be generated when the cartridge assembly is struck by a firing pin during percussion type operations; the power is then used to initiate the light emitting device.

The present invention provides a method of making a subsonic ammunition having a polymeric casing body having a generally cylindrical hollow polymer body having a body base at a first end thereof and a mouth at a second end to define a propellant chamber; a propellant insert positioned in the propellant chamber to reduce the internal volume of the propellant chamber, wherein the propellant chamber has an internal volume that is at least 10% less than the open internal volume of a standard casing of equivalent caliber; and a primer insert positioned in the body base and in communication with the propellant chamber.