Cow and Bayonets

Shell-loading by hand is a slow, delicate process in which molten TNT is poured, cooled, hardened, and packed into shells a little at a time to prevent formation of air cavities that may cause premature explosion. Even after such care, many finished shells contain small cavities, must be melted out and repoured.

Last week the Ammunition Division of Army Ordnance came up with two machines to do the job better. One looks like a milking machine for a 24-teat cow ("mechanical cow"), the other resembles 24 round bayonets slung under a steel bar ("hot bayonets"). Now being standardized at all Army ordnance plants, they are expected to save five million man-hours this year.

In operation, the "cow" cools just the right amount of TNT to just the right temperature, then pours it through nozzles into 24 shells mounted on a carriage. After further cooling, the shells are probed by the steam-heated "bayonets," all the way down to the bottom, where cavities usually form. Then the "cow" fills in the space that remains.

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