Ammunition belt apparatus and method of making same

Ammunition belt apparatus comprising:

• a flexible coilable strip,
• at least one hole extending transversely through said strip,
• a cartridge associated with each of said at least one holes,
• and clamping means associated with each of said at least one holes for clamping respective ones of said cartridges to said strip with portions of respective ones of said cartridges extending through respective holes,
• wherein each of said clamping means includes a tubular casing and a rim means, said tubular casing being formed separately from said strip and having an internal wall surface configuration dimensioned to form a press fit with outer wall surfaces of said cartridge, said tubular casing having at least one lateral part with lateral outer dimensions greater than the dimensions of said hole for preventing movement of said tubular casing through said hole, said rim means being engaged with a first side of said strip and said at least one lateral part of said tubular casing being engaged with a second side of said strip directly opposite said first side such that said strip is clamped between said rim means and said lateral part of said tubular casing when said cartridge is clamped in position on said strip, all portions of said cartridge which are located on said first side of said strip having a cross-sectional size at least as small as the cross-sectional size of the hole, said rim means being formed separately of said cartridge and being clampingly engaged with outer wall surface portions of said cartridge at a predetermined position along the length of said cartridge for preventing movement of said cartridge through said hole,
• wherein said at least one hole includes a plurality of holes spaced from one another along the length of the strip,
• wherein said tubular casings are open at opposite ends thereof, and wherein said cartridges are caseless propellant cartridges having a predetermined length at said second side which is no greater than the length at said second side of respective ones of said tubular casings press fitted to the respective cartridges.