Method for the manufacture of a multi-part projectile for gun ammunition and product produced thereby

A method for the manufacture of a projectile for small-bore weapons ammunition comprising the steps of

• introducing a quantity of a mixture of a heavy metal powder and a light metal powder into a die cavity,
• pressing said quantity of said mixture in said die cavity at approximately room temperature into a first discrete non-sintered self-supporting compact having a body portion of substantially straight cylindrical geometry and having first and second opposite ends and a longitudinal centerline,
• without further treatment of said first compact, introducing said first compact into a jacket having a generally cylindrical internal volume defined by an internal wall, an open end and a closed end and a longitudinal centerline, said compact having an external diameter less than the inner diameter of said jacket at the location of said compact within said jacket,
• at approximately room temperature and employing axially applied pressure, pressing said first compact into said jacket to position said first compact with said first end thereof disposed adjacent said closed end of said jacket and substantially filling the volume of said jacket adjacent said closed end thereof,
• introducing a further quantity of said mixture or a quantity of another mixture of a heavy metal powder and a light metal powder into a die cavity,
• pressing said further quantity of said mixture or a quantity of said another mixture in a die cavity at approximately room temperature into a second non-sintered self-supporting discrete compact having a body portion of substantially straight cylindrical geometry and having first and second opposite ends and a longitudinal centerline,
• without further treatment of said second compact, introducing said second compact into said jacket with its first end disposed in abutting relationship with said second end of said first compact and with the centerlines of said first and second compacts in alignment with one another and with the centerline of said jacket, said second compact having an external diameter less than the inner diameter of said jacket at the location of said compact within said jacket,
• introducing within said jacket and in abutting relationship to said second end of said second compact a disc of a deformable metal having an outer diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of said jacket adjacent said second end of said second compact,
• at approximately room temperature and employing axially applied pressure against said separator disc, pressing said second compact against said first compact with a pressure sufficient to cause said second compact to substantially fill its respective volume of said jacket and to cause said first and second compacts to substantially fill said jacket between said closed end of said jacket and said second end of said second compact, leaving a portion of said open end of said jacket void of said compacts and said separator disc,
• infolding said open end of said jacket in a direction toward said centerline of said jacket and against at least a portion of said second end of said second compact and said disc to substantially close said open end of said jacket, said infolding of said open and of said jacket deforming said second end of said second compact and said disc to define a leading end of said projectile.