Brass Cartridge Substitute May Lighten Ammo Load
By Pete Chronis
Denver Post Business Writer

Note: The following article is taken from 'The Denver Post, Thurs., Sep. 3, 1981'. It has been retyped verbatim from an old copy for your convenience.

Excerpt from the article: "Has the Army called him about the invention? "Several times", he said.", Please read below for the complete article.

A Denver man says he has invented a combustible cartridge that could revolutionize the world's munitions industry.

His invention, which he says eliminates flaws other developers have sought to erase, has been the goal of researchers for more than a century.

Such a cartridge would have all the advantages a traditional cartridge and none of its disadvantages, namely, cost and weight.

Earl "Skip" Kurtz said a commercial .44 magnum cartridge has a manufacturer's component cost of about 5 cents for a brass cartridge case, compared with .07 of a cent for his new cartridge case.

This translates to about 1.5 cents on the dollar, Kurtz hasn't developed comparison prices for other cartridges. But he said the cost savings would be substantial.

Additionally, the cartridges weigh about one-third less than the metallic cartridges. That means an infantry man who normally would carry 100 rounds of ammunition on his cartridge belt could carry about 50 extra rounds with no additional weight.

(The U.S. government has spent about $1.6 billion in the last 40 years trying to develop various forms of brass-less ammunition.)

Kurtz explained the difference between the conventional cartridge and his invention. A conventional cartridge consists of a brass case, copper and lead bullet, powder and a metal primer, which supplies the "spark" that fires the cartridge. All those components are expensive and the metals are in short supply for some nations. Kurtz' cartridge uses no brass whatever kind of bullet is suited for its use, and the rest of the cartridge consists of a special compound that replaces the case.

Kurtz has been working on his cartridge for about seven years and has sold the idea to Greater Energies Laboratories, Inc. a subsidiary of Energy Dynamics Inc. of Longmoni.

But Kurtz didn't develop just a cartridge case. He has invented a propellant as well. The material used for both propellant and the cartridge case, which disintegrates on firing can be found anywhere in the world, he said.

Kurtz, 44, isn't a chemist or engineer by education, but he has been interested in firearms all his life, he said.

Kurtz describes his invention as a "self-consuming combustible cartridge." He explains it also performs one of the important functions of a brass cartridge case; it seals the breech to prevent gasses from scorching the rifleman.

Here's how it works: The primer that fires the powder is molded into the cartridge case, and the bullet is fixed in the throat of the cartridge. When the firing pin strikes the primer, this ignites the powder, forcing the bullet down the bore. A "nanosecond:" afterward, Kurtz said, the cartridge case ignites and burns off.

The cartridge case material can't be ignited with a burning cigarette, as Kurtz demonstrated by holding one to a sample.

The material can be water proofed, he said.

The material tends to be somewhat brittle, a drawback for fast firing automatic weapons, but Kurtz said he expects to solve that problem soon.

Another advantage, Kurtz said, is that the cartridges are resistant to "cooking off", or igniting prematurely, because of extreme heat conditions.

Has the Army called him about the invention? "Several times", he said.

Now Energy Dynamics is developing a laboratory to have chemists work with Kurtz with the idea of selling licenses for Kurtz' inventions to large manufacturers, according to Gary Kelsay, senior vice president, and his brother, Tom, principals in the company.

Kurtz also has developed a substitute for black powder, with combustible cartridges, for use in black powder firearms and demonstrates his propellant burns much cleaner by igniting samples. He notes the market for his inventions in black powder firearms is at least 12.5 million such guns in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Kurtz also has extended his basic formula to develop materials such as insulating foam, a gel material for oil and gas well fracturing process, a gel for accidental treatment for oil and gas wells, a material to replace wallboard, a material for lining mud pits or ponds and even a moldable material that might be used to manufacture housing for the world's poor.