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On both the 60 & 81mm, four small bags of propellant ("increments") were fixed to the fin assembly using spring clips.
Those bags, left attached or removed individually, gave basic range control. Changing the inclination of the mortar tube provided fine adjustment.
The round needs to be of a precise diameter for proper function with a large enough an air gap to allow the shell to easily slide down the tube.
When the the round fires, something is needed to seal that gap for maximum performance.
The "bourrelet" feature provides the necessary gas seal. The bourrelet is a series of grooves machined into the wall of the shell body.
When the high pressure propellant gas begins to pass between those grooves and the inner wall of the tube, air turbulence is created in each pocket forming an effective
gas-check. Without this grovved feature, range would be significantly reduced due to lost pressure.
An ignition cartridge, screws into the tail fin assembly.
When the round is dropped into the tube, it hits a firing pin at the bottom which fires the cartridge, forcing flame out the holes in the tail fin assembly, igniting the propellant bags.
Here is a 60mm round with its cartridge (yellow). The paper cartridge is
a separate unit, which presses onto the primer base. At left is the primer for the 81mm round, next to a 12ga shotgun shell for comparison.
(Of course the ignition cartridge contains powder only.)
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