Copper Units of Pressure - CUP and LUP Pressures Vs. Transducer Pressures

CUP and LUP Pressures Vs. Transducer Pressures

Until the invention of measurement transducers in the 1960s, crusher guns were the only reliable method for estimating chamber pressures. With the availability of inexpensive, reliable transducers since the 1960s for actually making chamber pressure measurements, the industry almost universally has begun to move away from crusher guns for estimating chamber pressures, towards favoring making actual measurements. Transducers are also faster to use in practice, as they do not require the careful measuring of the copper or lead cylinders after firing. Additionally, transducers are capable of recording instant-by-instant pressures through the entire firing cycle. Hence, in the long run, using a transducer is less expensive, as it does not require using expendable metal cylinders in a crusher gun, and also reduces the labor required to analyze test results.

One outcome from this transition to using measurement transducers is, for example, that a Speer reloading manual from 1987 lists all SAAMI pressures in CUP, while current references list nearly all pressures in PSI. Another outcome is that design margins are now better determined, which has the effect of increasing the long-term safety of firing multiple thousands of rounds in a gun. With estimates based on crusher guns, actual safety margins could never be accurately assessed, short of actually firing tens of thousands of rounds in a sample gun.