Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1855-01-20
E,on. tie Bgga5o Democracy.


THE MIME MISSILE--SaARP,s RIFLE
The reports from the seat Of wsr in the East
aud the articles upon military masters with which
the newspapers of Europe and orr own country
teem are filed with references TO the "Minie" in
Yention though generally under the mistaken sp-
pellauon Of the "Mine Rife We suppose that
correct description Of this fearful adjunct Of war
fare will not be smiss, many Of our readers may
not be thoroughly acquainted with its effects.
Most persons are conversant with the character
istc5 OF the American rife the original of all arms
of precision, even TO the Lancaster Cannon. The
principle Involved in the grooyed barrel with 8
spiral twist IL that OF swing to the missile after it
leaves the muzzle Of the piece, rotary motion
upon It's axis, thus enabling the inequalities Of
weight about the centre OF substance TO equalize
each other nearly, and so, 10 constitute the centre
OF substance the center Of gravity which can new
er he Effected ny casting or pressing the ball or
slug. Ii shot be hoated ia bucket Of mercury,
il vii be found thsL the same side will always
gTavitate doWnwsrds which shows that aide to be
the heaviest. The missile, then, being revolyed in
the manner indicated, the heavy side ia alternately
presented to every aspect peIpendcuiar TO lis axis
and a nearly uniform flight in advance is thus at
tanned The para5olc curve described by the shot
s necessary To Che flight Of all missiles so discharg-
ed Ia order TO obtain this advantage for the rife
shot, the grooves in the barrel must be filed BY
the missile, or, Of course, it will find s way ont
at the muzzie without taking on the spiral notion
| Tsis desired result il obtained, as al know in
America only partially BY J.Jfehia,g the ball, the
yielding material 81 the patch filing the grooves
OF rifles Of the piece aud making the shot lt tight
! ly in the barrel Other Inventions such as casting
! & bell upon The shot which fts into two deep
grooves in the barrel have been trie1 in the Bit
ism service. but from various radical defects they
have failed and the old patch still retains its honor
| eilplace among American riiemen.
Fhe MIME bal Is constructed 50 a. 10 NEE. the
ne ,essity mentioned which il docs still better than
/ tie patched ball. This missile the improvement
UPON a previous invention, bears the name Of its
! iuggestor, Captain MIME, of the French army
The previous invention, styled the bale tge may
I be thus described: From the inner end of the
breach pin Of the ried gun, projected case hard
ened steel point which, penetrating the ball forced
/ down upon it by heavy blows Of arammer, caused
/ the lead to expand AMI ii the grooves. But Ow
ing to the necessity of using the hammer the la
bilty of the Jig, or steel point to break of, this
arm was not as effective in the hands of troops as
in those Of careful individuals practcng at target.
| MIME improvement is this: the ball, or rather
slug, which is of a conical FORM like those al pres
ent much used by American rifiemen, has inserted
! inits base an iron cup, the concave face Of which
presents toward the powder. The explosion, then,
/ forcing the cup forward, causes the expansion of
the lead surrounding it, and the grooves are thus
I lllcu lit IdIlIuilllS viii lOICb - IeUuc!tu
necessary. and the gu0, while it can be charged
/ with the ease Of musket will carry with precs-
! ion and force, TO an increditable distance.
. Thus much for the MIME missile not gun, so
generally talked Of and so effective in the hands of
well drilled or naturally apt troops. The British
/ have not done very much with it, but the French
free shooters" or skirmshers lave made it ter
/ rible implement As all these various improve
/ ments and gratis upon the old fire arms may be
! said TO be based upon the American rife, it be-
hoOves to keep up our superiority, long ago at
tanned and grudglngy enough, but STILL decsively
/ awarded W. by the nations whose troops have SUI
! iered at the hands of our Iihemen. he can do a.
! We have sTihe about being extensively introduce
ed into our service which is 10 accomplish for that
! species OF arm. almost what the Colt weapon has
for pistols. We refer to the Sharp rifle with the
Maynard primer. 4 short description will exhibit
the value oil this arm az a weapon OF warfare.
The breech end Of the barrel being cut of, some
little distance from the extremity, IS lowered by
simply pulling down tue trigger-gnard. The cart
ridge is then inserted in the forward part Of the
barrel and the trigger guard pressed back, which,
forcing up the depressed portion Of the barrel the
two surfaces act the blades Of scissors, and cut
off the supeTuous paper of the cartridge, thus
saving the tear cartridge motion in the manual
The surfaces are so prepared as TO prevent any
rison from the gases evolved by the exploded
charge, an objection heretofore found against
breech-oading arms. This il the Sharp rifle 10
which has been attached the Maynard primer
which is more difficult to explain without diagrams
but is simple enough in action. The primer, Is
long slip paper or felt, prepared with neTcussOn
powder which J. cooled within q box of steel, ly-
ING llst upon the outside Of the lock. The cooking
Of the gun primes the piece and there is no hand
ling Of caps or printing from the torn cartridge
The box contains primers sufficient for a. many
discharges gun can bear without cleaning, and
l. easily rePenished Here, then, we have gun
requiring no tearing Of cartridge, no Tamming,
and no printing; three motions load it, one cocks
and pines il; four in all instead OF twelve or
more If nov, we add 10 these Improvements,
that Of the MIME missiles We have the az plus
38tra Of weapons before which no army could
stand for a moment, ii it were placed in the hands
OF American born ine0, accustomed 10 rifles from
their birth, and possessing the right sort Of sense
10 prevent their inserting the cartridge with the
hall end down, or committing some otner folly
which the English 'hull dogs" would be likely 10
do. And this arm viii soon be in the hands OF
many of our troops, especially those on the West
era frontiers