The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-02
SOME FACTS ABOUT BULLETS.
The Earliest and the Most Recent.
Curious DOinEs With Guns in
Battle,
From the New York Sun.

Battle.
From the New York Sun.
1t is said that a ton of lead is fired for
every man killed in battle. While this is
a somewhat exaggerated statement, yet
there is much truth in it. Statistics Of
European wars show that from 5000 to
10000 shots are fired for every person dis
abled In our Mexican war, where SOL
diers were unusually skillful in handling
their weapons. it took from 800 to 400 shots
| to disable one of the enemy. 1t is the
universal tendency of men in the excite
ment Of battle to overshoot. The explain
alton is not clear, but the fact is so well
recognized that all soldiers are drilled to
aim at the feet of the enemy or even
lower.
Incidentally. another curious result Of
the excitement of battle may be men
toned. 1t is the utter carelessness in
loading the weapon. OF the q, 500 muskets
picked up on the battlefield of Gettys-
burg, at least 1900 were loaded. About
one-half of this number contained two
charges each, one-fourth from three to
ten charges, and the rest one charge.
Iwenty-three cartridges were found in one
piece. In some cases the paper of the
cartridge was unbroken, and in others
the powder was uppermost. OF course,
such thing could not happen with breech-
loading arms, but it is believed that quite
as many will become disabled, on account
OF their more Intricate mechanism.
The first bullet used was probably a
stone. Iron and lead bullets were not long
IN IoloWing The latter were round, ana
were, OF course, used in smooth-bore wea-
pons. The calibre of all firearms was
Formerly much greater than now. The
calibre of the first musket used was such
that eight bullets weighed a pound. In
consequence, the piece was so heavy that
1t had to be fired from a forked stick in
serted in the ground.
Rihing was Introduced while round bull
let's were still the only ones used. The
grooves were straight, and were not in
tended TO give greater accuracy to the pro
jectile. They were merely to diminish the
friction when it was ramined home.
BY accident 1t was discovered that spi-
raj grooves gave greater accuracy to the
flight of the projectile, but the science of
the day was unable to assign a reason for
such superiority. In consequence the form,
number and twist of the grooves depended
upon the caprice of Individual sunnak ers
Now the cause has been explained, and
the result of any alteration in the grooves
can be foretold with certainty
In 1923 it was found that good results
could be obtained by using oblong proiec-
tiles. The great difficulty of loading the
rifle, however which was accomplished by
the blows of a malIet upon a stout iron
ramrod prevented it from being regular
ly used in warfare. This difficulty was la
ter overcome by using bullet which fit
ed the barrel with only a moderate degree
of tightness but which was made to take
the grooves by the expansive action of
the powder upon a hollow base The cell
ebrated MIME bullet, used extensivelv dur
ing the civil war was made on this princf-
pie. sheet-iron cup was inserted in the
hollow base for strength. The MIME bull
let possessed great range and accuracy but
1t had certain defects which prevented II
from being extensively used in military
service. 1t was compound in structure an
the iron cup was sometimes forced in obli-
quely, thus producing unequal expansion
Inc bullet used by our army at the close
an Improvement on the MIME. 1t was So
in caliber, and weighed $40 grains. The
bullet of the Springfield rife, which was
adopted IN 1853. and has just been super
seeded, is 40 in calibre, and weighs $40
grains. The bullet of the new magazine
rife weighs but 220 grains. and has a cali
of .236 So from the first use of firearms
we see steady reduction of calibre and
weight of bullet, which have been accom-
panied by increased velocity range. and
accuracy. 1t is impossible to predict
whether the limit has been reached, but it
is believed that it has been.
Our new bullet is a radical departure
from any other type heretofore used. 1t is
a cylindrical bolt with a. rounded head
nearly four diameters in length. 1t is made
Of nickel steel. with jacket of German
silver.
There has been deal Of discussion and
experiment to md out the destructive
effect of the small calibre bullets now used
as compared with those of twenty years
ago. The result seems to be that at short
and long ranges the effect upon bones is
explosive, while at mid ranges a clean
perforation is made. Should the bullet
not encounter a bone. however, the wound
Is cleaner and the shock less than with
the old projectile. What the effect of all
this will be upon battles of the future can
not be foretold with certainty.
Europe on rides ana rifle shooting has
Just Invented a tubular bullet which
he claims to be a success. The object OF
such a bullet is to reduce the surface ex-
posed to the air, in front, and thereby in
crease velocity and range. Heblers bullet
is curved inward at both ends with its
channel widening funnel like. The conf
cal rear end Is fitted into pasteboard