Year: 1862




II had long been known that tho
spherical form is not the enc which re-
duces the resistance of the air to mini
mum. But all efforts to use elongated
projectiles have failed. Experiment had
shown that upon leaving the barrel


these projectilcs took motion of rotation
about their centre of gravity, and struck
the target sidewise, even at very shor,
distances. After many trials, it was
found that there is certain relation be
tween the inclination of the grooves, the
charge of powder, and form of the ball
If the grooves have too much twist and
the charge of powder is heavy, the ball
will not follow the grooves, but will be
forced across them Tor will strip without
taking any motion Of rotation. If the
grooves have too little twist, the motion
of rotation will be too feeble to overcome
the causes of deviation and the projectile
will turn over in its flight. In the rifle
"a tye," the grooves have twist of one
turn in six and half feet. The balls arc
about one calibre and half in length.
Numerous experiments have proved the
immense superiority of elongated balls
over the spherical. In the first place, a
much larger portion of their surface
being in contact with, and held by the
grooves, they are not so likely to strip
Their pointed form diminishes vastly the
resistance of the air, and augments also
their depth of penetration into solid
bodies. The weight of the elongated
being much greater than that of the
spherical balls of the same calbrc, the
former retain their velocity longer
Therefore, though their initial velocity
may be smaller, their absolute velocity is
greater Their trajectory for the same
distance is consequently much fatter.


Experiment has also shown that the
cylindro.c conical balls should have at their
base at least three grooves presenting a
sharp surface perpendicular to the axis
of the ball and facing towards its point.
These grooves act like the feathers of an
arrow in keeping the projectiles in the
same plane, and in preventing it from
turning over.


The rifle ga t,ge," when tried in the
schools of practice, and in active service
before the enemy, fulfilled the expecta-
tons which had been formed of it, both
as to range, accuracy an solidity. 1t
was furnished with breech sight with
sliding Piece or "hausse" which could be
adjusted to all distances up to 1927 yards.
AT 600 yards, the firing was accurate, and
the ball could inlict deadly wound at
l400 yards, and even beyond. This rifle
has been used in the French service since
lS42, and was probably used to some ex-
tent in the Crimean war. The French
also transformed numbers of the ordinary
percussion muskets into muskets "a tige,"
by rifling the barrels, screwing a steel
stem in the breech and adapting a
"hausse.n


1t would seem that the invention of
the weapon and bullet just described,
left nothing more to be desired. But
although excellent, and infinitely superior
to all its predecessors, the rifle "a tge"
had some drawbacks. 1t was difficult TO
clean, aud required for this purpose,a
wash screw which would straddle the
pin. II was almost impossible to extract
the ball with the ball-screw. The prin-
cipal objection, however, was the difficulty
of ramming the ball uniformly. Some
would ram tho ball too hard, and it
would lose its shape, especially in the
grooves of its base, and its accuracy
would be diminished. Others, not ram
ming hard enough, the ball would not fill
the grooves of the rifle, and the ball,
failing to acquire the motion of rotation
would turn over in It's course, and fly at
random. Capt. Mimic having observed
these disadvantages, conceived the idea
of forcing, or riang the ball by the &C.
ton of the powder itself at tho moment
of explosion; thus dispensing entirely
with the steel stem, or 'tye" The ball
which he proposed to use is the same in
its external form, but its base followed
out in the form Of frustrum Of cone;
and into the opening is inserted sheet
iron cup, destined to act as wedge and
spread the ball. The ball goes down
free and rests upon the powder; iSrequires
no ramming, but merely to be pushed
home. When the charge is fired, the
action of the gas on the sheet iron cup
forces it into the hollow Of the ball which
resists by its "vis inertie" In this way,
the ball is expanded and forced into the
grooves with immense, and constantly in
creasing force The result of numerous
trials made at Vincennos in 1910, showed
a superiority in favor Of the MIME bullet
This superiority increased with the dis
tance, and it is attributed to the fact that
the ball is forced evenly by the pressure
Of the gas, which acts uniformly, whether
the loading has been performed carefully
or not. The cartridges used with this
bullet, like those of the rifle ga tge,n are
simple in their construction. The balls
are used naked Their base being dipped
IN composition of tallow and beeswax,
the barrel is kept fabricated. On one
occasion, in an experiment performed at
the Springfield armory, one gun was fired
900 times without cleaning, and no diff
Guilty was found at any time in driving
the ball home


But perfection was not yet reached
The MIME bullet was complicated in its
manufactures; each ball requiring sheet
..o,, ,,,,,~ la ,naart Il - 80 hasa Mnro-