A type of conical projectile for mid 19th century rifles. Minie Ball During Civil War. What was Lee’s talent on a battlefield? Bullet construction should provide the performance needed from punching through paper to downing large dangerous game animals. History of the Minie ball Creation of the Minie Ball An idea for the Minie ball first sprouted in the mind of Rifling, the addition of spiral grooves inside a gun barrel, imparts a spin to a bullet, greatly increasing the range and accuracy of a gun. Some east European military bullets are mild steel, and some of these are copper washed, a thin copper plating with the copper being a ‘lubricating’ metal. The result was not only better range, but also a cheaper bullet, which was used in the Crimean War[citation needed] and then the American Civil War. All rights reserved. The back of the bullet is the base. The Henry Rifle. The brain was removed, preserved in formaldehyde and donated to the Army Museum in Washington. The primary cause of death had been infection caused by both the initial injury and subsequent necrosis of brain tissue.[9]. He went into convulsions and became paralyzed on one side of his body, but started recovering within eight days of being hospitalized. It is said that the Minie Ball had to do with 90%  of the deaths of the war. This allowed the insertion and ramming of the projectile without having to wrap it in a patch like the round ball. Minié’s new bullet had a hollow base at the bottom, which would be forced to expand by gases released by the igniting gunpowder when the rifle was fired. The amount of impact the Minie Ball had on the Civil War and American History is larger than any other war technology of that time. Captain James H. Burton, an armorer at the Harpers Ferry Armory, developed an improvement on Minié's design when he added a deep cavity at the base of the ball, which filled up with gas and expanded the bullet's rim upon firing. It devastated soldiers when they were hit with it. The Minié ball, or Minni ball, is a type of muzzle-loading spin-stabilized bullet for rifled muskets named after its developer, Claude-Étienne Minié, inventor of the French Minié rifle. On arrival, the projectile will go to work. disease & poor medical care. This allowed the insertion and ramming of the projectile without having to wrap it in a patch like the round ball. But with the introduction of nitrated cellulose powders (smokeless) velocities climbed to the point that leading was becoming a significant problem, so the introduction of gilding metal, a copper-zinc alloy or copper washed mild steel jacket surrounding the lead core gave protection against lead fouling. Indeed, bullets designed for the lower velocity calibers will explode in the air when loaded and fired in high velocity cartridges. Prior to the Minié ball, balls had to be jammed down the rifle barrel, sometimes with a mallet, and after a relatively small number of shots, gunpowder residue built up in the spiral grooves, which then had to be cleaned out. The centrifugal forces are trying to rip the bullet apart. Most handgun projectiles have flat bases while some rifle bullets have a tapered base called a ‘boat tail’ which gives the bullet some aerodynamic advantages over the conventional flat base. It came to prominence in the Crimean War and American Civil War. The curvy part is the ogive, and the straight part is the body, as it is in contact with the rifling it is commonly referred to as the ‘bearing surface’. [6], One of the more infamous documented cases involving Minié ball injuries concerned a Confederate soldier wounded during Jubal Early's raid on Washington, D.C. on July 12, 1864. A new bullet, the mini-ball, makes the civil war more deadly than previous wars. Bullets have come a long way since rocks were the primary projectile. Enter the Minié Ball, an elongated, conical bullet with a hollow base. Not only the shape of the bullet, but its trajectory, the way it comes out of the barrel when its fired, and the way the damage they cause are all similar. The invention of the Minie Ball was a huge factor in the war and changed history. [7] The damage to bones and resulting compound fractures were usually severe enough to necessitate amputation. Competitive shooting demands high quality projectiles, but expansion is not an issue, only the ricochet potential on steel targets is an issue. (See bore.) The bullet was a french invention and weighed 1 oz. This provided spin for accuracy, a better seal for consistent velocity and longer range, and cleaning of barrel detritus. At 1000 fps (feet per second) and 1:12 spin means the rotation of the bullet is 1000 revolutions per second(rps), or 60,000 revolutions per minute (rpm), at 3000 fps and a 1:7 twist the bullet is turning a significant rpm, about 308,571, typically in the military M16 class of rifles. The bullet could be quickly removed from the paper cartridge with the gunpowder poured down the barrel and the bullet pressed past the muzzle rifling and any detritus from prior shots. When the rifle was fired, the expanding gas pushed forcibly on the base of the bullet, deforming the skirt to engage the rifling. The negative impact could be that also. [2] The development of the Minié ball was significant, because it was the first projectile that was small enough to be easily put down the barrel of a rifled long gun. The US civil war and the Crimean war were fought with the Minié Ball being the primary projectile. Which country invented it? Rifling, the addition of spiral grooves inside a gun barrel, imparts a spin to a bullet, greatly increasing the range and accuracy of a gun. © 2020 Shooting Range Industries LLC. It was then rammed down the barrel with the ramrod, which ensured that the charge was packed and the hollow base was filled with powder. Remember that the projectile is the bullet, and when you insert the bullet into a case with powder and primer you have a cartridge. Minié bullets were designed to be faster to load in military rifles of the period than patched round balls, esp. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. There were two different sizes of Minie balls used, the .69 caliber (Used by Harper's Ferry and the North) and the .58 caliber (Used by Springfield and the South). The Minié ball tended to cut a straight path and usually went all the way through the injured part; the ball seldom remained lodged in the body. The bullet has many parts. The bullet was invented because rifles were hard to reload and they wernt always accurate. [2] Burton's version of the ball weighed 1.14 ounces.[6]. It gets shorter but bigger than its constructed diameter, presenting a broader surface that reacts with the targets medium, improving the size and depth of the wound channel tearing, crushing and ripping apart tissue (muscle) shattering bone and disrupting the nervous system. France. [7][8] A hit on a major blood vessel could also have serious and often lethal consequences. in fouled bores, and are slightly under bore size to accomplish this; the hollow base expands on firing to engage the rifling-a very efficient design for … While expanding, the lead bullet fit snugly into the rifled grooves in the gun’s barrel, and would thus be much more accurate than earlier musket balls. [4] The design of the ball had been proposed in 1832 as the cylindro-conoidal bullet by Captain John Norton,[5] but had not been adopted. The Minié ball was made with soft lead and had a hollow base that expanded when fired causing major damage to opposing soldiers. The Minie Ball had two different impacts depending on the way you look at it. Today that is what a majority if not all bullets are shaped like. The soldier, a private in the 53rd North Carolina Infantry, was hit in the side of the head by a .58 caliber Minié ball, which shattered his skull and lodged in the right hemisphere of the brain. Bullets are not muzzle loaded anymore, but they do carry a lot of the Minie Ball with them. Slingers in ancient and medieval times used lead projectiles. Range Design Range Equipment Modular Ranges. The Minie Ball was a crude bullet, but was an engineering feat because if the reliability, cost, damage, and especially how it changed the course of the war. If punching paper, ringing a steel gong or knocking over steel silhouettes the bullet must just hang together. The invention of the Minie Ball was an intentional status quo change. The Minie Ball did cause many deaths and damage. Bullet, an elongated metal projectile that is fired by a pistol, rifle, or machine gun. The Minie Ball  was also invented to create a bullet that would cause catastrophic damage because that would cause battles to be more one sided and the war to end quicker. The Minié ball is a conical bullet with three exterior grease-filled grooves and a conical hollow in its base. Delvigne had invented a ball that could expand upon ramming to fit the grooves of a rifle in 1826. The war was a gruesome and bloody war. How did Lincoln use the railroad to his advantage? The Minie Ball was the first successful bullet to be a cylindrical shape. The round ball ruled the military and sporting world until the introduction of rifling and the need to speed up the reloading process. Bullets must survive the passage down the barrel and flight through the air. Its intended purpose was to expand under the pressure of the powder deflagration, pressing the skirt out to grip the rifling, and secondarily to obturate the barrel and increase muzzle velocity. It came to prominence in the Crimean War[1] and American Civil War. 600,000. The first projectile was lead balls, although firearms were not the first to use lead projectiles. If not for the bullet, nobody would fear the gun. Without the minie ball the war would have lasted longer, and possibly the war could not have been as deadly. List some of the advantages of the minié ball. Was an intentional status quo change not the first projectile was lead balls,.. Round balls, esp and became paralyzed on one side of his body, but started within. U.S. military in WW2 ; Colt M1911A1 Semi Automatic pistol & M1917 Revolver Ball we would have... Provide a seal preventing gas leakage around the bullet was invented because rifles were to... The grooves of a.58 and a lead skirting what was Lee ’ s talent a. 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If a Minié Ball, an elongated, conical bullet with three exterior grease-filled grooves and a.69 bullet... Have a lead core surrounded by a pistol, rifle, or bore, of a gun.... 1 ] and American Civil war damage to the Minié list some of the advantages of the minie ball struck a bone it.

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