A Short History Of Bullets
Sept 30, 2010 21:11:30 GMT
Post by ShooterMike on Sept 30, 2010 21:11:30 GMT
A SHORT HISTORY OF BULLETS
Different types of bullets, how they came about and what they are designed to accomplish
Ye Olden Days
The lowly bullet has evolved over the last century into a highly specialized piece of ballistic machinery. When firearms were first invented many types of projectiles were tried. The first guns were seen as a replacement for bows and crossbows so they fired arrows. Then rocks, round stone balls of various substances, and other pieces of metal were all used to varying effect. But it wasn't until lead balls were tried that things began to become effective. The simple round lead ball became the standard projectile for use in individual firearms from about the early 1500s until the mid-1800s.
The Minie Ball
During the 1840s, Captain Claude-Etienne Minie' of France developed a lead bullet with a hollow base. This bullet could be made slightly undersized so it was faster and easier to load in the muzzle-loading rifles of the day. When fired, the pressure from the powder charge caused the hollow base of the "Minie Ball" to expand into the grooves of the rifling. This greatly increased accuracy of military rifles of the day, thus allowing soldiers to engage the enemy at much greater distances.
Self-contained Cartridges
The next major advancement came with the advent and widespread use of the self-contained cartridge. This is what we think of today as standard ammunition. But consider that before self-contained cartridges were available, anyone using a firearm had to carry around loose powder, lead balls, and some sort of priming. The advent of the self-contained cartridge led to successful repeating firearms, that is, firearms that could fire more than one shot without being reloaded. Percussion revolvers that were loaded with loose powder and lead balls had been in use prior to this, but successful repeating rifles were not developed until this major accomplishment was available.
With the self-contained cartridge came the ability to make bullets in different shapes. However, from the 1860s until the 1890s bullets were generally of the round nosed lead persuasion. Some had the tips flattened a bit, but for the most part they all looked and performed about the same.
Smokeless Powder
In the early 1890s a development that would totally revolutionize firearms development hit the world stage. That was the invention of "smokeless powder." This is a nitrocellulose compound that we think of today as gun powder. Prior to the development of smokeless powder, all gun powder had been "black powder", which is a mixture of sulfur with saltpeter and charcoal.
Black powder was not very powerful and was highly prone to fouling and corrosion. Smokeless powder changed all this, along with eliminating much of the billowing smoke that was emitted when a gun fired black powder.
Soon gun designers realized that this new propellant could be used to push smaller diameter bullets to much higher velocities. Up until that time, most cartridges propelled bullets somewhere in the vicinity of 700 to 1,200 feet per second. With smokeless powder, used in conjunction with a new copper jacketed bullet, rifles could reach velocities of 2,500 to 3,000 feet per second.
Jacketed Bullets
The new bullets designed for these velocities were comprised of a thin copper jacket that was filled with lead. The lead was inserted into the bullet from the rear, leaving a pointed copper bullet exposed at the end of the cartridge case. These bullets became known as Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) bullets. The name is a misnomer, as the lead is exposed at the rear of the bullet. But the name stuck and that's how they are referred to today.
FMJs, or "solids" as they are also known, were pretty much the standard in rifle and military handgun cartridges from the early 1900s until today. These were common in the civilian world, along with round nosed lead bullets in revolvers. This was the state of ammunition development until the late 1950s. At that time bullet designers began experimenting with ways to make handgun and rifle ammunition more effective. Solids have a reputation for drilling a neat hole, the same diameter as the bore, through whatever they hit. This is desirable in a military context, as any soldier that's shot and wounded (at least in theory) requires two soldiers to carry him to an aid station. Then requires a significant drain on an army's resources to help him through recovery.
Modern Expanding Bullets
However, in the context of the hunting fields a quick kill that prevents any undue suffering to the animal is most desirable. Bullet designers began designing hunting bullets to optimize what is referred to as "terminal ballistics." Terminal ballistics is the way a bullet performs when it impacts a living target. There are many variables including shot placement and size and makeup of the animal. Exploding or highly frangible bullets are undesirable, as they will be unlikely to penetrate deeply enough to reach vital organs. On the other end of the spectrum, solids frequently pass completely through the body with the animal not even realizing it has been hit. The wound will bleed, and MAY result in the animal dying. But chances of a quick and humane kill are much less.
This all lead to the current generation of balanced performance bullets. These bullet designs are available in both rifle and handgun calibers. The goal of these bullets is to expand to the largest possible diameter, while retaining the maximum amount of original weight. The purpose of the designs is to make the largest possible wound channel while penetrating deeply enough to reach vital organs from all angles. An added bonus to these designs is that the bullet usually remains within the body of whatever is shot. This greatly reduces the possibility of a bullet passing through it's intended target and subsequently striking something or someone that is unintended.
Modern Defensive Ammunition
As these high-performance hunting bullets were being developed and put to use in the hunting fields around the world, law enforcement began taking a great interest. The goals in a law enforcement shooting are to immediately stop a perpetrator during the commission of a crime. By law, and morality, the only time a law enforcement officer (or anyone else) is justified in shooting another person is to prevent that person from inflicting death or great bodily harm to the defensive shooter or a third party. In this situation, the dual performance objectives are the immediate incapacitation of the threat and the prevention of overly penetrating bullets from endangering innocent bystanders. It is for these reasons that most modern self-defense ammunition used by law enforcement and civilians are manufactured with bullets designed for controlled expansion and moderate penetration.
Much sensationalizing in the media has led the public to develop unrealistic misconceptions about hollow point and other expanding bullet designs. One bullet design was even referred to as having a "buzz saw effect" on human bodies. This is clearly ridiculous when you understand that bullets turn at the rate of one revolution for every 10 to 15 inches of distance they travel. With that understanding, it's easy to realize that the spin imparted to a bullet has no effect on its terminal ballistics, other than stabilizing the bullet to allow for accuracy.
I hope this "thumbnail sketch" of bullet development helps readers of this forum understand the "hows" and "whys" of where we are today with bullet designs. A lot of the old designs are still in use. Today's consumer of ammunition has a vast array of bullet types to choose from. And can literally tailor their choice to their intended use and pocketbook.
Different types of bullets, how they came about and what they are designed to accomplish
Ye Olden Days
The lowly bullet has evolved over the last century into a highly specialized piece of ballistic machinery. When firearms were first invented many types of projectiles were tried. The first guns were seen as a replacement for bows and crossbows so they fired arrows. Then rocks, round stone balls of various substances, and other pieces of metal were all used to varying effect. But it wasn't until lead balls were tried that things began to become effective. The simple round lead ball became the standard projectile for use in individual firearms from about the early 1500s until the mid-1800s.
The Minie Ball
During the 1840s, Captain Claude-Etienne Minie' of France developed a lead bullet with a hollow base. This bullet could be made slightly undersized so it was faster and easier to load in the muzzle-loading rifles of the day. When fired, the pressure from the powder charge caused the hollow base of the "Minie Ball" to expand into the grooves of the rifling. This greatly increased accuracy of military rifles of the day, thus allowing soldiers to engage the enemy at much greater distances.
Self-contained Cartridges
The next major advancement came with the advent and widespread use of the self-contained cartridge. This is what we think of today as standard ammunition. But consider that before self-contained cartridges were available, anyone using a firearm had to carry around loose powder, lead balls, and some sort of priming. The advent of the self-contained cartridge led to successful repeating firearms, that is, firearms that could fire more than one shot without being reloaded. Percussion revolvers that were loaded with loose powder and lead balls had been in use prior to this, but successful repeating rifles were not developed until this major accomplishment was available.
With the self-contained cartridge came the ability to make bullets in different shapes. However, from the 1860s until the 1890s bullets were generally of the round nosed lead persuasion. Some had the tips flattened a bit, but for the most part they all looked and performed about the same.
Smokeless Powder
In the early 1890s a development that would totally revolutionize firearms development hit the world stage. That was the invention of "smokeless powder." This is a nitrocellulose compound that we think of today as gun powder. Prior to the development of smokeless powder, all gun powder had been "black powder", which is a mixture of sulfur with saltpeter and charcoal.
Black powder was not very powerful and was highly prone to fouling and corrosion. Smokeless powder changed all this, along with eliminating much of the billowing smoke that was emitted when a gun fired black powder.
Soon gun designers realized that this new propellant could be used to push smaller diameter bullets to much higher velocities. Up until that time, most cartridges propelled bullets somewhere in the vicinity of 700 to 1,200 feet per second. With smokeless powder, used in conjunction with a new copper jacketed bullet, rifles could reach velocities of 2,500 to 3,000 feet per second.
Jacketed Bullets
The new bullets designed for these velocities were comprised of a thin copper jacket that was filled with lead. The lead was inserted into the bullet from the rear, leaving a pointed copper bullet exposed at the end of the cartridge case. These bullets became known as Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) bullets. The name is a misnomer, as the lead is exposed at the rear of the bullet. But the name stuck and that's how they are referred to today.
FMJs, or "solids" as they are also known, were pretty much the standard in rifle and military handgun cartridges from the early 1900s until today. These were common in the civilian world, along with round nosed lead bullets in revolvers. This was the state of ammunition development until the late 1950s. At that time bullet designers began experimenting with ways to make handgun and rifle ammunition more effective. Solids have a reputation for drilling a neat hole, the same diameter as the bore, through whatever they hit. This is desirable in a military context, as any soldier that's shot and wounded (at least in theory) requires two soldiers to carry him to an aid station. Then requires a significant drain on an army's resources to help him through recovery.
Modern Expanding Bullets
However, in the context of the hunting fields a quick kill that prevents any undue suffering to the animal is most desirable. Bullet designers began designing hunting bullets to optimize what is referred to as "terminal ballistics." Terminal ballistics is the way a bullet performs when it impacts a living target. There are many variables including shot placement and size and makeup of the animal. Exploding or highly frangible bullets are undesirable, as they will be unlikely to penetrate deeply enough to reach vital organs. On the other end of the spectrum, solids frequently pass completely through the body with the animal not even realizing it has been hit. The wound will bleed, and MAY result in the animal dying. But chances of a quick and humane kill are much less.
This all lead to the current generation of balanced performance bullets. These bullet designs are available in both rifle and handgun calibers. The goal of these bullets is to expand to the largest possible diameter, while retaining the maximum amount of original weight. The purpose of the designs is to make the largest possible wound channel while penetrating deeply enough to reach vital organs from all angles. An added bonus to these designs is that the bullet usually remains within the body of whatever is shot. This greatly reduces the possibility of a bullet passing through it's intended target and subsequently striking something or someone that is unintended.
Modern Defensive Ammunition
As these high-performance hunting bullets were being developed and put to use in the hunting fields around the world, law enforcement began taking a great interest. The goals in a law enforcement shooting are to immediately stop a perpetrator during the commission of a crime. By law, and morality, the only time a law enforcement officer (or anyone else) is justified in shooting another person is to prevent that person from inflicting death or great bodily harm to the defensive shooter or a third party. In this situation, the dual performance objectives are the immediate incapacitation of the threat and the prevention of overly penetrating bullets from endangering innocent bystanders. It is for these reasons that most modern self-defense ammunition used by law enforcement and civilians are manufactured with bullets designed for controlled expansion and moderate penetration.
Much sensationalizing in the media has led the public to develop unrealistic misconceptions about hollow point and other expanding bullet designs. One bullet design was even referred to as having a "buzz saw effect" on human bodies. This is clearly ridiculous when you understand that bullets turn at the rate of one revolution for every 10 to 15 inches of distance they travel. With that understanding, it's easy to realize that the spin imparted to a bullet has no effect on its terminal ballistics, other than stabilizing the bullet to allow for accuracy.
I hope this "thumbnail sketch" of bullet development helps readers of this forum understand the "hows" and "whys" of where we are today with bullet designs. A lot of the old designs are still in use. Today's consumer of ammunition has a vast array of bullet types to choose from. And can literally tailor their choice to their intended use and pocketbook.