ohland
08-30-2015, 01:51 PM
Some Of The Bullets I Have Seen.
https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5cwAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:4_nJVSo-51oC&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAWoVChMI6e6ApavRxwIVw6CACh2L9QOV#v=on epage&q&f=false
American Rifleman, vol 39, No. 11, Dec 21, 1905 – page 230
“That there is nothing new under the sun” finds its verification in more ways than one; a man has but to live long enough to see the genius of invention in constant rotation. The same stimulus, necessity, exists today and tomorrow.
In a recent issue of this, our journal, I notice the illustration of a bullet having in form a principle the same as was embodied in one designed several years ago, that of making its point concave instead of convex. The old one referred to had this concavity more extensive; the hole in the point extended nearly half its length. This was along lines contrary to accepted theories, and for this reason, alone, never became popular, and, however much I may have thought of it, I drifted away with the procession. With its accuracy I am satisfied it was fully equal to any other form or shape, and as this writer says, its shocking power was very great. Without lengthy experiments I considered it preferable that the entire missile be hardened a little.
Should any of our more youthful readers be inclined to test such a bullet, I would advise the amalgamation of one part tin to twenty of lead. It is true that the bullet with flat or concave point has a little higher trajectory than the solid, or conical point, but with the one described, having the concavity, this difference will be hardly notice able.
In this connection comes the bullet for the shotgun. In this same issue we are favored with an ingenuous device, a bullet with an aluminum point, for the purpose, as we may well understand, of lessening the weight, but at the same time maintaining its formidableness, at least in appearance. The shocking power of such a missile, of a thousand grains in weight, would be something terrific, especially at the breech end of the gun. This design is to obviate such unpleasantness.
Again, past experience constrains me to make a suggestion. Several years ago the writer hereof conceived the idea of making the bullet create its own rotary motion. I procured an old Springfield rifled musket, removed all the lands, making of it a smooth bore—a perfect cylinder, so far as possible. I then made molds, casting a bullet three diameters in length. This bullet was hollow for its entire length, and in this aperture was cast a spiral piece of tin, having a twist of 1/8 of an inch turn in its length. My idea was that the swift passage of the air through this orifice would cause a correspondingly rotary motion.
I prepared a base plug of much less specific gravity, so it would cease to follow after discharge. I first fired several of these into a substance whereby I could recover them afterward. At fifty yards I found them all striking point on, and with commendable accuracy. Here was an innovation—Eureka! Their weight was so much lessened, that the recoil was insignificant. On digging them out, all my scientific reasoning took flight in a moment; the base plug had been forced into the hole, destroying all my conceived notions of air currents.
This bit of wisdom had cost me but little, and the results were productive of new ideas. I next cast these bullets with the hole from the point for two-thirds its length, with solid base, on trial I found these striking point on, With no indications of keyholing. From an unexpected cause, my investigations were brought to a sudden close, and, however much I may have thought of it. I have never yet found time to fully determine the efficiency of such a combination. I offer it for what it is worth.
These bullets were cannelured and lubricated; whether this was essential or not I am unable to say. From this it was plain to me that the air did not rush through this aperture as was expected. It is evident that the formation of the point has much to do in regulating the flight of the bullet. By this process it will be seen that the missile can be greatly decreased in weight, perhaps one-half, and still be effective, retaining moderate accuracy.
R. C. RICE.
https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5cwAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:4_nJVSo-51oC&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAWoVChMI6e6ApavRxwIVw6CACh2L9QOV#v=on epage&q&f=false
American Rifleman, vol 39, No. 11, Dec 21, 1905 – page 230
“That there is nothing new under the sun” finds its verification in more ways than one; a man has but to live long enough to see the genius of invention in constant rotation. The same stimulus, necessity, exists today and tomorrow.
In a recent issue of this, our journal, I notice the illustration of a bullet having in form a principle the same as was embodied in one designed several years ago, that of making its point concave instead of convex. The old one referred to had this concavity more extensive; the hole in the point extended nearly half its length. This was along lines contrary to accepted theories, and for this reason, alone, never became popular, and, however much I may have thought of it, I drifted away with the procession. With its accuracy I am satisfied it was fully equal to any other form or shape, and as this writer says, its shocking power was very great. Without lengthy experiments I considered it preferable that the entire missile be hardened a little.
Should any of our more youthful readers be inclined to test such a bullet, I would advise the amalgamation of one part tin to twenty of lead. It is true that the bullet with flat or concave point has a little higher trajectory than the solid, or conical point, but with the one described, having the concavity, this difference will be hardly notice able.
In this connection comes the bullet for the shotgun. In this same issue we are favored with an ingenuous device, a bullet with an aluminum point, for the purpose, as we may well understand, of lessening the weight, but at the same time maintaining its formidableness, at least in appearance. The shocking power of such a missile, of a thousand grains in weight, would be something terrific, especially at the breech end of the gun. This design is to obviate such unpleasantness.
Again, past experience constrains me to make a suggestion. Several years ago the writer hereof conceived the idea of making the bullet create its own rotary motion. I procured an old Springfield rifled musket, removed all the lands, making of it a smooth bore—a perfect cylinder, so far as possible. I then made molds, casting a bullet three diameters in length. This bullet was hollow for its entire length, and in this aperture was cast a spiral piece of tin, having a twist of 1/8 of an inch turn in its length. My idea was that the swift passage of the air through this orifice would cause a correspondingly rotary motion.
I prepared a base plug of much less specific gravity, so it would cease to follow after discharge. I first fired several of these into a substance whereby I could recover them afterward. At fifty yards I found them all striking point on, and with commendable accuracy. Here was an innovation—Eureka! Their weight was so much lessened, that the recoil was insignificant. On digging them out, all my scientific reasoning took flight in a moment; the base plug had been forced into the hole, destroying all my conceived notions of air currents.
This bit of wisdom had cost me but little, and the results were productive of new ideas. I next cast these bullets with the hole from the point for two-thirds its length, with solid base, on trial I found these striking point on, With no indications of keyholing. From an unexpected cause, my investigations were brought to a sudden close, and, however much I may have thought of it. I have never yet found time to fully determine the efficiency of such a combination. I offer it for what it is worth.
These bullets were cannelured and lubricated; whether this was essential or not I am unable to say. From this it was plain to me that the air did not rush through this aperture as was expected. It is evident that the formation of the point has much to do in regulating the flight of the bullet. By this process it will be seen that the missile can be greatly decreased in weight, perhaps one-half, and still be effective, retaining moderate accuracy.
R. C. RICE.