From: John Gross (confederate@worldnet.att.net)
Subject: Re: Civil War Minie Bullet
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Newsgroups: soc.history.war.us-civil-war
Date: 1996/12/08
>The Minie was developed by Captain Claude Eienne Minie,
>chef d'escadron of the French fortress of Vincennes, ca. 1848,to
>improve on the long extant idea of an expanding base on a bullet
>so as to engage the rifling.
[text deleted by moderator]
Since tk answered the who when what and where. I'll answer the why.
The advantages of the Minie, being a cylindrical shaped projectile as
opposed to a round ball, is that it will be heavier for any given caliber.
As an example .58 caliber, the most common of the Civil war. A .58 caliber
round ball weighs 260 grains, versus a .58 minie bullet which can weigh as
much as 500-600 grains.
The heavier minie, although starting out at a lower speed (velocity) will
retain its speed better than the round ball. Not only due to its weight
but its aerodynamic shape as well. Maybe this is why they don't make
rockets round)
I can babble on about initial velocity versus dowrange velocity and muzzle
energy versus retained energy, but e-mail me if this is what you are
looking for.
Another big advantage of the minie is that it is made smaller in diameter
than the bore of the firearm therefor allowing for easy loading, and also
has a hollow base. Black powder guns become very dirty quickly and would
be impossible to load if the bullet was the same size as the bore. When
the powder explodes, the pressure upsets the soft lead via the hollow
base, allowing the bullet to expand and grip the rifling, which inturn
imparts the spin and gives the bullet its stability and hence accuracy.
Interesting to note that Captain Minie patened his design. The British
paid 20,000 pounds for the rights for a simple shape of lead!
I would guess the first major test of it in battle would have been the
Crimean War, but I am not sure.
John Gross confederate@worldnet.att.net
Another interesting post I found. I hope you find it entertaining
