A hollow-base bullet is a

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...

with a pit or hollow in its base which expands upon being fired, forcing the base to engage with the barrel grooves and obturating the bore more as the bullet travels through the barrel. Hollowing the base makes the bullet more front-heavy, which improves aerodynamic stability and accuracy.

History

Two men have been credited with the invention of the hollow-base bullet: Captain

Claude-Étienne Minié Claude-Etienne Minié (13 February 1804 – 14 December 1879) was a French military instructor and inventor famous for solving the problem of designing a reliable muzzle-loading rifle by inventing the Minié ball in 1846, and the Minié rifle in 1 ...

of the French Army and

William Greener William Greener (1806–1869) was an English inventor and gunmaker. He developed a self-expanding bullet in 1835, an electric lamp in 1846 (patent specification 11076 of that year) some 33 years before Thomas Edison's patent in 1879. William Gree ...

. The initial reason for developing a hollow-base bullet was to improve usability and performance of muzzle-loading rifles using black powder propellant.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollow-base bullet Bullets

History

See also

References

Notes