AMMUNITION FOR OTHER WEAPONS Small arm ammunition is used with rifles, machine-guns, re volvers and pistols. Its early his tory is closely allied to that of ammunition for ordnance, but as early as 1586 a composite car tridge was used by musketeers, consisting of a bullet and powder charge wrapped in paper. The paper was torn or bitten, the powder poured into the barrel, and the bullet and paper rammed home. The means of ignition were devices such as matchlocks, wheel locks and flint locks, which ignited powder primers. The early bullet was a spherical leaden ball. Primitive cartridges were used by Gustavus Adolphus in 1625, and later are found in Eng land with S.B. (smooth bore) muskets, their use persisting up to the time of the Crimea.
Rifled small arms were known in the 15th century and were used by the Danes in 1611, Bavarians 1640 and by the French in 1742. At about this last date the use of the rifle was becoming more general and the ammunition was similar to that of the S.B. musket. The excellent use of the rifle made by the American colonists in the War of Independence pedited its introduction into the British and Continental armies. The problems with this early ammunition were the prevention of windage and fouling and to make the ball take the rifling. By 1800 rifles were in general use and the development in ammunition was accelerated by the invention of "percussion powder" and sion caps." In 1826 Delvigne devised a system of distorting the bullet by ramming, to make it take the rifling, but this led to in accuracy. In 1833 POncharra improved the Delvigne system by introducing a "sabot" below the bullet. He also used greased paper for lubrication.
In 1835 Greener introduced an expanding oval bullet, fitted with a metallic tapered plug in its base. In 1837 the Brunswick bullet was introduced. It was spherical and had a belt to fit the Brunswick rifling. In 1848 the Minie rifle was devised, firing a bullet similar to the Greener, but it had an iron cup in the base instead of a plug. In the meantime a percussion lock for firearms was becoming universal, but the development of the cartridge was slow. The Minie system persisted for many years and other devices, such as Pritchett's bullet, were tried, all with the object of getting rotation. At about the same time as the invention of the IVlinie the Prussian needle gun (invented by Dreyse in 1838) was adopted by the Prussian army. It had an elongated oval bullet which fitted into a cup-shaped wad containing a percussion cap. The charge was in a paper cylinder, which was tied to the bullet over the cap. The obturation was bad, but the system was a great advance in rapidity of fire.
In 1855 the cup in bullets of the Minie type was replaced by a boxwood plug, and eventually the boxwood was itself super seded by a clay plug. In 1854 Whitworth invented the hexagonal bullet for use in his rifle. It was successful but was unsuitable for S.A. (small arm) requirements. Fouling and loading difficul ties persisted. In 1865 Metford demonstrated the advantages of the hardened bullet, which made shallow grooves permissible and reduced fouling. In 1867 breech-loading rifles and brass cartridge cases were coming into general use, owing to the great success of the needle gun in 1866. In 1866 the brass cartridge case of the Boxer type was introduced. It was formed of rolled brass strip and attached to the bullet by a cemented paper joint. The lower end fitted into a brass cup fitted with a cap. Cannelures filled with beeswax provided lubrication. In about 188o solid drawn cases were suggested and shortly afterwards introduced. In 1883 Rubin designed a composite bullet which was made of lead, with a copper jacket, and in 1887 cupro-nickel was introduced for jackets in certain armies. About this time the introduction of smokeless propellents of the modern type led to great developments in S.A.A. (small arm ammunition). In 1886 nitro-cellulose powder was invented by Vieille and adopted by the United States, France and other nations. In 1891 cordite was adopted by Great Britain. The further development of S.A.A. becomes a matter of modern technical history.