minie ball

[homa1]

i was reading an interesting article taken from accounts of civil war surgeons describing the effects of the minie ball, for the life of me i cant remember where i read the history channel did a ballistic comparison between a round ball, minie and modern, if any has seen this i would be very interested in the results

 

[LeMat1856]

hi homa1,

i've watched lots and lots of history channel programs and the closest thing to what you're looking for was done by r.lee ermy in his series called "lock n' load."

in the episode #10 called "ammunition" he does show the penetrating power of both a prb and mini shot from the same black powder rifle (no mention of load or distance) and compares the difference between the two based on his famous "watermelon-o-meter"... it's not 'real' scientific, but does make the point... i won't spoil it for you, unless you can't find them any more on youtube:
[youtube]t-1o7qrhokY[/youtube]

he does similar tests in other episodes (#11 rifles, #? shotguns, #4 pistols) using all of the following: a cow's bone, watermelons, ballistics gel, large water bottles, ceramic plates, concrete bricks, ... i think you get the idea.

if you can put up with his personna, these 45 minute long, commercial free uploads are worth the time... you won't learn a whole lot, but definitely something.

check it out,

:thumbsup:
~dg~

 

[cynthialee]

He makes me laugh when he starts to go off.
Bet he is a teddy bear when a girl gets him alone.
:wink:

 

[LeMat1856]

cynthialee,

i agree - the names he comes up with for his fictional audiance are sidesplitting at times ( ladies, dunderheads, my little darlings, couch potatoes, etc.), many of which i remember being called during boot camp a few decades ago. BUT, i'll leave the teddy bear side to mrs. gunny (and others....?).

didn't he do some heated scenes during "full metal jacket" ? i haven't seen that in a long, long time.

glad you enjoyed it.

:thumbsup:
~dg~

 

[buford87]

The story I heard was he was hired as a technical consultant for the movie, but when no actor could be found that could act like a boot camp sarge he got the screen time............watch yer top knot.........

 

[dcriner]

This is related to your original question, but doesn't exactly answer it.

I have a .58 cal, 1861 Springfield. I have fired both patched round balls and minie balls, with the same 50 grains of 2f. The minie balls kick quite a bit more than the round balls - proving that the minies, which are heavier than the round balls, pack more momentum.

 

[Matt85]

there is no question that a heavier projectile will travel further and penetrate threw more. when it comes to ballistics the minie is superior to the ball.

as far as more damage, im not really sure, tests could be performe. but if fired at the same target within the roundballs effective range i doubt the minie would be much better since both projects are the same width.

-matt

 

[F.G. Ford]

Interesting!

 

[RedFeather]

I have an older book on Civil War guns and the author mentioned that early in the war, surgeons, on both sides, accused the other of using exploding bullets due to the massive trauma associated with the conical. IIRC, he says that roundballs would glance off bone whereas the conical completely splintered it. I used to think that Civil War surgeons were inept, amputating at the nearest joint, until I read that. There was simply nothing left to work with. Roundballs are not very aerodynamic and shed velocity quickly, while the conical, being much heavier and fairly streamlined, carries up at extreme ranges. A man hit at 600 yards with a roundball might easily survive. Same man hit with a Minie, not so good.

 

[Matt85]

not so sure a 69 cal round ball would "glance off bone".

we need to remember that the round balls used for military purposes were of large caliber. im still convinced that a .69 cal round ball will do the same amount of damage as a 69 cal minie within the round balls effective range.

-matt

 

[TFoley]

there is no question that a heavier projectile will travel further and penetrate threw more. when it comes to ballistics the minie is superior to the ball.

as far as more damage, im not really sure, tests could be performe. but if fired at the same target within the roundballs effective range i doubt the minie would be much better since both projects are the same width.

-matt

It's been done - a thousand times.

Let's assume that we are shooting an average .58cal Minié bullet of 535gr against a ball of the same calibre - THAT weighs only 298gr.

Let's assume also that both are doing 1000fps at the muzzle.

The Minié bullet will be coming out with 1188 ft lbs of muzzle energy.

The ball with only 652 ft lbs of muzzle energy.

The ball will have lost almost 70% of that energy at 300 yards - the Minié will have retained almost 70% by comparison.

NOW which one is going to do the same amouunt of damage?

BTW, I shoot a Minié bullet at ranges out to 800 yards, and you really would not want to be standing there. See the Youtube shooting of a Springfield at this distance to learn more.

The ball will have fallen out of the air by then....

tac

 

[Jason Lewis]

not so sure a 69 cal round ball would "glance off bone".

we need to remember that the round balls used for military purposes were of large caliber. im still convinced that a .69 cal round ball will do the same amount of damage as a 69 cal minie within the round balls effective range.

-matt

often time in the crimea which was the first use of the both the mini and the pritchett surgeons noticed that round ball wounds would go around long bones or become lodged in the bone and then become "encysted". not a glancing basically just tracking around it.

 

[RedFeather]

My Dad saw a fellow shot in the head with a small caliber lead bullet. It tracked the skull and exited out the back, beneath the skin. Round balls can also be stopped by buckles, bibles, etc, whereas a conical will plow through. Just how it is.