Ill 



5tli. Tliat the large stock of Brunswick two -grooved rifles constructed 

 for the use of the British rifle service, might be made as useful as the 

 regulation Minie rifles, by adapting to them a bullet of the proper 

 weight, shaped like the Minie bullet, provided with two projections at 

 the side to fit the grooves of the rifle, and used with or without the iron 

 ' culot ' of the French bullets. 



The length of barrel of the Brunswick rifle is 30 inches, and the size 

 of bore is 0*704 inch. Calculating from these data the weight of the 

 ball which should be used with this rifle in order to produce the same 

 quantity of motion as in the Minie regulation rifle, I find it to be 967 

 grs., or 7 J balls to the pound. If Minie balls of this weight were con- 

 structed to suit the bore of the Brunswick rifle, and provided with pro- 

 jections or wings to fit the grooves, they would be as eflicient as the re- 

 gulation rifles of 39 inches in length. 



6th. That the quantity of Work depends only on the gun and pow- 

 der ; being the same for the Minie bullet, the sugarloaf bullet, and the 

 belted bullet, when fired from the same rifle, with the same charge of 

 powder ; and of the guns examined, being greatest for the carbine and 

 Minie regulation rifle. 



7th. That in traversing the same distance in air, the two elongated 

 bullets suffered equally in quantity of "Work ; and much less than the 

 belted bullet, which lost most Work. As the penetrating power of a 

 bullet depends on the quantity of Work it contains, and on its shape, 

 we can see in the last result a reason for the extraordinary and persis- 

 tent power of penetration, at long ranges, which has been observed to 

 reside in the Minie and conical rifle bullets. 



In penetrating 80 ft. of still air : — 



The Minie ball lost ... . 29 ft. lbs. of work, or ~^th of initial Work. 



The conical ball lost . . . 29 ft. lbs. of work, or ^fii 



The belted ball lost ... 246 ft. lbs. of work, or ~^^d 



although the amount of Work residing in the three balls was practically 

 the same at the muzzle of the rifle, and equal to 1111 ft. lbs. 



8th. I have found from carefully conducted experiments, that a half- 

 inch cylindrical, flat-headed, steel bolt, Avill penetrate the best Staflbrd- 



i shire crown plate, -^^ inch in thickness, if it be given 720 foot- pounds of 



I Work. 



The amount of Work in the rifle bullets just described is much 

 ' greater than this, which may be taken as a unit of penetrating Work ; 

 I and there is no reason why these balls should not penetrate iron plates 

 of this thickness, if they were made of steel, instead of lead. 



By the courtesy of the Ordnance Select Committee, I am enabled to 

 compare with the preceding results obtained from small arms the more 

 important results obtained, during the last year, from experiments made 

 on heavy ordnance with I^avez's electro-ballistic apparatus. I select 

 the following from the velocities obtained with smooth-bore and rifled 

 ordnance. 



