An improvement in the art of war, no less important than the Revolver, was introduced nearly at the same time. The Revolver affords a formidable means for attack or defence at short distances, whilst the Minié Rifle extends the destructive range of fire-arms far beyond the distance to which the ordinary musket ball could reach. The principle of rifling gun barrels was first made known in the specification of an invention patented in 1789, by Mr. Wilkinson, the improvement he effected being thus described:--"The gun, or piece of ordnance, after being bored in the usual method, hath cut therein two spiral grooves, which run the whole length of the bore. These curves, according to their curvature, will give a circular motion to the shot during its flight."
The spiral grooves, when the bullets are rammed down, cause the ball to offer greater resistance, therefore the explosive force of the gunpowder is brought to act upon them more completely before they leave the gun barrel; and the rotary motion imparts greater steadiness to the ball. Rifled barrels, therefore, carry the balls farther, and increase the accuracy of the aim. They, however, require increased power and longer time to ram down the ball in loading, and the risk of bursting the gun is increased if the ball be not rammed close upon the powder. For these reasons, they were considered unfit to be employed generally by soldiers, and they were entrusted only to select corps of rifle shooters. The object of Captain Minié's invention was to facilitate the loading of rifles, by contriving a bullet which might be easily rammed in, and would expand in the act of firing, so as to fill up the grooves. What is commonly called the Minié Rifle is, in fact, only a Minié Rifle Ball, for the barrels of the guns are nearly the same as the ordinary grooved rifles.
The ball is an elongated one, with a hollow cone at the bottom, into which is fixed an iron button. When the gun is fired, the button is forced into the cone, and expands the lead, which thus fills up the grooves and gives a spiral direction to the bullet. The Minié ball serves the purpose excellently for a short time, but after firing several rounds the iron button is forced through the lead, leaving a portion of it behind, which clogs up the barrel, and renders it unfit for use.