cartridge, in weaponry, unit of small-arms ammunition, composed of a metal (usually brass) case, a propellant charge, a projectile or bullet, and a primer. The first cartridges, appearing in the second half of the 16th century, consisted merely of charges of powder wrapped in paper; the ball was loaded separately. During the next century, methods of including the ball with the powder were devised. In muzzle-loading a musket, the soldier bit off the end of the paper cartridge, poured a small amount of the powder into the firing pan, poured the rest down the barrel, and rammed the ball and paper down after it.
The breech-loading rifle and various multishot weapons of the 19th century made possible loading the entire cartridge as a unit; many varieties were developed, using paper, linen, animal tissue, collodion, metal, rubber, and other materials. All required an external spark to ignite the propellant. In 1847 a Paris gunsmith, B. Houllier, patented the first cartridge, capable of being fired by the blow of the gun’s hammer. In one type, a pin was driven into the cartridge by the hammer action; in the other, a primer charge of fulminate of mercury was exploded in the cartridge rim. Later improvements changed the point of impact from the rim to the centre of the cartridge, where a percussion cap was inserted. The cartridge with a percussion cap, or cup, centred on the base of the cartridge—centre-fire—predominated in all larger calibres, but rimfire cartridges remain popular in small-bore, low-powered ammunition, e.g., .22 calibre. Smokeless nitrocellulose powder replaced black powder as the propellant in the late 19th century.
Also in the 19th century, the round ball was replaced by the elongated, or cylindroconoidal, Minié ball, as it was commonly called, with a cavity in the base that expanded on explosion of the charge to engage the rifling threads in the gun barrel. Shotgun cartridges are made of paper or plastic instead of brass.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
Claude-Étienne Minié
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Claude-Étienne Minié
French military officer
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Claude-Étienne Minié, (born Feb. 13, 1804, Paris, France—died Dec. 14, 1879, Paris), French army officer who solved the problem of designing a bullet for the muzzle-loading rifle. The bullet became known as the Minié ball.
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Born: Feb. 13, 1804, Paris, France
Died: Dec. 14, 1879, Paris (aged 75)
Inventions: Minié ball
Subjects Of Study: bullet
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After serving in several African campaigns in the Chasseurs, Minié rose to the rank of captain. In 1849 he designed the Minié ball, a cylindrical bullet with a conical point. An iron cup was inserted in the hollow base so that when the ball was fired, the cup was forced forward, expanding the base to fit snugly against the rifling grooves.
The Minié ball produced lethally accurate fire at long ranges. It was almost universally adopted by the armies of Europe and the United States and was used throughout the American Civil War (1861–65). Minié was rewarded by the French government with 20,000 francs and an appointment to the staff of the military school at Vincennes. After retiring in 1858 with the rank of colonel, he served as a military instructor for the khedive of Egypt and as a manager at the Remington Arms Company in the United States.
William Greener
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William Greener
British inventor and gunsmith
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William Greener, (born 1806, Felling, near Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, Eng.—died 1869), U.S. gunmaker and inventor who developed an early self-expanding rifle bullet, a predecessor of the later widely used Minié projectile.
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Born: 1806, Felling, near Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, Eng.
Died: 1869 (aged 63)
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Muzzle-loading rifles required a bullet smaller than the bore so it could easily be rammed into the muzzle and then, paradoxically, as large as the bore so that upon firing it would snugly fill the grooves and fully use the force of the powder gases. A number of inventors had already devised self-expanding bullets when, in 1836, Greener developed such a bullet consisting of a flat-ended oval ball with a cavity in which a metal plug was inserted. When the gun fired, the plug drove forward and caused the bullet to expand and engage the rifle grooves. Greener submitted his invention to the British government, but it was rejected; later, when a French captain, Claude Minié, received £20,000 from the British government for a