Editing Rifle (section)

===Muzzle-loading===

{{Main article|Muzzleloader|Muzzle-loading rifle}}

Gradually, rifles appeared with cylindrical barrels cut with helical grooves, the surfaces between the grooves being "lands". The innovation was shortly followed by the mass adoption of [[breech-loading weapon]]s, as it was not practical to push an overbore bullet down through a rifled barrel. The dirt and grime from prior shots were pushed down ahead of a tight bullet or ball (which may have been a looser fit in the clean barrel before the first shot), and loading was far more difficult, as the lead had to be deformed to go down in the first place, reducing the accuracy due to deformation. Several systems were tried to deal with the problem, usually by resorting to an under-bore bullet that expanded upon firing.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/bullet
 |title=Bullet |date=April 9, 2020 |publisher=Britannica |access-date=September 17, 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Delvigne system.jpg|thumb|The method developed by [[Henri-Gustave Delvigne|Delvigne]] for his rifles, with the lead bullet being supported by a wooden sabot at its base.]]

The original muzzle-loading rifle, with a closely fitting ball to take the rifling grooves, was loaded with difficulty, particularly when foul, and for this reason was not generally used for military purposes. With the advent of rifling, the bullet itself did not initially change but was wrapped in a greased, cloth patch to grip the rifling grooves.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2010/05/rifling-expanding-bullets-and-minie.html|date=16 May 2010|title=Rifling: Expanding Bullets and the Minie Rifle|publisher=Firearms History, Technology & Development|access-date=23 October 2021|quote=The solution for hundreds of years was to wrap the bullet in a greased cloth patch and ram it down the barrel}}</ref>

The first half of the 19th century saw a distinct change in the shape and function of the bullet. In 1826 [[Henri-Gustave Delvigne]], a French [[infantry]] officer, invented a breech with abrupt shoulders on which a spherical bullet was rammed down until it caught the rifling grooves. Delvigne's method, however, deformed the bullet and was inaccurate.<ref>{{cite web|first=Tom |last=McHale |date=2017-02-03|title=Reloading: Bullet Materials and Shapes|url=https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/reloading-bullet-materials-shapes/|access-date=2021-03-15|website=GunsAmerica Digest}}</ref>

Soon after, [[Louis-Etienne de Thouvenin]] invented the [[Carabine à tige]], which had a stem at the bottom of the barrel that would deform and expand the base of the bullet when rammed, therefore enabling accurate contact with the rifling. However, the area around the stem clogged and got dirty easily.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

====Minié system – the "rifled musket"====

{{Main article|Minié ball|Minié rifle}}
[[File:Japanese Minie rifle(Mirror).jpg|300px|thumb|British-made [[Minié rifle]] used in Japan during the [[Boshin war]] (1868–1869).]]

The famous Minié system, invented by French Army Captain [[Claude-Étienne Minié]], relied on a conical bullet (known as a Minié ball) with a hollow skirt at the base of the bullet.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} When fired, the skirt would expand from the pressure of the exploding charge and grip the rifling as the round was fired. The better seal gave more power, as less gas escaped past the bullet. Also, for the same [[gauge (bore diameter)|bore]] ([[caliber]]) diameter a long bullet was heavier than a round ball. The extra grip also spun the bullet more consistently, which increased the range from about 50 yards for a smoothbore musket to about 300 yards for a rifle using the Minié system. The expanding skirt of the Minié ball also solved the problem that earlier tight-fitting bullets were difficult to load as black powder residue fouled the inside of the barrel. The Minié system allowed conical bullets to be loaded into rifles just as quickly as round balls in smooth bores, which allowed [[rifled musket|rifle muskets]] to replace muskets on the battlefield.

Minié system rifles, notably the [[Springfield Model 1861|U.S. Springfield]] and the [[Pattern 1853 Enfield|British Enfield]] of the early 1860s featured prominently in the [[U.S. Civil War]] of 1861-1865, due to their enhanced power and accuracy.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} At the time of the [[Crimean War]] (1853-1856) the Minié rifle was considered the "best in military use".<ref name=":2" />

Over the 19th century, bullet design continued to evolve, the bullets becoming gradually smaller and lighter. By 1910 the standard blunt-nosed bullet had been replaced by the pointed, [[Spitzer (bullet)|'spitzer' bullet]], an innovation that increased range and penetration. [[Cartridge (weaponry)|Cartridge]] design evolved from simple paper tubes containing [[black powder]] and shot, to sealed brass cases with integral [[Primer (firearm)|primers]] for ignition, and black powder was replaced by [[cordite]], and then by other nitro-cellulose-based [[smokeless powder]] mixtures, propelling bullets to higher velocities than before.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

The increased velocity meant that new problems arose, and so bullets went from using soft lead to harder lead, then to [[full metal jacket bullet|copper-jacketed]], in order to better engage the spiral grooves without "stripping" them in the same way that a screw or bolt thread would be stripped if subjected to extreme forces.<ref>{{cite web |title=Soft Cast Bullets, Jacketed Bullets & Copper Coated Bullets {{!}} Shop Black Powder Cast Bullets at Buffalo Arms |url=https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloading-supplies-accessories/jacketed-44-lead-copper-coated-bullets.html |access-date=2021-03-15|website=www.buffaloarms.com}}</ref>