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From: "John Wilson" <>
Subject: [BOER-WAR] Dum Dum bullets, History
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 01:57:45 +1300


Dum Dum bullets, History:
see Thomas Packenham "The Boer War"
Indexed under: rifles, use of "dum-dum" ammunition

History, from "Small Arms Design and Ballistics"
by Townsend Whelan, Colonel (retd) Ordnance Dept US Army
pub. Samworth; Vol 1 - Design (1945, pages 302-303)
& Vol 2 - Ballistics (1946, pages 139-141).

The leading nations all adopted a smokeless small bore high power military
rifle of calibres 0.244 to 0.319 inch in the period 1890-96. The bullets
were round nosed and fully jacketed, and though the muzzle velocity was
higher than the previous large diameter heavy lead bullets the wounding
effect was much less. Muzzle velocities from 1960 to 2400 f.s. The bullets
penetrated cleanly with a small hole unless it struck a large bone causing
it to turn over or disintegrate, and wounds were usually sterile as the
small (and hot) bullet carried little clothing into the wound.

In the 1890s the British pioneered their .303 rifle and cartridge:
(A) Mark I: the first metal cased bullet for the .303, with a thin jacket
and hot burning cordite. Considerable trouble with blown jackets, so soon
superseded.
(B) Mark II: jacket thicker at nose and wider turnover at base. But lack of
shocking or killing power, particularly against Afghan or Pathan tribesman
on the Northwest Frontier who kept on fighting unless shot through the heart
or brain.
Reportedly the Dum Dum Arsenal ground the jacket from the tip of the Mark
II, producing an effective man-stopper.
(C) The "only true Dum Dum Bullet", a metal jacketed bullet open at both
ends ie having a rounded but exposed tip. Invented and patented by a Captain
Bertie-Clay at the Dum Dum Arsenal. But so much trouble from blown jackets
that its use was soon abandoned, about 1896. (Presumably the Mark III?).
(D) The famous Mark IV (with a hollow nose). Meant to effectively disable
when struck in a non-vital part of the body. "It too quickly came to an end
through core blow-outs but was also promptly outlawed by the provisions of
the Hague Convention which met shortly after its introduction and forbid the
use of any type of expanding or explosive bullet".
NB: Dum Dum is the industrial suburb (and airport) of Calcutta.

For sporting purposes the small bore high velocity cartridges had advantages
over black powder cartridges. Introduced in America about 1896, they
completely supplanted black powder weapons within three years. The jacket
was fully closed at the base, and for increased killing power they had an
exposed lead nose, so were called "soft nosed" bullets. They mushroomed out
to about double the effective diameter.
Later some expanding bullets were made with a hollow at the tip.
Finally the hollow was filled with a copper wedge or hollow pointed tube, to
give an extremely sharp point.

About 1905 the Germans introduced the "spitzer" sharp pointed light weight
military bullet. The shallow trajectory was a great advantage, so it was
adopted by other nations eg the US Model 1906. Its high velocity (about 2825
f.s. in the 8 mm) meant that bullets often turned sideways causing ghastly
wounds, and hence accusations of using
dum-dum bullets. (Similarly the modern US "Armalite" ?).

Yours, John Wilson (Wellington, New Zealand)


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