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Minié balls

Scope note

Muzzleloading rifle bullets with a conical head, cylindrical body, and a three-grooved hollow base which, upon firing, expanded to fill the barrel rifling. They were developed in the mid-19th century by Captain Claude-Étienne Minié, among others, but rapidly grew obsolete with the increasing use of breechloading firearms and practical fixed ammunition in the late 19th century.

Term type

AAT

Getty AAT term number

3000201704

Broader Terms used

bullets

Equivalent Terms used

Minié ball

Created

12yrs ago

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The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Terminology definition for: Minié balls" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/terminology/term-86937 Accessed: 2024-05-03 12:19:41

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/terminology/term-86937|title=Terminology definition for: Minié balls|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-05-03 12:19:41|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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