What is the Minié ball?
Q: What is the Minié ball?
A: The Minié ball is a type of muzzle-loading spin-stabilized bullet for rifled muskets.
Q: Who invented the Minié rifle?
A: The Minié rifle was invented by Claude-Étienne Minié.
Q: What was the significance of the Minié ball?
A: The Minié ball was significant because it was the first projectile that was small enough to be easily put down the barrel of a rifled long gun.
Q: What is rifling?
A: Rifling is the addition of spiral grooves inside a gun barrel that gives a spin to a bullet, greatly increasing the range and accuracy of a gun.
Q: What were the most common weapons used during the American Civil War?
A: The American Springfield Model 1861 and the British Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled muskets were the most common weapons used during the American Civil War.
Q: What was the effect of the Minié ball in the American Civil War?
A: The Minié ball did a lot of damage in the American Civil War, shattering bones often and making it hard for surgeons to treat wounded soldiers.
Q: Why were balls difficult to load into rifled muskets before the Minié ball?
A: Before the Minié ball, balls had to be jammed down the rifle barrel, sometimes with a mallet, and after a relatively small number of shots, gunpowder leftovers built up in the spiral grooves, which then had to be cleaned out.
