Bullet

Bullet
A bullet is a solid shell propelled by a weapon or air gun and is normally made from metal. A bullet does not contain explosives, and damages the planned target solely by imparting kinetic energy upon impact. Modern bullets for firearms are usually part of a cartridge, also known as a round. In contrast, bullets for air guns are not part of a cartridge. The word "bullet" is sometimes used to refer to the combination of bullet, case, gunpowder and primer more properly known as a cartridge or round."

Contents
1 History
1.1 The first bullets
1.2 Shaped bullets
1.3 The modern bullet
2 Designs
3 Equipments
4 Treaties
5 Bullet acronyms
6 Figurative uses
7 References
8 See also
9 External links



History

The history of bullets parallels the history of firearms. Advances in one either resulted from or precipitated advances in the additional. Originally, bullets are round metallic or stone balls placed in front of a volatile charge of gunpowder at the end of a closed tube. As firearms became more scientifically advanced, from 1500 to 1800, bullets changed very little. They remained simple round lead balls, called rounds, conflicting only in their diameter. The growth of the hand culverin and matchlock harquebus brought about the use of cast lead balls as projectiles. "Bullet" is derived from the French word "boulette" which approximately means "little ball". The original musket bullet was a globular lead ball two sizes smaller than the bore, wrapped in a loosely-fitted paper patch which served to hold the bullet in the barrel firmly upon the powder. The loading of muskets was, therefore, easy with the old smooth-bore Brown Bess and similar military muskets.