MILITARY MEDICINE, 174, 4:403, 2009

Wound Ballistics: Mini Ball vs. Full Metal

Jacketed BulletsA Comparison of Civil War and
Spanish-American War Firearms
Paul Joseph Dougherty, MD*; MAJ Herbert Collins Eidt, MC USA

ABSTRACT Objective: The advent of the full metal jacketed bullet in the late nineteenth century was thought to
cause less severe battlefield wounds. This study compares the wounding characteristics of a reproduction rifle from the
American Civil War to one of the Spanish-American War using the wound profile method. Methods: A 0.58 caliber
rifled musket using Mini balls and a 0.30 caliber Krag-Jorgenson rifle using full metal jacketed bullets were fired into
calibrated 10% ordnance gelatin blocks at a distance of 3 meters. Measured parameters included maximum temporary
cavity, muzzle velocity, and the permanent track. Results: Maximum temporary cavities were significantly larger using
the musket, averaging 121 mm ( 5.4) vs. 38.6 mm ( 8.8) ( p < 0.001). Bullet weights were also significantly larger,
totaling 29.7 grams ( 1.3) for the musket vs. 14.18 grams ( 0.01) for the rifle ( p < 0.01). Using grains, bullet weights
were 458.3 grains (20 grains; range 435.2486.1) vs. 218.8 grains ( 0.15; range 218.7219). Muzzle velocities of the
musket were significantly less when compared with the rifle, averaging 944 fps ( 116) vs. 1852 fps ( 22.5), respectively
( p < 0.001). Conclusions: The rifled musket produced more severe wounds when compared to the Krag-Jorgenson rifle,
as was clinically apparent to observers at the time of the Spanish-American War.

INTRODUCTION
The late nineteenth century saw the development of a full
metal jacketed bullet as a means to improve military firearms
by increasing the range and accuracy over solid lead bullets.
The changes in bullet design were also thought to have an
effect on the types of wounds seen with battle casualties. When
comparing casualties from the American Civil War to the
Spanish-American War, observers noted less severe wounds.
Borden also noted a decreased reported mortality among hospitalized patients with extremity wounds: from 13.8% to 1.6%
(lower extremity) and 6.5% to 0.2% (upper extremity) when
comparing casualty statistics of the Civil War to those of the
Spanish-American War.1
Bullet development occurred rapidly in the nineteenth
century compared to any other time period. Early nineteenth
century weapons were usually smoothbore muskets that
fired round lead balls of about 0.50 to 0.75 inches in diameter. Smoothbore muskets were not accurate beyond about
50 yards. Although accuracy could be improved with the use
of a rifled barrel, the fit of the bullet/barrel needed to be tight
to impart a spin on the projectile. This made reloading too
slow for the standard military arm. In the mid 1840s a bullet was developed by Captain Claude E. Mini of France that
allowed for practical use of a rifled barrel for the standard
military arm. The bullet was cone shaped and had a hollow
base that expanded when fired, thus engaging the rifling of
a barrel to impart a spin on the bullet to stabilize it in flight.
*Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, MI 48109.
Winn Army Community Hospital, 1061 Harmon Ave., Fort Stewart,
GA 31314.
This manuscript was received for review in June 2007. The revised
manuscript was accepted for publication in November 2008.

This allowed the bullet to be easily loaded from the muzzle,

yet created a tight fit to engage rifling when the weapon was
fired. The conoid bullets varied in size and weight, but were
generally between 0.54 and 0.58 inches and weighed approximately 29.135 grams (450540 grains).2,3 Use of the conoid
bullets, or Mini balls, changed the tactics of mid-nineteenth
century wars, including the American Civil War. Surgeons
also noticed there was increased wounding sometimes seen
with Mini balls.4,5 Otis described the increased destructiveness of the Mini ball when comparing wounds made with
Mini balls compared with the older musket ball.5
In 1881 a full metal jacketed bullet was developed and
combined with a bottlenecked cartridge and smokeless powder by Major Rubin, a Swiss Army Ordnance officer. The
full metal jacketed bullet of smaller diameter was fired at an
increased velocity, allowing it to be more accurate over longer ranges.
The wounding effects of the newer full metal jacketed bullets were controversial at the time. Some felt the newer full
metal jacketed bullets would cause increased tissue disruption
and more severe wounds,6,7 whereas others felt the wounds
would be less severe.1,814
A method of reliably predicting the effects of the projectile-tissue interaction was developed in the 1980s at Letterman
Army Institute of Research by using ordnance gelatin.15,16 This
study uses the wound-profile method to compare the wounding effects of two standard infantry shoulder-fired weapons
used during the Civil War (Replica Colt 1861 rifled musket
firing 0.58-inch Mini balls) and the Spanish-American War
(Krag-Jorgenson rifle firing 0.30-inch full metal jacketed bullets). To the authors knowledge, this is the first study that
compares representative arms from the two conflicts to document the differences seen.

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403

Wound Ballistics: Mini Ball vs. Full-Metal Jacketed Bullets

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Two shoulder-fired weapons, representative of those used in
the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War, were
compared using the wound-profile method. Firearms used
were a replica Colt (Hartford, Connecticut) 1861 rifled musket
(0.58 caliber) (Fig. 1) and an original 1895 Krag-Jorgenson
rifle (Springfield, Massachusetts) (Fig. 2). Projectiles for
the rifled musket were original 3-ring Mini balls (Fig. 3),
which were loaded with 60 grains by volume Pyrodex powder (Pyrodex, Hodgen Powder Company, Shawnee Mission,
Kansas). Original 0.3040 caliber ammunition (1901
Frankfort Arsenal, Pennsylvania) (Fig. 4) was used for the
Krag-Jorgenson rifle.
This technique is done by firing shots into 10% ordnance
gelatin from a distance of 3 meters. A minimum space of
3 meters is necessary to provide space for the chronograph
switches. The ordnance gelatin used in this technique approximates damage seen in soft tissue. Type 250A ordnance gelatin
(Knox and Kind, Sioux City, Iowa) was made by adding powder to cold water for a 10% by weight solution.1517 The mixture was heated to 39C, poured into 20 20 50 cm molds,
and cooled to 4C. The gelatin was allowed to sit and then was
removed from the mold. The gel was ready to use at 36 hours

FIGURE 3. Unfired (left) and fired 0.58 caliber musket bullets.

FIGURE 4. 0.30 caliber cartridge, cartridge case, and recovered bullet.

FIGURE 1. Lock for the rifled musket.

FIGURE 2. Action for the Krag-Jorgenson rifle, showing the magazine

feed for cartridges.

404

after pouring. To calibrate blocks of gelatin, a 0.31 gram BB

was fired into one corner of the gelatin at 575605 feet per
second. The BB should penetrate 710 centimeters to assure
consistency. The calibration was away from the planned shot
line and did not interfere with the results. Muzzle velocity, in
feet per second (fps), was measured using an Oehler 33 series
chronograph (Oehler Instruments, Austin, Texas). Five shots
from each weapon were fired into the calibrated ordnance gelatin blocks. Projectiles of the musket were weighed before
and after the shots, while the recovered 0.30-caliber projectiles were weighed.
The projectile tissue interaction in the gelatin was examined over likely depth of penetration for a thigh (15 cm) to
represent a worst-case scenario for an extremity wound. End
points measured were permanent and temporary cavity along
the bullets path in ordnance gelatin. Permanent cavity was
calibrated by measuring the diameter of the projectiles path in
gelatin, usually outlined by lubricant or powder as the projectile passes through the gelatin. Temporary cavity is calculated

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Wound Ballistics: Mini Ball vs. Full-Metal Jacketed Bullets

by measuring radial splits from the bullet path in the ordnance

gelatin. Comparison of data between the Krag-Jorgenson rifle
and the rifled musket was made by using the Students t-test.
RESULTS
Muzzle velocities of the rifled musket were significantly less
when compared with the Krag-Jorgenson rifle, averaging
944 fps (116; range, 8091085) vs. 1852 fps ( 22.5; range,
18201878), respectively ( p < 0.001). Maximum permanent
tract diameters in the first 15 cm of the musket wound track
were significantly greater than the rifle, averaging 16.3 mm
(2.6, range, 1420) vs. 9.2 mm (3.2; range, 7.515), respectively ( p = 0.005). Maximum temporary cavities within the
first 15 cm of gelatin were also significantly larger, averaging
121 mm (5.4; range, 115130) vs. 38.6mm ( 8.8; range,
3053) ( p < 0.001). Bullet weights were also significantly
larger, totaling 29.7 grams (1.3; range 28.231.5) vs. 14.18
grams (0.01; range 14.1714.19) ( p < 0.01). Using grains,
bullet weights were 458.3 grains (20 grains; range 435.2
486.1) vs. 218.8 grains (0.15; range 218.7219).
Using the entire path through the gelatin, as opposed to
the first 15 cm as listed in the previous paragraph (Fig. 5), the
Krag-Jorgenson bullet averaged 918 mm (range 865930 mm)
total penetration, with an average maximum temporary gelatin cavity of 128 mm (range 110157mm). This occurred at an
average penetration of 485 mm (range 446510 mm).
In contrast, the muskets bullet traveled an average maximum distance of 685 mm (range 500780 mm) through the
gelatin. The maximum temporary cavity was achieved at an
average of 118 mm (range 100150 mm) depth. The maximum
temporary cavity averaged 123 mm (range 115135 mm).
DISCUSSION
The wound-profile method is a standard technique used to predict soft tissue wounds and its use has been accepted to predict the wounding potential of a variety of small arms. To the

FIGURE 5. Wound profile of the 0.58-caliber musket (top) and 0.30-caliber

rifle (bottom).

authors knowledge, this is the first study to document the differences between arms of the Civil War and Spanish-American
War to correlate the surgeons findings of both conflicts.
In the present study, the Mini ball caused more disruption of ordnance gelatin with both permanent and temporary
cavity over the depth of penetration associated with a thigh
and torso. The permanent cavity represents the area touched
by the projectile as it passes through. For soft tissue with an
intact vascular supply, the amount of tissue damage is proportional to the size of the projectile. The temporary cavity is a
transient lateral displacement of tissue. Elastic tissue, such as
skeletal muscle, may be pushed aside and bruised. Tissue in
this area should heal up uneventfully. Inelastic tissue, such as
bone or liver, may become fractured by this mechanism. Both
the permanent and temporary cavity measurements were significantly larger through the first 30 cm with the Mini balls
when compared to the rifle, despite a near doubling of muzzle
velocity seen with the rifle.
The maximum temporary cavity for the Krag-Jorgenson
rifle occurred at almost 50 cm, outside of the average thickness of a torso, with relatively minimal disruption of gelatin
occurring in the first 30 cm.
The clinical effects of the new full metal jacketed bullet
were controversial at the time they were introduced. Griffiths,
a prominent surgeon in the U.S. Army Medical Department in
the 1890s, tested the new rifle by firing 24 shots into human
cadavers at various ranges. He concluded that the newer full
metal jacketed bullet was more destructive than the Mini balls
and would cause an increased proportion of dead or wounded.
Griffiths did not fire comparative shots using Mini balls nor
did he comment on the differences between live tissue and
cadaveric tissue. Cadaveric tissue is relatively inelastic and
stiff when compared to live tissue. Thus, the effects of the
temporary cavity may have been exaggerated.7,8
The U.S. Army Surgeon Generals Office sponsored studies to determine just what effect the newer bullets would have
compared to the old. Captain Louis A. LaGarde was sent to
Frankfort Arsenal, Pennsylvania, to complete this study in
1892. He fired shots into human cadavers (52 of a 0.30 caliber,
14.3 gram (220 grain) prototype Krag-Jorgenson bullets and
37 of the standard 0.45 caliber, 32.4 gram (500 grain) bullets
of the model 1873 Springfield rifle) and found that the new
projectile deformed less, penetrated farther, and appeared less
destructive than the older rifle.10,11 He felt that the newer bullet
was more humane in that it would account for fewer amputations than the older rifle. LaGarde then served as a major
in the Spanish-American War at a base hospital in Cuba. His
observations in treating war wounded confirmed his earlier
findings on the effects of the newer bullets.12,13 The Springfield
rifle LaGarde tested was the standard infantry rifle from 1873
until the adoption of the Krag-Jorgenson rifle and was different from the rifle used in our study. The clinical material
used in LaGardes book Gunshot Injuries drew heavily from
the experience of the American Civil War (and Mini balls)
for comparison to the Spanish-American War (and both the

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405

Wound Ballistics: Mini Ball vs. Full-Metal Jacketed Bullets

Krag-Jorgenson and Spanish 7-mm Mauser). LaGarde did not

directly test the Mini ball/rifled musket to the full metal jacketed bullet used in the Krag-Jorgenson, which was the purpose
of this article.
Surgical techniques had changed in the management
of extremity wounds from the Civil War to the SpanishAmerican War. Rather than amputation, preservation of a
limb with an open fracture gradually became the accepted
technique during the later stages of the Civil War in certain
cases.18,19 However, treatment of extensive soft tissue wounds,
such as those caused by gun shot, were also treated by amputation.18,19 By the Spanish-American War, antisepsis and the
germ theory influenced surgical technique. Gloves, carbolic
acid, and improved anesthesia made surgical treatment safer
than during the Civil War. Wounds to the soft tissue only were
also treated nonoperatively, with only dressing changes as a
treatment until the wound had healed.
During the Spanish-American War, William Borden, a U.S.
Army surgeon, noted that the wounding effects in soft tissue
of the full metal jacketed bullet were less when compared to
older Mini balls.1 This allowed for wounds through the soft
tissue only to be treated nonoperativley in more cases than had
occurred during the Civil War. He also noted that improved
surgical techniques of asepsis or antisepsis contributed to the
improved results.
This decreased mortality is usually attributed to improvements in medical care during this period, but the transition
from Mini balls to full metal jacketed bullets may have also
played a role.
Nicholas Senn, MD, a surgeon on active duty from Chicago
University, also treated injured soldiers from the SpanishAmerican War and found that the wounds to soft tissue were
less severe when the newer bullets were used.14
One limitation of this study is comparing the results of
combat casualty statistics from the Civil War to the SpanishAmerican War. The results cited by Borden from the Civil
War are casualties reported to the Army Medical Museum
and do not necessarily reflect all patients who were killed outright (killed in action), wounded (wounded in action), and
those who died after hospital admission (died of wounds).18
Casualties from the Spanish-American War were accounted
for more accurately than the volunteer reports of the Civil War
made to the Army Medical Museum. Less severely wounded
soldiers may be more represented in Spanish-American war
figures, which may bias the killed-to-wounded ratio cited by
Borden.
The authors attempted to reproduce the conditions in the
nineteenth century as closely as possible. We used original
ammunition in an original Krag-Jorgenson rifle. Published10
muzzle velocities for this weapon were slightly higher (2000
and 1965 fps) than reported in our series (average 1852 fps),
probably because of the effects of aging on the bullet powder.
Additionally, for the 1861 rifled musket, we used battlefield
pick up bullets to minimize differences in modern and Civil
War metallurgy. It is unclear just what the average muzzle

406

velocity was for the rifled musket during the Civil War, but it
was probably on the order of 9001000 fps.10
Various factors are involved with gunshot wounds. The
projectile diameter, weight, shape, and composition are all
factors. The two projectiles used in this study were different in
all bullet variables. The bullets used with the Civil War rifled
musket weighed on average twice as much, were less aerodynamically shaped, and were made entirely of soft lead.
There are some important findings for those who study
gunshot wounds today. Increased velocity is often cited as a
factor, and by some authors the most important factor, causing increased wounding. The muzzle velocity of the KragJorgenson rifle was nearly double that of the rifled musket
shots (average 1852 fps vs. 944 fps), yet is associated with
less destructive wounds in both the present study and historical data.
Finally, the type of tissue struck influences the type of
injury seen and the patients outcome. We limited this variable by using a standardized tissue simulant that approximates
wounds seen in skeletal muscle. For this reason, our findings
only apply to soft tissue wounds.
CONCLUSION
In the present study, we used a standardized technique that
approximates injury of soft tissues. By using ordnance gelatin
as a tissue stimulant, we were able to control for variations in
tissue type. For extremity wounds, less disruption of soft tissue occurred with the use of full metal jacketed bullets than
Mini balls.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Paul M. Dougherty, JD for providing
comments on the protocol and his technical support during this study.

REFERENCES
1. Borden WC: Military Surgery. Bethesda, MD, AMSUS, 1901.
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Gettysburg, PA, Thomas Publications, 1990.
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Rebellion, Part II, Vol III, Chapter XII Shot Wounds pp 687709.
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Arsenal. In: Connection with the Ordnance Department of the US Army.
Report to the Surgeon General for the Secretary of War. Fiscal Year,
pp 7395. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1893.

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Wound Ballistics: Mini Ball vs. Full-Metal Jacketed Bullets

12. LaGarde LA: Remarks upon the gunshot wounds of the reduced
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Proc Assoc Mil Surg. 1900; 9: 23241.
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RADM Galson and AMSUS Executive Director, Maj Gen

George Anderson present the Joel T. Boone Award to CAPT
Gary Blair, USPHS (Ret.) for many years of outstanding service to AMSUS

Dr. Kussman and Maj Gen Anderson present the Ray E.

Brown Award to James R. Floyd

VADM Adam Robinson and Maj Gen Anderson present the

Outstanding Federal Healthcare Excellence Award to RADM
Nancy J. Lescavage

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