The Dum-Dum Bullet.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 7215, 21 May 1898, Page 3

The Dum-Dum Bullet.

As some questions have recently been asked in Parliament with regard to the alleged " explosive " qualities of the BumDam bullet, it may be well to explain (says the British Medical Journal) what an explosive bullet really is and the nature of the action of the Dum-Dum bullet. The Geneva Convention laid down a size, below which no missile which contained any compound which was intended to explode and break it up should be used. Anything above this size came within the definition of a shell, and could be used ; but any missile below this size, constructed on a similar principle, was an explosive bullet, and could not be used. The diameter allowed was fixed above that of any rifle. The Dnm-Dnm bullet does not contain any explosive charge, and therefore does not come within the definition of an explosive bullet laid down by the Geneva Convention. The evolution of the Dum-Dum bullet is briefly the following : In the struggle to produce a rifle with the longest and most accurate range, the diameter of a bullet has been gradually reduced. To give it a greater penetrating power and a more accurate flight, its substance or outward coating has been made harder, until in the British army the pencil-like, metal-coated Lee-Metford bullet, with a diameter of o'3o3in, has been evolved. This bullet at short ranges may produce terrible effects if it strikes a hard bone, but passes through soft parts without causing any material shock to the system. It thus allows a wounded man to charge home, and in consequence of this, has been found to be ineffective in stopping rushes of such determined fighters as we have recently met with in both India and Egypt. To meet this difficulty the Dum-Dum bullet was introduced ; it is precisely similar to the Lee-Metford bullet, except that the cnpro-nickel covering is not continued over its pointed end. The consequence is that when it comes into contact with the body the softer lead and antimony core which is exposed " sets up " Into a broader mushroom-like end, which inflicts greater damage than the hard metal-coated point of the Lee-Metford bullet. All the older bullets, including the Martini-Henry, which is still exclusively used by native troops In India, "set up " in precisely the same way as the Dum-Dum bullet, and the more severe injuries produced by the latter—if indeed they prove to be more severe, depend solely on their much greater muzzle velocity. The Dum-Dum bullet, therefore, does not contravene the present code of internationallaw.