DUMDUM Bullets

It might surprise the reader to know how the name DUMDUM got linked with bullets used as early as 1870. It was the local name given to Expanding bullets. Expanding bullets are designed to expand on impact, sometimes as much as twice the diameter as it hits the target.  This will slow the bullet down and more of its kinetic energy will be transferred to the target, creating a larger wound channel. For this reason expanding bullets are often used in hunting because their stopping power increases the chance of a quick kill.  

Expanding bullets were given the name Dum-dum, or dumdum bullets, after an early British example produced in the Dumdum Arsenal, near Calcutta,  by Captain Neville Bertie-Clay. There were several expanding bullets produced by this arsenal for the .303 British cartridge, including soft-point and hollow-point designs.

History

Early bullets were typically made in the form of spheres of nearly pure lead which is a soft metal. These would often flatten upon impact with the target, causing a larger wound than the original diameter of the ball. The adoption of rifling allowed the use of longer, heavier bullets, but these were still typically constructed of soft lead and would often double in diameter upon impact. In this case expansion was a side effect of materials,

During Mid 1870 Captain Neville Bertie-Clay experimented with Expanding bullets and managed to manufacture Dumdum bullets which expanded almost three times that of the original size, resulting in bigger wounds, and  giving the target a quick death. This Dumdum bullet got   popular fast and many a countries started using it as their warfare weapon.

International Ban

n 1898, the German government lodged a protest against the use of the Mark IV Dumdum bullets, claiming the wounds produced by the bullets were excessive and inhumane, thus violating the laws of war. The protest, however, was based on the comparison of the wounds produced by expanding and non-expanding bullets from high velocity sporting rifles, The German protests were effective, however, resulting in the ban of the use of expanding bullets in warfare. The British replaced the hollow-point bullets with new full metal jacket bullets, and used the remaining stocks of expanding bullets for practice

During the Hague Convention of 1899, the British delegation attempted to justify the use of the dumdum bullet by pointing to its utility when putting down colonial unrest. However, the rest of the delegates at the Hague Convention 1899 did not accept this justification and voted 22–2 to prohibit the future use of the dumdum bullet.

The present day

There is actually a new design of these dumdum bullets and they are called RIP (Radically Invasive Projectile) as it splits into 8 different pieces upon impact and is being marketed as the last round. Being such a good round they are being issued to the British SAS along with new sub machine guns, the H&K MP7A1.

Basically, you can buy hollow point Dumdum bullets or the new RIP rounds at any good ammunition stockist. Thus, the name Dumdum  which was linked with warfare and bullets is now becoming a fairy tale to a common man which was once , one of the most controversial issue worldwide.

 

 

#Dumdum Bullet , # Neville Bertie-Clay