German bullets

[RammyLad1]

We have all read references of advancing troops coming under a Hail of Lead from German machine guns etc. I was asked if bullets were still made of lead in 1915. So, were they?

Duncan

[TonyE]

Yes, the German S bullet for the 7.92mm round had a cupro-nickel clad steel envelope and a core of lead. In fact all the combatents used lead cored ammunition with the exception of the French who had a solid bronze bullet.

That remains the case today, although in the last few years there have been moves to develop lead free ammunition, mainly by the United States, using Bismuth instead of lead.

Regards

TonyE

[RammyLad1]

Thank you for the quick reply Tony. Much appreciated.

Duncan

[MikB]

But very few weapons were using naked lead bullets except British revolvers with Mk.II .455 ball, any Reichsrevolvers still in service with German forces, and civilian revolvers, usually of smaller calibre, in use informally by all sides. I'm not sure if there was still any .450" Martini-Henry being fired in machine guns, at least on the Western Front, but I think this doubtful - Tony probably knows!

Regards,

MikB

[TonyE]

AFAIK, only the Royal Navy were possibly still using some .45 inch Martini chambered Maxims, although the Indian Army would still have had them. The Navy retained the Maxim in .303 inch calire until the end of the war and Enfield made several hundred between 1914 and 1918 for the navy.

The RFC were experimenting with .45 inch Maxims, both in Martini and Gardner Gatling chambering, but these were all with jacketed bullets using special loads, tracer AP, incendiary etc.

regards

TonyE

[Doc2]

But very few weapons were using naked lead bullets except British revolvers with Mk.II .455 ball, any Reichsrevolvers still in service with German forces, and civilian revolvers, usually of smaller calibre, in use informally by all sides. I'm not sure if there was still any .450" Martini-Henry being fired in machine guns, at least on the Western Front, but I think this doubtful - Tony probably knows!

Regards,

MikB

And of course shotguns, (used by the Americans), which fired lead shot.

We must also remember the Hague conventions which outlawed soft and expanding bullets--- thus eventually leading to full metal jackets over lead cores for even slow-moving revolver rounds.