Dum-dum is the colloquial name for several types of modified exploding (more properly known as expanding) ammunition for firearms. A normal (jacketed) round that has had notches cut across the top is one example. The effect is that the bullet deforms upon impact into chunks, along the cross indentation. This creates a larger wound channel, with multiple exit points, and greater blood loss and trauma. However, altering a bullet in this manner makes it less aerodynamic, and hence less accurate at longer ranges. Another way to make the bullet expand, rather explode upon impact with the target is to make the bullet with an enclosed cavity filled with mercury or glycerine (this type of bullet is mentioned in Frederick Forsyth's book The Day of the Jackal). When the bullet collides with an obstacle it rapidly slows down while the liquid inside of it retains its inertia and has no other way to release its excess energy than to rip through the front of the bullet, creating a jagged bullet slug and some lead fragments that continue to rip through the living tissue, creating enormous hydrostatic shock and a large-size wound. A hollow point bullet is sometimes referred to as a "dum-dum". A colloquialism is an expression not used in formal speech or writing. ... Jump to: navigation, search Boxes of ammunition clog a warehouse in Baghdad Ammunition is a generic military term meaning (the assembly of) a projectile and its propellant. ... Jump to: navigation, search Some firearms A firearm is a kinetic energy mechanical device that fires either single or multiple projectiles propelled at high velocity by the gases produced by action of the rapid confined burning of a propellant. ... Aerodynamics is a branch of fluid dynamics concerned with the study of gas flows, first analysed by George Cayley in the 1800s. ... Frederick Forsyth (born August 25, 1938) is a British author and occasional political commentator. ... The Day of the Jackal is a thriller novel by Frederick Forsyth about a professional assassin who, contracted by the OAS, a French terrorist group of the early 1960s, attempts to kill Charles de Gaulle. ... Jump to: navigation, search Hydrostatic shock is the effect commonly believed to be caused by a high velocity object entering a body, such as a bullet fired from a weapon. ... .357 Magnum rounds. ...

History

In the late 19th century, the invention of Cordite ammunition permitted higher velocity than black powder, and corresponding higher hit probabilities. However the limit to the amount of recoil that was acceptable meant that higher velocity rounds needed smaller diameter, lighter bullets. Originally, dum-dum referred to a new type of ammunition produced in the early 1890s at the Dum-dum arsenal near Calcutta in British India. Soon after the introduction of smokeless powder to firearms, full metal jacket bullets were introduced to reduce stripping by the new, smaller calibre rounds with higher velocities. However it was soon noticed that such small calibre rounds were less effective at wounding or killing an enemy than the older large calibre soft lead bullets. Within the British Indian Army, the Dum-dum arsenal produced its now infamous solution - the jacketing was removed from the nose of the bullet. This could lead to the jacketing being left in the barrel and the British Army produced the Mk III, Mark IV (1897) and Mark V (1899) Ball rounds which were of the hollow point design. Because the lead core was hardened by addition of tin or antimony, none of these rounds actually produced more severe wounds than the then current .45 Martini-Henry British service round. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cordite is a smokeless propellent explosive made by combining two high explosives: nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. ... Jump to: navigation, search Gunpowder whether black powder or smokeless powder, is a substance which burns very rapidly and is used as a propellant in firearms. ... The recoil when firing a gun is the backward momentum of a gun, which is equal to the forward momentum of the bullet or shell, due to conservation of momentum. ... Jump to: navigation, search An Arsenal is an establishment for the construction, repair, receipt, storage and issue of weapons and ammunition. ... This article is on Calcutta/Kolkata, the city. ... The British Raj is an informal term for the period of British rule of most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (previously known as Ceylon). ... A full metal jacket bullet (or FMJ) is a bullet that is encased in a copper-coated steel or gilding metal jacket. ... Lead - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... 0. ... The Indian Army in the time of the British Raj (1857–1947) See Indian Army for the post-independence (and post-partition) army of the Republic of India. ... Jump to: navigation, search The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1897 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1899 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... .357 Magnum rounds. ... The Martini-Henry was a breech-loading lever action British rifle, combining the action designed by Friedrich von Martini (based on work by the American Henry Peabody) with the rifled barrel designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry. ...

Law

The Hague Convention of 1899 limited the use of "explosive" bullets in military use, defining illegal rounds as a jacketed bullet with an exposed lead tip (and, by implication, a jacketed base). During the Convention, representatives from Imperial Germany provided evidence of severe expansion in flesh based on analysis of British hunting rounds (Emphasis: Not based on the British military rounds). This was intended to provide a competitive advantage for the newly developed German Spitzer (pointed) rounds which did not have exposed lead at the tip. The United States and Britain disagreed with the German analysis, but declined to make a significant issue of it. The Hague Conventions were international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague, Netherlands in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the Geneva Conventions, among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of international law. ... This article or section should include material from German Monarchy The term German Empire (the translation from German of Deutsches Reich) commonly refers to Germany, from its consolidation as a unified nation-state on January 18, 1871, until the abdication of Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918. ...

The competing small calibre Spitzer bullets, when at supersonic speeds, retain velocity better, giving a flatter trajectory, but have reduced terminal effect compared to expanding bullets. Spitzer bullets typically rotate in pitch or yaw after striking flesh, and then travel in a stable base forward orientation, and are referred to as "Latent Dum-dum" rounds. If the path through flesh is sufficiently long, the base of the Spitzer round will expand just as the nose of a round with soft core and exposed tip. Theodore Roosevelt, writing about his experiences in Cuba noted that the 7mm Mauser rounds used by the Spanish were usually significantly less lethal than the large calibre low velocity .45/70 Government rounds fired from the Allin Springfield trapdoor rifle. Unless a soldier was hit in the head, heart, or spinal cord it was very common for a soldier to take himself to the rear, and return to duty after a few days. Mauser is the common name of German arms manufacturer Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Waffensysteme GmbH, as well as the line of bolt action rifles they built for the German armed forces. ... From 1794 to 1968 the Springfield Armory was a center for the manufacture of U.S. military small arms and the site of many important technological advances. ...

However, poorly informed soldiers of many nations occasionally try to increase the effectiveness of their ammunition by filing the gilding metal off the tip. This is dangerous to the firer since the lead core of a modified bullet can blow through the jacket, leaving the jacket in the bore to act as an obstruction for the next round. It is also ineffective against the enemy because field modified bullets are unlikely to have high accuracy. Illegally modified bullets found on a soldier would be evidence that the soldier was not following the conventions of land warfare, and he could be treated as an unlawful combatant, and lack the rights accorded to a prisoner of war. Thus, 'Dum-dum' came to mean a jacketed bullet illicitly or illegally modified to expand. Gilding metal is a copper alloy, with the composition of 95% copper and 5% zinc. ... Unlawful combatant (also illegal combatant or unprivileged combatant) describes a person who engages in combat without fulfilling the conditions that confer lawful combatant status according to the laws of war. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...

It may be of interest that true exploding rounds such as 40 mm diameter grenades, 20 mm cannons, 25 mm cannons, mortars, and large calibre artillery, or tank rounds are not banned by the Hague convention.

See Also

• Manstopper
• Hollow point bullet

.357 Magnum rounds. ...

Other meanings and uses

Dum Dum can also be taken as:

• Dum Dum Pop, a ball-shaped candy on a stick(lollipop).
• Dum Dums (band) a Guitar-pop band.
• the bullets that went astray in Who Framed Roger Rabbit