Until the late 1800’s, military rifles fired large, heavy, relatively
slow, soft lead bullets which deformed on impact and reliably
incapacitated opponents. In the late 1890’s to early 1900’s, new
military rifles were developed which fired smaller diameter, lighter
weight, non-deforming FMJ bullets at much higher velocities. The new FMJ
bullets initially had round noses, but within 10 years, pointed
(spitzer) noses were standard Although the velocities of these new FMJ
military bullets were 60 to 100% greater than the older lead bullets,
the tissue damage produced by the new higher velocity FMJ bullets was so
minimal, that uncomplicated soft tissue wounds frequently healed with
treatment limited to aseptic dressings. In addition, compared to the
reliable incapacitation produced by the old lower velocity lead bullets,
the new higher velocity FMJ bullets proved ineffective at reliably
incapacitating opponents in combat, as British troop discovered to their
dismay in the Chitral Campaign of 1895.
In an attempt to create a
metal jacketed bullet which matched the incapacitation potential of the
older .577-450 lead bullets used in their Martini-Henry rifles, the
British Dum-Dum arsenal near Calcutta
modified the Mk II FMJ into a more
effective JSP configuration by removing 1 mm of jacket at the bullet
nose; British colonial troops reported that this bullet proved effective
during the Tirah campaign in 1897-98. Back in Britain, the Woolwich
Arsenal had concurrently worked on an expanding .303 JHP projectile; a
series of bullets based on this design, the Mk III, IV, and V, which
exhibited
moderate deformation and improved incapacitation compared with
the round nose MkII FMJ they replaced were adopted beginning in 1897
and proved effective in combat at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.
Anti-British sentiment lead other nations to protest that the .303
expanding bullets were inhumane and culminated in the 1899 Hague
Declaration IV in which the signing nations agreed, “…to abstain from
the use of bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body,
such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not entirely cover the
core or is pierced with incisions.”
Note that the U.S. is not a
party to the 1899 Hague treaty, but has complied with it in
international armed conflict. JAG rulings have stated that the treaty is
not applicable to certain SOF or military law enforcement missions.
The British replacement for the prohibited expanding .303 bullets was
the Mark VII FMJ adopted in 1910 — ironically, the early yaw of the
spitzer style Mark VII FMJ bullet produces a more severe wound than the
supposedly inhumane bullets! For more information, read
Daniel E. Watters superb discussion of these events, as well as this well written article by Mike Waldron:
http://pfoa.co.uk/248/dum-dum-bullets.
