A Revolution in the Art of Shooting
An advance in bullet design hit the news in July. It promised far greater accuracy than hitherto with a flatter trajectory arising from a higher muzzle velocity and, presumably, a much more stable flight. The design came from abroad and was quickly followed up by the War Office.
Nottingham Evening Post, Friday, 5 July 1907
REVOLUTION IN THE ART OF SHOOTING.
Experts of his Majesty's army, who devote themselves to the improvement of weapons and ammunition have made a discovery which will revolutionise the art of rifle shooting (says the Daily Telegraph). The invention which is engaging their earnest attention is the greatest advance in musketry since the introduction of smokeless powder. An alteration in the shape of the bullet now used by the troops will effect a marvellous change — a change so extraordinary that probably most scientists would not credit it unless they were confronted with the most elaborate data of experiments. The discovery has been made within the last week or ten days.
Some trials with the Spitzer bullet on the continent led the British authorities to watch the effect of a sharp pointed bullet fired from a Lee-Enfield. It has been deemed advisable to conduct the experiments with the rifle now in the possession of the army, and though there has been no time to make a trial with a new weapon the results can only be described as extraordinary. The new bullet, for instance, gives a point blank range of eight hundred yards, and this is effected by sharpening and lengthening the point of the bullet. The weight is the same.
The gain by the new arrangement has already been proved to be enormous. The bullet, which is the standard pattern at present, is propelled from the muzzle of a rifle at the rate of two thousand feet per second; the new projectile will leave the muzzle at from two thousand four hundred feet to two thousand five hundred feet per second. The advantage will be obvious when it is stated that the aim of all experts is to turn out a rifle and ammunition which will give a muzzle velocity of three thousand feet per second.
Transcript from Nottingham Evening Post 1907
British Library Newspaper Archive