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LESSON 1.3
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF BALLISTICS

I. CONCEPT
The birth of ballistics goes back to the time when people started studying how to launch
objects like stones to hit specific targets. Significant developments in ballistics continued when
scientist invented propellants then guns and ballistics measuring instruments.

A. THE DISCOVERY OF BLACK POWDER

Black powder, first developed by Chinese alchemists, was the first explosives used to
propel missiles for military reasons. It consists of a mixture of saltpeter (potassium nitrate),
sulfur and charcoal. When prepared in correct proportions (75% saltpeter, 14% charcoal, and
11% sulfur), it burns rapidly when ignited and produces approximately whitish smoke.
(Encyclopedia Britannica, 2000)
As early as 10th century, gunpowder began to be used for military purposed in China in
the form of rockets and explosive bombs fired from catapults. The first use of cannon appeared
in 1126 when the Chinese soldiers used oiled bamboo tubes to launch missiles and kill their
enemy at great distances. The English philosopher, Roger Bacon, described its preparation in
1242. There is, however, some evidence that the Arabs were the first to develop black powder.
By 1304, the Arabs had produced the first gun, bamboo tube reinforced with iron that used a
charge of black powder to shoot am arrow. From China, the military use of black powder
spread to Europe (Grolier Interactive, 2001)

B. THE FIRST PROBLEMS IN BALLISTICS

One significant historical event related to ballistics is the Battle of Crecy fought. On
August 26, 1346in northern France, the English headed by King Edward III fought the French
and won the battle with negligible casualty. It was proven for the first time in continental
warfare that the longbow was superior to the crossbow in both range and rapidity of fire. It
was in this battle that the English fired the first gun-launched projectiles and encountered the
basic problems in interior ballistics that are under investigation until today. (Microsoft Encarta,
2003). These basic problems are as follows:
1. How to maximize the speed of a projectile without bursting the gun?
2. How fast the gunpowder should burn?
3. How a gun can survive many firings without damage?

A. DEVELOPMENT OF THEORY ABOUT TRAJECTORY

Until the middle of 16th century, it was believed that bullets travel in straight line from
the gun to the target and that shells fired from big guns follow a path made up of two straight
lines joined by an arc of a circle. This belief was disapproved later by Tartaglia, Galileo and
Newton.
1. TARTAGLIA, an Italian mathematician whose real name is Niccolo Fontana, conducted
the first systematic study on gunnery. In 1573, he explained that no part of the path of a
projectile could be a straight line and that the greater the velocity of the projectile the
flatter its path. He invented the gunner’s quadrant. Which is used to determine elevation
of the muzzle of a gun. It was he who first proved that an elevation of 45 was the slope of
the gun barrel required to produce the greatest range for projectile launched by a firearm.
(Grolier Interactive, 2001)
2. GALILEO GALILEI was the first to conclude that reduction of speed due to drag depends
on the projectile’s shape, density and weight. He proved that a projectile travels in a
vacuum to form a parabolic arc. He found that the path of a cannonball rolled off the end
of a plank is the descending branch of a parabola, similar to the trajectory of a very heavy
modern bomb dropped from an aircraft in horizontal flight. The trajectory of a projectile
fired in a vacuum from inclined gun barrel would include both the ascending and the
descending ends of a parabola. (ibid)

3. SIR ISAAC NEWTON, a British scientist discovered that the drag was apparently
proportional to the square of the projectile’s velocity. He found out this by dropping
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pellets from different altitudes. He introduced the law of gravity (gravitational law) which
can be used to explain the cause of curvilinear motion of projectiles. (Microsoft Encarta,
2003)

B. THE VELOCITY OF PROJECTILES

The first idea on how to measure muzzle velocity of firearms was suggested in 1707 by
Giovanni Cassini, a French astronomer. About 1740, measuring the muzzle velocity of any
firearm was made possible because of an instrument invented by a British Engineer named
Benjamin Robins. In 1742, Robins described before the royal Society of England the first
reasonably accurate ballistic measuring instrument called ‘ballistic pendulum’. (Grolier
Interactive, 2001)
The ballistic pendulum consisted of a massive plate of iron where a block of wood is bolted
to receive the impact of the projectile. A pendulum was suspended freely from a horizontal
axis. The block, when struck by the projectile, recoiled through a certain arc that was easily
measured. Knowing the arc of recoil and the masses of the projectile and the pendulum, the
velocity of the projectile could be determined by calculation. The ballistic pendulum was able
to withstand the impact of musket balls only. (ibid)
The design of the ballistic pendulum is based on the principle that the momentum of a
projectile with small mass and a high velocity can be transferred to a material having a large
mass with a resultant low velocity. Later the gun pendulum, a modification of ballistic
pendulum, was developed by Benjamin Thompson. (ibid)
By determining the relations that should exist between the caliber, length of barrel, and
charge of powder, robins substantially advanced the science of gunnery thus, today, he is called
‘the father of modern gunnery’. He was the first to undertake a systematic series of
experiments to determine the velocity of projectiles. Observing that large quantities of gas
escaped bypassing the round projectiles in smooth-bore weapons, he proposed two things:
1. The use of breech-loading weapons (loaded at the rear of the bore) with rifled barrels;
and
2. The use of elongated projectiles fitted in the bore.
About 1760, French ballisticians determined the relationship of muzzle velocity to length of
barrel by measuring the velocity of a musket ball and cutting off a portion of the barrel before
taking the velocity of the next shot. By using the results of these experiments and advances in
chemistry and thermodynamics ballisticians developed formulas showing:
1. The relationship between muzzle velocity and weight and shape of projectile.
2. Weight type and grain size of powder charge.
3. Pressure and temperature in the barrel; and
4. The size of the powder chamber and the length of the barrel.
In 1840, the British physicist Sir Charles Wheatstone suggested the use of electricity for
measuring small intervals of time. This suggestion led to the development of the chronograph, a
device for recording, by electrical means, the time required for a projectile to pass between two
screens of fine wire. (Microsoft Encarta, 2003)

E. MORE SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS

In 1807, Alexander John Forsythe, a Scottish Presbyterian Minister, introduced the idea of
using detonating chemicals to ignite the gunpowder placed in the cartridge case. He was the first
to use such kind of technique which applied the principle of percussion to improve firearms and
ammunitions. His idea earned him the title of being the father of percussion ignition in ballistics.
1841, a breech-loading infantry rifle, the so-called needle gun because of its long sharp
firing pin, was invented by Johann Dreyse and issued to some Russian regiments.
In 1845, a serviceable breech-loading artillery rifle was developed by Major Cavalli of
Sardinia. Pointed cylindrical projectiles became standard issue for both arms and artillery. Bullets
were made of soft metal so they could fit at the base of the rifling in small arms, and copper
rotating bands were added near the base of artillery shells. Because of these innovations, the gases
produced by the burning powder were retained behind the projectiles which were forced to spin as
their grooves were pushed along the helical curve of the rifling.
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In 1857, works of General Thomas Jackson Rodman in United States led to improvements
in the grain-form of powder and in making guns. Rodman also made a gauge for direct
measurement of the maximum pressure of gunpowder gases.
In 1886, Paul Vielle in France invented a smokeless gunpowder called Poudre B, which is
more efficient than black powder. Poudre B is made from gelatinized nitrocellulose mixed with
ether and alcohol. It does appear actually as fine powder but it looks like tiny flakes. This
gunpowder was used in the Lebel rifle that was adopted by the French Army in the late 1180’s.
The French Army was the first to use Poudre B but it was not long before other European
countries followed their example. This French-made gunpowder revolutionized the effectiveness of
small guns and rifles because practically no smoke was formed when the gun was fired and it was
much more powerful than black powder, giving an accurate rifle range of up to 1000 yards.
In 1887, Alfred Nobel developed another kind of smokeless gunpowder. This eventually
became known as cordite, a powder easier to handle and more powerful than Poudre B.