ABSTRACT
The first projectiles to be discharged from any type of firearm were stones, feathered iron arrows, and iron shot. These were discharged from cannons.18 The first handheld firearms had bore diameters between 1.5” and 2.0” and suitable small round stones were used as projectiles. The earliest use of lead in bullets would appear to have been about 1340 and these consisted of spherical lead bullets.19 Firearms of this era were large and heavy and from this time to the present day there has been a gradual reduction in bore size and weight. By the time the flintlock pistol came into use, the spherical lead bullets were between 0.6” and 0.7” in diameter. Bullets of this type were used for many years in smooth bore muzzle-loading firearms where the bullet did not have to be a tight fit in the bore.
