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Rifle Range debris?

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by TwinProbe (U4077936) on Sunday, 31st July 2011

  Can any of you military historians help me? I am interested in a brown field site in the Bradford area which has had a number of uses. In the 18th & 19th centuries it was a site for coal mining. In the mid-19th C rifle ranges were set up for training a regiment of Rifle Volunteers. In the 2nd WW it was a tank training area, and finally part was taken for a golf course.
  
  There is a small area, perhaps 100 sq m, where the grass does not grow. The 'soil' there is basically fireclay with burnt shale and some coal. This fits with the local geology. There is also industrial debris, like glass and brick fragments. In addition there are many fragments of lead which I find inexplicable. I wonder if these could relate to the adjacent rifle range targets. I must stress that none of the fragments look like distorted bullets. The least distorted look like lead strip a few mm in breadth and 5-20mm in length.
  
  So: what were mid-Victorian bullets made from and could they produce the scrap I have found? Would such a regiment produce its own target ammunition or would they have had supplies from the authorities?
  
  I'd be grateful for any help.
  
  TP

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by rhmnney (U14528380) on Sunday, 31st July 2011

  TwinProbe;
  
  Unsure if the following will be of help but in India at the rifle range after the firing, and as soon as the red flag was up as a signal that firing had ended and not to resume until flag was lowered, the local village boys and men would swarm to the butts the earthworks where the spent bullets would be found. I understand a regular military round the bullet is lead encased in a hard metal jacket to retain its shape, needed for range an accuracy. Only the propellant, (explosive force) in the cartridge differs in regular British Army cartridges to my knowledge, (years ago) but the bullet would remain the same.

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  Posted by TwinProbe (U4077936) on Sunday, 31st July 2011

  Many thanks rhmney; I'm afraid I have no military experience at all
  
  Regards
  
  TP

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• Message 4

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  Posted by colonelblimp (U1705702) on Monday, 1st August 2011

  The Volunteer Rifle Corps movement was started in 1859. At that point, the standard British Army rifle was the Enfield (a muzzle-loader, not to be confused with the much later Lee-Enfield used in WW1 and WW2). From 1865, a breech-loading adaption of this rifle - the Snider - was introduced and in 1871 the Martini-Henry. The Bradford volunteers were probably using one, or more, of these weapons on the range. They all fired a large calibre, soft lead, unjacketed bullet with a relatively low muzzle velocity, propelled by a black powder cartridge. Unlike more modern small calibre jacketed bullets, which travel much faster and will often drill right through anyone unfortunate enough to get in the way, mid-Victorian rifle rounds tended to 'mushroom' on impact, inflicting pretty horrific wounds. They would behave the same way on a target, and I would expect to find 'splattered' and deformed bullets lying about rather than the strips you describe. But I could be wrong!
  
  At this date, I'd hazard a guess that the ammunition would be centrally issued.

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• Message 5

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  Posted by TwinProbe (U4077936) on Tuesday, 2nd August 2011

  Very many thanks Colonel. I'll dig a little deeper and try to find some bullets. I imagine others have got there long before me!
  
  Best wishes,
  
  TP

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• Message 6

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  Posted by MB (U177470) on Saturday, 6th August 2011

  It might be looking at the some of the sources on Conflict Archaeology or contacting one of the centres studying it - Glasgow University has a highly respected department.
  
  One technique is to metal detect former battlefields then use the locations of different finds to work out what happened during the battle.
  
  I presume they have collected a lot of identification information on different types of ammunition.
  
  MB
  
  

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• Message 7

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  Posted by TwinProbe (U4077936) on Sunday, 7th August 2011

  Hi MB
  
  Thanks for your suggestions.
  
  TP

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