Bullet

(bül'let.) [Fr. boulet.] (Gun.) Any projectile fired from small arms. Since the introduction of the various kinds of modern rifles with barrels furnished with spiral grooves, the spherical B., formerly used, has been entirely superseded by conical, elongated projectiles of various forms, one of the principal of which is that used for the Enfield-Pritchett rifle. It has a small boxwood plug fitting into a hollow at its base, which, receiving the first shock of the explosion, is driven forward into the bullet, causing the lead to bulge out, and thus fit the bore tightly, and fill the grooves. [s. 123]