William's Clean-Out Bullet

Non-fired example of the Williams Clean-out bullet.  This bullet consisted of three individual pieces: a body, a zinc disc, and a pin. When fired the pin was pushed into the body of the bullet which flattened the cone-shaped zinc disc. Pressure expanded the diameter of the bullets body and wedged it inside the grooves of the rifling. This caused the bullet to spin as it left the barrel of the musket. As the bullet spun through the rifled barrel, the zinc disc would scrape away some of the black powder residue left behind from prior shooting- thus its nickname the "cleaner bullet."

Inventory Number: BUL 008