Shortly before the Crimean War, the musket was abolished, and about 1853
the British army was armed throughout with rifles. The difficulty of a
military rifle lay in the rapid fouling of the barrel, which
necessitated a bullet too small to expand sufficiently to fill the
grooves; this resulted in inaccuracy. Even if the bullet were properly
fitted, it became impossible to load when the barrel began to foul after
a few discharges.

At that time I submitted a plan to the authorities which simplified the
difficulty, and having left the pattern bullet at Woolwich, it quickly
appeared with a slight modification as the "Boxer bullet." My plan
designed a cone hollowed at the base. The bullet was a size smaller than
the bore, which enabled it to slide easily down the barrel when foul.
The hollow base fitted upon a cone of boxwood pointed at the insertion,
but broad at the base, which was larger than the diameter of the hollow
in the bullet. It may be easily understood that although this compound
bullet was smaller than the bore of the rifle, a blow with the ramrod
after loading would drive the conical bullet upon the larger diameter of
the boxwood cone, which, acting like a wedge, would expand the lead,
thus immediately secured within the barrel. The expansion when fired
drove the boxwood into the centre of the bullet, which of necessity took
the rifling.

The Boxer bullet superseded the boxwood plug by the use of a piece of
burnt clay, which was less expensive and equally serviceable.

Before breechloaders were invented, we were obliged to fit out a regular
battery of four double rifles for such dangerous game as elephants,
buffaloes, etc., as the delay in re-loading was most annoying and might