§ MR. MARJORIBANKS (Berwickshire)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War what steps have been taken to prevent stripping in the composite bullets used for the magazine rifle, and to secure their remaining homogeneous during and after firing; whether trials have been made of bullets with the mantle and core soldered together, and with what results; and whether the amount of copper contained in the present nickel mantle or casing of the bullet would cause serious results from poison in wounds resulting from them, and be in contravention of the Geneva Convention?
§ MR. E. STANHOPEThe required result has, so far as can be at present ascertained, and as I stated the other day, been achieved by the use of a somewhat thicker envelope. Trials were made with bullets in which the mantle and core were soldered together; the process did not appear to diminish the tendency to strip. No poisonous results are anticipated from the metallic coating of the bullets; nor do I find that they are in contravention of the Geneva Convention. In any case, coatings containing copper have been adopted in at least five Continental Armies.