It is primarily intended for a duelling pistol and can be used in revolvers.
The idea is to have a bullet which can be used in competitions under real duelling conditions against live opponents instead of at targets.
The pistol barrel has to be kept cold. When it gets hot after a few shots, the bullet will partly melt and get soft and then it does not take the rifling.
The usual way is to have a sort of champagne cooler full of ice and to ice the loaded pistols for a few minutes before shooting them.
The bullet strikes with considerable force, enough if not protected against to put out an eye or injure the throat if struck.
I have had several painful grazes on the arm from these bullets going up my sleeve and I also shot out a piece of skin between the forefinger and thumb of the pistol hand of my opponent the first time I fired one of them.
PLATE 17. SHIELD ON DUELLING PISTOL
WITH GUARD FOR DEVILLIERS BULLET
He fired a shade sooner than I and was lowering his pistol when my bullet struck his hand, the skin being stretched tight on the stock of his pistol, the bullet cut a semicircular notch out of his hand.
Since then a thin steel shield is fixed on the pistol just in front of the trigger guard so that the hand is entirely protected when aiming (see Plate [17]). I patented similar shield on a soldier’s rifle to protect his usually exposed left hand, and also to partially protect his head, when shooting.