Why is the revolver bullet recessed into the sleeve

Special bullets were made for the revolver. Now in use are cartridges with a protruding bullet head, only partially immersed in the sleeve. And for the revolver, they were made completely recessed into it. The sleeve even protruded slightly beyond the contours of the bullet.

The brothers Leon and Emile Nagant were from Liege. The elder invented the original design of the weapon, and then together they created the Fabrique d’Armes Emile et Leon Nagant enterprise and began to produce revolvers in industrial quantities.

The design was common for this type of weapon. The rotating drum was loaded with 9 mm cartridges. Two types of shot were provided: either by manually cocking the trigger, or automatically by pulling the trigger.
The brothers were able to ensure that their creation was adopted by the Belgian army.
First, supplies of a model 1878 six-shot revolver with a double trigger mechanism were arranged. And then they decided to simplify the revolver for shooters and junior officers by removing the cocking trigger. This is how the 1883 model of the year appeared, and soon the weapon began to be called by the name of the creators – Nagant.

In 1895, the brothers won the competition and signed a contract for the supply of 20,000 weapons for the needs of the Russian army. But in our country, a seven-shot revolver with a caliber of 7.62 mm has become widespread.
In addition to deliveries from the enterprise of the Nagant brothers, an agreement was reached, according to which revolvers began to be produced at several enterprises directly in Russia. It was then that the revolver became one of the most famous and recognizable weapons in our country.
In parallel, they began to produce those very special cartridges with a bullet recessed into the sleeve.

When the trigger mechanism is struck, the gunpowder explodes and gases are formed that push the bullet out of the barrel at high speed.
But because of the gap, part of the gases dissipated and a fraction of the energy was wasted. Accuracy, range and impact strength suffered from this. Leon never figured out how to change the design of the revolver. And then he came up with a tricky move – he changed the cartridge.

The bullet turned out to be recessed into an elongated sleeve. The explosion took place inside her. For a fraction of a second, under gas pressure, the sleeve expanded and blocked the gap. The energy stopped dissipating. The gases pushed the bullet with all its might.