<P> The Minié ball, or Minni ball, is a type of muzzle - loading spin - stabilized rifle bullet named after its co-developer, Claude - Étienne Minié, inventor of the Minié rifle . It came to prominence in the Crimean War and American Civil War . The development of the Minié ball was significant because it was the first projectile which was small enough to be easily put down the barrel of a rifled long gun . Rifling--the addition of spiral grooves inside the gun barrel, which imparted a spin to the bullet--greatly increased the range and accuracy of the gun . Prior to the Minié ball, bullets had to be jammed down the rifle barrel, sometimes with a mallet, and after a relatively small number of shots, gunpowder residue built up in the spiral grooves, which then had to be cleaned out . Both the American Springfield and the British Enfield rifles--the most common rifles used during the American Civil War--used the Minié ball . </P> <P> The Minié ball was a conical bullet with three exterior grease - filled grooves and a conical hollow in its base . The bullet was designed by Minié with a small iron plug and a lead skirting . Its intended purpose was to expand under the pressure and obturate the barrel and increase muzzle velocity . </P>

Describe the impact the minnie ball had on the battlefield during the civil war
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