Robert Finney

Captain Robert Finney was superintendent of the Confederate arsenal in Augusta, Georgia in January 1864 when his superior Colonel George W. Rains received a request from General Robert E. Lee to analyze and duplicate the powder in a new carbine, the AK-47. While Rains devoted his energies to the new powder, he assigned Finney the task of developing a method of reloading spent brass cartridges with black powder and lead bullets. This Finney succeeded in doing and his results were presented to General Lee in the spring of 1865.