The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-12 00:00:00

TO G-lINMAKERS and Others.
I.
The SECRETARY of STATE for WAll, is desirous of
receiving PROPOSALS from Gunmakers and Others for
BREECH-LOADING RIFLES, either repeating or not
repeating, which may replace the present Service Rifles in
future manufacture.

The following are the conditions considered essential in
military non-repeating Rifles:—
A. WEIGHT.
Not to exceed 91b. soz. without bayonet.
B. LENGTH.

To be 51 inches, with short stock, measured from the
hollow of the butt-plate to muzzle.
__

c. WEIGHT OF AMMUNITION MADE UP.
Must not exceed 61b. 4oz. for sixty rounds as packed for
service.

D. CARTRIDGES.
Must carry their own ignition.
E. SIGIITS.

The foresight must be such as to admit of a bayonet
fixed according to the present system.
F. STOCK.

Must be such as to carry a light metal cloaning•rod, and
allow a sling to bo used.
G. RECOIL.

Must not exceed that of the Enfield Rifle by more than
10 per cent.

x. THE ARM AS A WHOLE.

Must be as little liable to injury bylong-co.utinned firing,
rough usage, and exposure, as the naval rifles converted to
breech-loaders on the Snider system. To be as capable,
also, of being used without accident by imperfectly trained
men, and of being manufactured in quantities and of uni-
form quality.
i. THE AMMUNITION AS A WHOLE.

Must be as little liable to injury by rough usage, damp,
and exposure in all climates, as the Boxer cartridge for
Snider's converted Enfield rifle—also as little liable to acci-
dental explosion as the same cartridge, and as capable of
being manufactured in large quantities, and of uniform
quality. X. CALIBRE.
Optional.
L. THE TWIST AND FORM OF GROOVE.
Optional.
THE LOCK.

Optional.
N. RAPIDITY OF FIRE.

Capable of firing at least 12 rounds per minute, without
aiming, the cartridges being arranged on a table.
O. ACCURACY WHEN FIRED FROM A FIXED REST.
The arm must give a mean figure of merit of not more
than 36in. at 1,000 yards, 30in. at 800 yards, 12in. at 500,
and bin. at 300.
The mean to be taken upon at least five targets of twenty
shots each.
r. TRAJECTORY.
Not to require at 500 yards an elevation of more than 1
deg. 30 min.
.Q. FOULING.
The shooting not to deteriorate more than 20 per cent.
at 1,000 yards after firing 250 rounds.

R. PENETRATION.
The mean penetration of five shots not to be less than
that of the present service muzzle-loading Enfield Rifle—
viz., 12 half-inch elm planks, which have been soaked 48
hours in water.

Distance 30 yards.
s. LUBRICATION.
Wai on bullets is indispensable, but any other lubricant
may be superaddod or applied to the cartridge, if thought
necessary by the competitor.

No arms will be received without the usual proof marks.
Specifications, and drawings of the methods proposed,
stating the probable cost per arm, and accompanied by a
finished specimen arm, with 20 rounds of suitable ammu-
nition, should be sent to the "Director of Ordnance, War
Office, Pall-mall," on or before the 30th March, 1867.
The specifications and specimen arms will be considered
by the Ordnance Select Committee and its associate mem-
bers, who will be selected by the Secretary of State for
War, and who will, after firing the 20 preliminary rounds,
select and recommend for further trial such of the systems
as may appear to them sufficiently promising, rejecting all
such as may not bo considered to offer sufficient merits to
warrant their being included in the competition, the con-
ditions of which are stated in this advertisement.

Each accepted competitor will then be required to furnish
for experiment, at Woolwich, six arms in strict conformity
to the specimen arm submitted, with 1,000 rounds of am-
munition per arm, within four months after date of de-
mand Each competitor will be required to disclose to the
committee the exact nature of the lubrication he may em-
ploy. A sum of £3OO will be paid to each of the accepted
competitors, to cover the expense of the six rifles, and of
the supply of ammunition required.
The Secretary of State offers a reward of £l,OOO for the
arm which, on combination of all qualities, is considered
by the committee to be the best submitted.
A second reward of £6OO for the arm which, while at-
taining a satisfactory degree of excellence in other particu-
lars, is selectod for merit in respect to its breech mechanism.
A third reward of £4OO for the best cartridge. The qua-
lities which will be principally taken into consideration in
awarding this prize will be economy of manufacture, power
of sustaining rough usage, freedom from deterioration in
various climates, and general serviceability.
The shooting qualities of the cartridge must be fair; but
as they may depend upon the rifling of the arm with which
the cartridge is associated, they will not be so much con-
sidered as those above-mentioned.

I is clearly to be understood that t under no circumstances
will a competitor be entitled to more than one prize ; but
such prize will be irrespective of any reward which may be
given to the inventor of the arm finally adopted into the
service.
IV-
MAGAZINE AND REPEATING ARMS.
_ . .

Magazine and Repeating Arms for Infantry will be re-
ceived and examined in a manner similar to the Breech-
loading Rifles. They must not bo less in length than 48
inches, including the stock.
The limit of weight for these arms is fixed at 9ilb. ex-
clusive of the charges in the magazine.
It is indispensable that the arms be made to take a
bayonet..
The Secretary of State offers a reward of 300 for the best
Magazine or Repeating Arm produced that fulfils the above
conditions ; and in the absence of experience does not at
present define the standard of accuracy or other conditions
to be fulfilled before such an arm can be adopted.
Those Magazine orßepeatingArms, which are accepted
for further trial, will be paid for at the rate of .ZGO each.
This sum is to include 1,000 rounds of ammunition per
arm.

v.
The Secretary of State will take care that no ingenious
novelty produced in answer to this advertisement shall be
adopted into the service without proper acknowledgment,
and that the name of the individual with whom it origi-
nates shall be recorded in connection with it.
if the rifle to which the first prize is awarded is adopted
into the service, it will bear the inventor's name.
J. ST. GEORGE, Major-General, Director
of Ordnance.
War Office, Oct. 22, 1866.