The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-08-14

very creditable, it's best score in the records we
have yet seen being sixty-two marks In three
minutes, which was more than the Remington,
with all its rapidity, could achieve. But the
greatest triumphs in accuracy and raptdity com
bned were won with the Spencer rifle: Its shoot
ing seems at least as good as that OF the Westley
Richards, and its pace Is better. On one occa.
sion il scored seventy-nne IN thirty shots, and
on another eghty-two in thirty-three shots
within the allotted time, and other scores were
made little inferior to this. But the spencer
Is at present shut out OF the field by detect
traceable to the same arrangement to which its
rapidity is due. Unlike any other weapons
against which it competed, the Spencer takes in
seven charges at once, which lie in hollow in
the butt, and are deposited in turn in the cham
ber by very rapid action. Unfortunately.
however, the cartridges are apt to jam, and
several competitors were stopped III the middle
of a good score by finding that the mechanism
refused to act. Whether this fatal difficulty can
be got over Is one of The questions to be solved
before the monel breech loader Is found; but 1t
is difficult to believe that the ultimate pattern
will not Oe a gun loaded like the Spencer, with
several cartridges at once.
"Besldes those we have mentioned great
variety OF rifles were tried, with different degrees
OF success. The new Henry breech-oader--we
believe an American inveniion-and the Berdan,
the converted Enfield, made good work: and
there were Green's and Craigs, and many others,
both old and new none of which, however,
came quite TO the 'front.' The shooting, too, was
principally at two hundred yards a distance
which tests The steadlness of the shooter much
more than the accuracy OF the rlfe.n
A prize OF two hundred and fifty dollars,
offered by the prOprietors OF the Saturday,
Reotelo, was won with an Enfield rifle ICON
verted" on the plan OF Colonel Berdan, the dis
tance being i've hundred yards.
AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS.
The Board OF Army Officers which recently
met IN Washington to test sixty.hye different
guns, filed its report In June, but the document
is tnot yet published. We are enabled, how
ever, to give the material results OF the expert
ments.
General Hancock presided over the Board.
The members we're General Buchanan, of the
infantry service; General Griffin, OF the artll-
lery; General Hagner and Colonel Benton, of
the ordnance: Colonel Ovens OF the cavalry;
Colonel Comings, recorder. After repeated
trials OF all the guns submitted Tor inspection,
the Board recommended for adoption the plan
OF converting muzzle-loaders into breech-loaders,
invented by Colonel Berdan; aud also recon.
mended the same plan for all the new muskets
hereafter to be made.
The Berdan musket was fred from the
shoulder before the members of the Board, one
hundred times in five and halt minutes-the
first twenty rounds in one minute. 1t had pre-
Yiously been fired three hundred times for the
purpose of 'toulingn It; had then been rusted
IN salt and water, and afterwards rolled in fue
sand; and, finally, was subjected to proof
charges with the sediment of four hundred
charges in it-but came out IN perfect condi-
tion, and was again fred with safety. This eX-
traOrdinaTy result is probably without parallel
in the history of small arms. A correspondent,
alluding to the Wimbledon trial. remarks that
''it must be very gratifying to the Board to
know that an Enfield musnet altered on the
same plan won the prize in England"
The Tapldty of fire of this arm is more than
double that of the famous "needlegun" of the
Prussians. The cost of conversion does not
exceed two dollars Tor each musket Another
American invention, therefore, is to be placed
by the side Of the monitors, now attracting the
notice of Europe, as the best of its kind in use.
The magazine gun is not considered so effective
a weapon as the improved breech-loader, nor
has il been able TO endure the repeated dis
charges to which the Army Board subjected the
arms submitted tor trial