The New York herald., 1876-11-11
How Rilicd Breech-LOadlng Arms Came To Be
Used as Military Weapons
OLD AND NEW RifLED MUSKETS
Long Range Rifles for Infantry Soldiers, and
What They Could Accomplish.
THE SCIENCE OF SHOOTING.

assortments OF army small arms than be met
with any OF their departments Excepting the
Kiupp and few other pieces OF artillery IN the
Russian and the Brazilian departments. very few
weapons OF al exhibition. Whether this alb
scnce OF military show is attributable to a delicate
compliment winch tho other Powers intend Tor the
United honor OF their traditional s'peace
policy" that European gunmakers thought tho
bringing their wares Philadelphia would be like
carrying Goals to Newcastle, does not clearly appear.
At any there TO be found IN Machinery Hail.
tho ordnance department or the United States build
ing and slowed away in several OF the main
ediace, sufficient number OF portable military arms
10 enable 10 form pretty correct opnion oi the i'm
provemcnls which have lately been introduced into
the method OF their manufacture aud mode OF
The systems which mostly adopted by the principal
military Powers are-n France the chasscpot In Eng
land, the Martini-H Henry the snyder; Prussia.
improved model of the needle gun: the United
States the Remington and the Springfield rifles. In
Russia, Brazil Austria Spain, Egyp, aud other minor
powers OF these systems used. Rus
sia. Egypt Brazil ami other South American peoples
have adopted the Remington military gun 10 greater
degree, and the American house has all
parts Of the world hundreds OF thousands OF these
arms, which, thus TAR, unsurpassed by anything
tnat has been produced IN Europe.
Taking retrospective glance at the history OF the
Invention OF firearms. lnd n number OF amusing
by which the present perfect OF efficiency has
been reached Thus, the hand gun adopted about
the middle of the fifteenth century. About the year
1894 the invention OF the grenade gave rise 10 the
much respected name OF grcnaccrs and the dragon to
that o dragoons the us TO that of iuslcers and the
musketoan (Which appeared about the year
l6gol 10 that Of muskctcers In tho artillery
museum oi Paris Is 10 be found OF
the extensive and interesting collections OF small
rma innt. ho vxvb. a. tbn 4 api
mems Of cahbre 6s inch and under, and the bar
Of - OF them do exceed 1875 inches long,
while 26I between 1915 aud 80 inches in length
Nineteen have straight aud 3el inclined grooves, l
have the grooves uniformly inclined to axis OF tho
BORE while in 81 the twist dimnshcs IRON the brcech
to the muzzie and in % in the direc
uon. In s3 the twist the mddle Of the
bore; 81 the grooves make like many OF tho arms
in uscl half turn from brccch to muzzlc. The
grooves III 2l9 OF them make from a half TO whole
'urn and IN % IRON one to two turns Two hundred
and havo number OF grooves, III
an odd NUMBER 20 have from two TO six grooves
and 232 TO twelve These facts
10 remind tha. ,led of
invention. In 1850 the Lilo Guards OF Charles H.
partially provided with riled carbines and eleven
years aitcrward the swedish Dragons had the same
of Prussia did adopt this kind of
weapon 1905 and uinety years aitcrward
first reputation model carbine made At Versailles
Tor the French army. But rled aban-
doned by The French, on Gntsof the difficulty
which was then found IN iaailng them. England did
not take up the rifle military weapon TIL 1904, and
two years aitcrward Austria had fifteen battalions OF
hight infantry, the Of whom carried rifles.
Seveniy.sN years ago five battalions OF the Rifle
Brigade in the British service
RIFLES
of loh pounds weight including the sworl. These
weapons sighted Tor distances between 100
and 200 yards they had grooves, and the ring
made quarter OF turn in pa feet barrel Tho
spherical ball which they carried driven home
lis seat IN the brecch by maci When Wellington
the Peninsula his rincmen had bullets
Of different for tho piece; the
smaller beng intended Tor quick fr-
Ing rhc manufacturer OF these rides states
thai 200 yards tho greatest distance at which
they could be fred with any degree certainty. lie
sometimes found good result, when lhc wind was
rain at 800 yards, and frequently red them at 400
200 yards, sometnes strigng tho object, though
The shots varied much. In 1850 the Brunswick RHO
Nas introduced INTO the British army. and 1914 u
committee OF officers who had assembled at En-
acd - report upon the matter found that all practice
uul 4vU yards wtu thIs rnc was too wild TO give
acorrcct an.ie ot ITS eevation +"
karly Tie scvculeenii century the French intro
duccd lint ocss INTO tneir hand guns but the obstinate
tngisn woaii not have anything to do with the new
nv ntIou uutl nearly hall century later The flint
l"cS method OF connun catng IRE 10 the charge con-
nnucu IN Tor upward oI 100 years. 4 fata oojec-
iion to the illnt lock was that IT unable elect
WtIy prOcct Tue lrminE pan from getting wet, also
the Hint frequently ailed fire the pruning leaving
the soldier mercy OF his enemy. la 1907 the
Rev. Mr. Forsyth obtaned pateut Tor a system
Di pruning by means OF CONF osilion sulphatc
Of potash charcoal and sulphur. IL iound
10 be corrosive, aud had to be changed
composition oi chioratc potash fulrninate vf
mercury and ground glass, applied by means OF tho
percussion cap. which now RAPIDLY falling INTO dis
e. The vauc Mr. Forsyths invention was tested
IN 1884 against the flint lock, when Il found that
out oi6.ooo rounds the former method gave tut Fix
inssres whereas by the latter there 922. That
sealed the of the mt lock, which had been
borne IN many bloody Tray by the heroes of the
American Revolutionary war and the brave soldiers OF
rHg OLD PERCUSSION MrsxEr
which now learning TO look back TO with that
rcgrctu respect that fathers had Tor the lint lock-
gave way the ricd arm whcn was adapted 10 carry
the improved Mime bullet Of conca shape. As lac as
1916 nd Lieutenant Colonel Mckerle, OF the Royal
iBrtsh Engineers. reporting such stun as the follow
mg:-"MusKctry ire should never be opened beyond
100 yards aud certainly never at distance exceeding
200 yards AT his distance halt tho number oil shots
missed target eicven icet six inches and $50 wards
very largo proportion missed also.'
The French, in order 10 place themselves on equal
terms with Add kaders followers in Aigcria, adopted
ihc Deygpe bullet which could DO nlAdc' enter tho
ride readily and aiterward leave t In expanded
condition discovered that after frequent
nring the chamber iled resduum, to obviate
which difficulty Colonel Thouvenn fixed iron pillar,
t.oc at the brcech OF the piece around winch the
powder distributed Itself, ana tile bullet expanded
by Two or three smart blows of heavy headed ram
rod Some years later Captain Minic proposed bullet
which would obviale all the dicuities experienced
iormer system OF proectilcs. This to
lake sts expansion IRON an iron cup fitted
the base OF elongated conoidal
bali In 1850 the rined musket constructed
this plan received iuio the French service, and
next year the MIME rifle partially adopted by the
British. But the Dcivigne ana Mlnic proecties
by means the irst OF their kind proposed Tor mill
Sary rubs. In 1Ss5 The celebrated Robbins recom-
mvnded the use Of egg-shapcd bullets, to
be fred with their heavy end foremost
20 keep the centre cf gravity In front of
that OF figurc but they were failure. Again,
n 1850 NJ Turpn cxpcrimcnicd at Metz with elongated
proicctrlcs Tor portable arms They also tested
1uring The years OF the French Rcvoution by NJ
GuItau do Morcau, and IN 1915 the Prussans tried
Hare m pd tne
,upcrioriy the elongated bail to the spherical when
iced In Iied arms. until at last the honorable nven
NON OF Captain Mime settled definitely tho question IN
avor conoidal procctie now almost universally
Ascd