The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1880-01-08
American Cartridges.


use of the American metallic cartridges,
and she attempted in van to imitate
them. After wasting ten millions of
cartridges made of inferior material, she
| wisely concluded to buy here, as other
foreign nations have since done. Some
of the American cartridges sent to
Russia were subjected to the unparalleled
| test of five-weeks soaking in the
waters of New York harbor, the vessel
carrying them having sunk off Staten
! Island, on her way out. They were
| fished up as good as new, and, triumph
antly passing the ordeal of new test of
their firing quality, went Oh their way
again, and have, no doubt, long since
| added their quota to the return of
casualties. For good cartridges, Ameri-
can copper is needed, a fact which the
Europeans are beginning to learn. Even
so long ago as the days of the mound
| builders, it was discovered that our
Lake Superior region produeeda copper
ore of uncommon purity. Ore of equal
! purity is not, it would seem, to be found
elsewhere, and perhaps the process of
| aunealing is not so we'll understood
| abroad. At all events, the brass made
of the foreign copper, abounding in the
| sulphurets, lacks the necessary strength
and ductility, and for some reason the
metallic cartridges made abroad are
liable to deteriorate in quality. During
her war with Turkey, Russia purchased
large quantities of brass here, one Con-
necticut firm alone supplying two mil
lions of dollars worth Of sheet brass.
| Other governments have no doubt, been
purchasers. Ready-made cartridges
have also been sent abroad in such
quantities that million has become
the unit of calculation. Three forms
of cartridge are giveL in an illusIra-
tien in Scribner, one showing The United
States governmen cartridge, another
the Peabody Martini cartridge, and the
largest, the Sharps or Remington special
long-range cartridge. The government
cartridge contains 70 grains of powder
and hardened bullet, composed of one
part of tin and sixteen parts lead
weighing 405 grains. The Peabody
Martini has IS grains of powder, and q
bullet of the same composition weighing
480 grains. The long-range bullet has
one part of tin to fourteen parts lead,
and weighs $50 grains, the charge Of
powder being 100 grains. The advan.
tages of the heavier cartridges are well
shewn in the experiences of the Turkish
war already referred to. Whatever
else they may lack, the Turks have Ger.
tainly shown superior intelligence in
the armament of their troops. The
English, who use the same gun, had
on smaller SC lie All experience SINH
lar to that of |, e Turks. The rifles
used by the rife brigade in the cam
paign against tie Afghans were sighted
for 1000 yai ds, and at 2, 100 yards were
found effective. The rifles with which
our own army is provided are sighted te
1,200 yards. Some of the sights
used by rifemen in long-range shooting
are also shown; the Vernier sight, anc
sight combining spirit-level anc
wind gauge. The ordinary Vernier viii
regis'er to the thousandth of an inch
and Verniers have been made so as to reg
lister the twenty thousandth of an inch
these finer sights being used to regulate
the ordinary sights. These very fine
sights are not adapted to military ser
vice, in which the rifle is subjected to .
very different usage from that prevailing
at Creedmoor. where the long-rang'
rifeman is able to give his weapon al
the care that . musician would take O.
his precious Stradivarius violin or hi
Tourte bow.