The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-01-19
Another Stop Taken Toward Supply
ing the Military With .
Repeating Rifle.
The wAyG IN Which Rapidity. Ac-
curaoy and Safety are
Assured.
Armosy with Cartridges Of
EmokcIess Powder.


smokcIess Powder.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18.-One more step has
been taken toward providing the military
forces OF the country with a repeating rifle.
The board, Of which Col. A. v. Kautz,
Eighth infantry. Ia president, has drawn mp
and distributed it's programme Of tests for
the coming competition between the rifles
Of different makers who may enter tho con-
test.
There are two ssts Of tests, the first being
the preliminary or trial heats. so to say, for
the purpose Of sitting out those weapons
that fail In important particulars, while the
finals are for those whose bresch action and
magazines work effectively in the seven
points OF excellence required under the
initial series OF tests.
The first Of these seven points il rapid
ity aud accuracy Of firing combined.
In this there will be three tests In
firing from the shoulder ut . target
six feet by two, placed a hundred yards
away. Tho first has regard to the time OF
firing and number of hits for twenty shots;
the second to the number Of shots and hits
within the space Of Two minutes. using the
gun az q single loader; the third to the
number of shots and hits. using 1t as a
single loader. !,
The second test 10 that Of rapidity at will,
and repeats the conditions Of the first test,
firing, however, without aim, and from the
hip, At short range, and hits or misses do
not count, while the two time tests as 9 single
loader and as a magazine gun are only one
minute each.
The third is the endurance test, shown
by firing 500 continuous rounds with the
magazine, examining the breech mechan-
be followed with 100 continuous rounds as
q single loader, in both cases, OF, course,
without cleaning.
Then follows the dust test, which is Of
fected in this way: With the mechanism
closed, tho piece 10 be exposed in the box
prepared for the purpose to q blast Of fine
sand dust for two minutes, removed. sur
plus sand removed by blowing thereon and
wipinQ with the bare hand, and then fred
twenty rounds under the following condi-
tions: a. Magazine empty when exposed.
Before firing load magazine, fire balance Of
cartridges as a single loader, then those in
the magazine. b. Magazine loaded when
exposed. Remove and wipe cartridges, re-
load and fire as above.
The fifth test is that Of firing with defec-
tive cartridges. Three sorts are to be tried.
One is to be cross-flea on the head, the
second cut at intervals around the rim, and
the third cut lonRitudinslly from the rim
all the way up. Precautions will be taken
to detect any escape Of gas in these cases.
Then comes the excessive charge test, in
which the gun is hred five times rs a single
loader with a powder charge producing
one-third more chamber pressure than that
Of the frankfort cartridge. Finally comes
the test of ease of manipulation.
The rifles that pass these tests will then
be subject to four others. The first Of these
il with defective cartridges and dnst COM
bined, 'the piece to be busted five minutes,
the mechanism being in the mouth Of the
blow pipe, and closed, but at full cock; then
to be fred Ave shots, the last two defective;
then without cleaning to be busted with the
breech open and fred five shots. The piece
to be freed from dust only by pounding or
wiping with the bare hand" Then the
rifle is ready to show what it can do under
tho exposures of campaign, and for this
purpose the rust test Is devised. The breech
mechanism, receiver, and magazine are
cleansed of grease, and the chamber of the
barrel creased and plugged. and the bfeech
action closed. Then the butt is inserted to
the height of the chamber for ten minutes
in a solution OF sal-ammoniac, exposed for
two days to the air, and then fred twenty
rounds.
But there is still another cause of ACCT
dents which must be considered, that of ex-
plosions in tubular magazines by Earring.
This is to be investigated by giving the rifle
q perpendicular jolting for two minutes,
first with the magazine charged and then
with it half loaded. Finally comes the
test of ease and time of taking apart and
putting together the breech and magazine
systems.
When all this is done, regular firing tests
by three men, at 100 yards. will be made;
and by that time it surely ought to be pos.
sible to tell whether a rifle which has passed
through this series Of performances is good
for anything.
The tests will be make at the Springfield
armory, with Frankfort arsenal experiment
tai cartridges of Wetteren's smokeiess pow
der imported from Europe. The rifles
competing must be Of 80 calibre, which is
about the minimum OF the most successful
European magazine arms, that of the new
model Lee being 1903. The board includes
three infantry officers, Col: A: Y. Kautz.
freeman; a cavalry officer. Capt. g. $.
Anderson, and two ordnance officers, Maj.
q. w. Mckee and Capt. 8. Z. Blunt.
Inspector General Breckenridge in his
annual report says that "it il go injurious
to an army to know that it's arms are obso-
lete and inferior that the demand for some
thing better than We have now is very earn
est. Our citizens. especially the militia,
are not satisfied. knowing thev must pay
with their lives for any lack of preparation
when the next war comes" The British
have their Lee repeating rifles; the French,
their Lebel; the Austrians their Mannlicher,
in short, nearly all the European nations
great and small have adopted magazine
guns, and many of them have smokeless
powders giving a high initial velocity and
a very long range. Probably no harm has
thus far resulted from the failurs to supply
our army with a weapon of this character;
but this is due to the fortunate continue
ton of peace. No one can question that it
is now high time to furnish at least the reg
ular army and portions of the militia with
these modern weapons. Probably practical
trials by the present board will substantial
ly show what sort of rifle is to be issued to
our troops.
The World Enriched.
The facilities of the present day for EhS
production Of everything hat will conduc.