The morning call., 1893-05-27
THE NEW RIFLE.

There is at length prospect that the
army of the United States will presently
be supplied with small arm which VIII
compare in efficiency with the weapons
used in foreign armies. The present rifle
in use is modification of the old Spring
field rifle. 1t was adopted in pursuance of
the recommendation of board Of officers
which reported just twenty years ago. 1t
had hardly been introduced into the army
before it was evident to gCnners that it
was inferior to the rifles with which Euro
pean troops were armed. Ii compared
favorably with the Chassepot, the needle
gun and the Martini Henry rifle used in
England, but it was decidedly inferior to
the weapons with which the belligertnt
nations began in 1875 TO equip their troops.
Its main defect was in its caliber, which
was As of an inch. whereas the caliber of
no small arms used in war at the present
time exceeds 81 of an inch.
Three years ago new commission was
appointed To report upon new rifle for
the army. 1t reported in August last. Its
instructions required it to select weapon
which could be used both as a magazine
gun and for single fire. 1t was directed
20 select the very best gun, regardless of
the place of its invention or manufacture.
1t examined faithfully the rifles used by
The armies of England. France, Germany,
Austria, Italy. Belgium, Russia and other
countries, and also all weapons invented
by Americans and foreigners. and after
repeated tests it finally selected the krag
Jorgensen rifle, and its report was ap-
proved by the War Department.
This rifle has caliber of 80. Its weight
is pounds IL ounces; the cartridge is 8
inches long and weighs 419 grains. With
charge of Sc grains of smokeless powder
the projectile has an initial velocity of 1000
feet per second Its range is 1000 yards.
1t could be used as a magazine gun or as
single loader. On the tests it was fired
fifteen times as a single loader and five
times as a magazine gun in "a seconds,
the target being struck 16 times. When it
was used as single loader it fired 3S shots
in two minutes; as magazine gun it fred
43 shots in the same time.
This appears TO be as good weapon as
the Austrian improved Maunlcher, the
initial velocity of whose projectile is less
than 1000 feet, or the Metford-Lee gun of
England, or The Lebel rife Of France, OF
the Mauser- Heber rifle of Germany. 1t
viii snoOt as straight as any of these
weapons, as fast and as far American
NJ akers of small arms have objected to the
adoption of a foreign pattern, and sue
ceeded in inserting in last years appro-
priatiou bin clause giving them another
ttial. But the military authorities will
probably insist on aiming our troops with
the most effective weapon, wherever it is
made. The Lubel gan used in France was
originally an American invention; the
Lees, whose guns are used in England,
were Americans; the projectile fired by
the German Mauser rifle was the invention
of Colonel Berdan, an American. If we
arm the Europeans we may allow them to
arm US.
The small caliber which modern gun
merry insists on was adopted to min imiZe
the loss of lie in battle and to check the
abandonment by soldiers of their place in
the ranks to carry wounded soldiers TO tie
rear. A man who is hit by bullet with a
caliber OF ope-third OF an inch Is disabled,
but is not necessarily killed, the small
pr0jectile passes through his body with
such raDidity that it sears its path as it
goes, and there is no bleeding. Then he
falls, there is no risk of his bleeding to
death, there is no need to take two men
out Of the ranks to carry him to the sur
geons. and the latter find a clean wound,
which they probe without danger and
dress promptly. The bullet will shatter
bone, but it may pass through the intes-
tines without perforating them, and it may
penetrate an organ without tearing it to
pieces.
Changes which it is difficult to reckon
will follow the introduction of smokeless
powder. In the wars of the past generals
have located the position of annoying bat
terles by their smoke; now they will have
10 be guided by sound and by watching
the course of the shells. Again, the bat
ties of the past have been fought in such
impenetrable clouds of smoke that civil
ian could not form the least idea what
was going on. The enormous dispropor-
ton between the number of shots fred and
the list OF killed and wounded arose from
the fact that the troops could not See their
enemy through the smoke and fired at
random. With smokeless powder every
riheman will be able to take aim, and the
loss of life will consequently be much
greater. If, with the present range of
small arms and the exposed position of
the regiments engaged, every shot told,
every war would be settled by the first
battle.