The herald., 1893-02-26
DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL ARMS,
The Progress of the Construc-
tion Of Military Weapons.
What Can Be Expected of Magazine
Rifles and Sm0keless Powder.
The Prospects for the Adoption of u
Now Gun for the United States
Army which VIII Be
Up to Dnte.

pert on the subject of new weapons for
the army will be found of extreme in
terest. Lieutenant Collins is perhaps
the bsst informed man in the army on
the subject, and his opinions are nat
Nurally of great value.
''The development Of small arms
said Lieutenant Collins, General Nc
Cooks Inspector of Small-Arms Prac-
tice, "has kept pace with the ad-
vance in other mechanisms.
The history of the final abo-
lition of tine smooth.bore (Which
performed it's work we'll during the
stirring times of go to '65. simply be-
cause our adversary had nothing better)
and the adoption of the present Spring
field rifle of calibre .45 need not be re.
ferred to. Suffice it to say that the gun
now in use is about the best Of its kind
ever put in the hands of troops. have
frequently seen men armed with this
weapon fire eight and nine shots in
30 seconds at target, with excellent
results as to accuracy. This was well
enough, however, ae long as other pow
ers we're similarly armed with single.
6hOb kuhos OuO Vi blO uIdW UhChn W Jul
present weapon has been its lack OF
ry (the curve the bullet takes after leav-
at troops 600 yards distant, the bullet
at 300 yards, or halfway point, is 13
feet above the ground, and all that
space, from 80 yards in front of the gun
to 27 yards in front of the object aimed
at, is practically safety space. Since
our fighting in the future is to be in
deployed order, it is quite necessary that
the entire field between our skirmish
lines and the enemy be covered by dan
9erous fire."
"But how is that to be accom-
plished ?" asked the reporter.
"The present relation between the
weight of the bullet and the charge OF
black, or, commonly known as, gun
powder, has reached maximum. II
becomes necessary to see what reduc-
tions of the one, or additions to the
other will accomplish better results. II
was conceded by all that longer range
than 1000 yards, and that by the way ia
very nearly the extreme limit with &C.
curacy of our present gun, was neces-
sary in future warfare, as also a weapon
which in every way could develop rapid
and demoralizing fire. This question
was first taken up practically by
foreign armies, and it is the re-
suits of their earlier experiments
that now makes our course more clear.
Germany, in 1886, adopted a small cali
Der gun. Caliber, you must understand,
is simply the diameter of the bullet; AS
is our present bullet, and Germany
adopted .310. Other nations also deter
mined on small calibers, and smokelese
powder was also called into play.
Smokeless powder is of many forms and
kinds, the base constituents, however,
in most being nitro glycerine and gun.
cotton. Its action gives longer ranges,
with diminished recoil, and obviates I'd
a large extent the fouling of the piece SO
common with ordinary gunpowder.
With charge of 70 grains of black pow
der. which ia in our present AS calibei
cartridge, q muzzle velocity of about
1856 feet is obtained, whereas with the
smaller caliber charge of So grains ol
smokeless powder gives an initial veloci
ty of about 1000 feet, with very much
tiatter trajectory. By muzzle velocity is
meant the speed with which the bullet
leaves the barrel, and is measured by the
number of feet it would pass over in
one second, as it leaves the muzzle.
us the smokeless powder made in
this country ?"
mot as yet, but our ordnance people
are experimenting and it. is only ques-
tion of short time before suitable ex-
plosive Gone that will not deteriorate
with age or moisture) will be determined
upon"
"What is the difference in effect be-
tween the present bullet and the one to
be adopted?"
Well, that is hard to answer. Prac-
tically speaking the new bullet 10 about
the eize in diameter of an ordinary lead
pencil and about one inch and half in
length. 1t is made Of hardened lead
and covered with copper jacket, insur-
ing greater resistance and penstrative
power. In recent lecture to hia stu
dents. Professor Bilroth of Vienna
showed collection of bones from per
sons wounded in the wars of 1866 and
1870. He stated that the damage done
by the rifles then in use could
not be compared to the terrible
effect of the repeating rifles of today.
A bullet from Mannlicher rife, one of
the weapons tested by our board, piercee
a bricE wall at distance of 500 to 800
PAGES, and it would be we'll nigh impos
Hible to obtain shelter from an enemy q
fire. There can be. no marching in dense
lines, as the ball w6nld 20 through three
or four men. Smokeless powder affords
better means of correct aim. and woe to
the army tnat should cross the road in
the face OF an enemy in sheltered
position. Thank God,' concluded the
lecturer, L cannot show you any bones
that have suffered from weapons ss they
now are.'
ut ia claimed by many that wound
ing is preferable to killing on the battle
field, since dead man is done with,
whereas wounded man at times re-
quires to be carried from the field,
thereby weakening the force of COM
batantr. However all this may be, ii
seems necessary for this government to
adopt some rapid fire gun. l mean by
this some weapon that can be used ae
the present one is, loaded for each indi-
vidual shot, and yet have rapid fire
reserve which can be called into play in
close quarters when directed by the
commanding officer. Such a weapon is
known as magazine gun. While the
magazine type has been adopted by for
eign powers, yet there is distinction
Chat creeps in. Some nations patronize
weapons that fire from the magazine
alone; others those that are loaded and
fred as single-shot gun, with magazine
which by simple device can be turned
on and off, The former are simply n
class of repeating rifles, the latter the
true magazine type"
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