The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-14

so much longer than that of the Remington
rifle that the barrel of the krag-Jorgenscn Ii
about six inches shorter. The barrel Is hcavio;
than that of the other piece. Immediately in
front Of the trigger the stock is grooved on both
Sides like the stock of some of those sporting
rifles which carry magazine under the barrel,
and these grooves afford n good grip for the
hand when firing the piece. The lever Of the
breech will prevent the piece from, being car;
ried n the present rife IL carried, with barrel
~ the rear; but IL the manual of arms |.
changed, NO that the barrel is To the front wher,
HANDLED Il IS Ss pound m heavier than s"i TIC
present rila, hut IL is better balanced. and may
sn9uldsrsd h ns easily aS s the hemihEt3RR: Th(
plate may be laid fiat on the right shoulder
when the piece is shouldered. hOugh IL Is said
to be the Intention OF the Board on Regulat ions
tn alter the manual, so that right shoulder
arms" shall be slope arms rs left
shoulder arms" Is now. The butt plate is per-
The bayonet Il not merely a toastlng fork or
fire poker, ike the present implement. IL Is q
knife foot long and weighing one and a half
pounds to the one pound Of the present bayonct.
IL can be used to cut wood or cheese, To throw up
earthworks or build a field oven, and will stick
an enemy as well as the old hayonct. II does not
tit over the foresight as the present bayonct does;
SO that there Will he no danagcr of twisting the
sight In the hilarious excitement of fixing bayo-
nets and stacking arms.
The breech mechanism Is remarkably simple;
II consists OF only four parts, the bolt and lever,
the spring, the firing pin. and the extractor: The
trigger works with spring. separately There
spring which moves the feeder. and the door.
The cutoff of the magazine Is on the left Of the
barrel. and is worked by the thumb; 1t IL not a
spring, but simply bar the cross section of
which Is a half circle When the magazine 10
cut of, the fiat side OF the bar is turned TO the
magazine; when the magazine Is used, the semi
circular side is turned In, pushing the upper
most cartridge within reach Of the bolt, which
the breech bolt, moved by the right thumb, pre-
vents the gun from being fired. and takes tho
place Of the safety notch or half cock Of the
1t is in shooting. however. that the beauties OF
the new rife show themselves. The foresight Is
ON a stud fully half an inch high, while the rear
sight Ia low. graduated from point blank ut 300
yards TO 900 yards before the leaf OF the sight is
raised, and thence TO 1000 yards. The bar OF
the sight Is held In place by spring. and allows
for the drift" OF the bullet. but there is no
allowance for wind, a. in the Bufiinton and Ed
guard will not admit two fingers. The trigger
itself has a creep" that is; II moves through a
This creep" is the standard trigger pull OF
foreign rifles. II gives an excellent chance to
aim and fire without disturbing the aim; for
having taken hasty aim, the trigger may be
pressed until the creep" is over; then final
aim may be taken, the trigger pressed little
bolt comes home, and scree-ee! goes the bullet
2,lOO feet second, wit II range OF a mile and y
half and Trajectory almost Rsrfeetly at until
shown, Is 80 Of an inch in diameter and 81
smokeless powder, the bullet weighing geo
grains. With the very high foresight, Il was
found necessary at 100 yards and 200 yards 20
aim entirely below the target; even then the
shots were high. At 800 yards the lower edge
OF the target was aimed at. At 500 yards the
bar OF the sight was left at the 300 yard mark
and a fine" sight taken on the bulfs-eyc. aud
at 900 yards the bar was raised To the lOO-yard
mark. In almost every case the, shots were
high. Out OF some forty shots fired only three
we're below the middle Of the target. Three
shots missed; the other thirty were above
ceptible recoil, and absolutely no smoke. IL
was noticed, however, by three persons who
fired most OF the shots that their heads began to
ache almost immediately. and. as they are not
nOvlces at CreedmOor and not subject 10 shoot
ing headaches" they laid the blame TO the gas
given of by the smOkeless powder.
One OF the three, the poorest shot, fred eleven
shots at the i've ranges, one shot at 100 yards.
two shots at each OF the 200. 800. and 300
ranges, and four shots at the 800 yards range,
with total OF two inners. eight centres, and a
bull, his score being 43 out Of possible IS, not
a bad showing for both himself ana the rife. the
latter being absolutely novel TO him. He as an
enlisted man. approved OF the rifle; so now the
State can 20 ahead and supply the Guard with
clear conscience.