The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-12
MEN WHO REPAIR THE GUNS.
CHEF ARMORER STEVENS AND
WORK THAT HE LOOKS AFTER.

His Is the Duty TO Keep the Rifles
and RevOlvcrs of the Seventh
Army Corps in Good Fighting Or
der-spare Parts on Hand for the
Repairing of Fifteen Thousand
Krag-JOrgenscns-SOme Facts
About the New Rides That the Vol
unteers Carry to Cuba with Them.
The chief arnorer Of the Seventh Army
Corps will sail for Cuba on the Mobile
He is Mr.. E. T. Stevens, formerly of the
Springfield arsenal, an expert in all mat
ters pertaining to the construction and
repair of rifles and pistols.
While he does not figure much in Off
cial reports the armorer and his assistant
artificers are important personages to an
army in the field. Supplied with all the
parts of a weapon, it is their duty to make
quick and proper repairs to all weapons
that may become damaged, no matter what
the damages may be. In Cuba, far fEom
the regular sources of supply, with no ma
chine or gunsmith shops at their COM
mand, an army might soon(be placed al a
serious disadvantage were il not for tie
presence of the skilled repairers of wea-
pons. These men can take rifle to pieces
completely and practically make a new
weapon if necessary. Day after day their
services are called for, and through their
work the army is always kept well equip
ped for fighting operations.
Mr.. Stevens has been in government ar
senals many years, and was sent to the
Seventh Army Corps in acknowledgment
of his experience and skill. He has as
assistants one artifcer from each regi-
ment. These artificers are, as q rule, ma
chinists who have enlisted, and they are
selected because of their ability as work.
men. 1t does not take long for the chief
armorer to instruct them in the mechan-
ism of a rife or a revolver, so that they
can repair any breaks. AS all the parts
are provided, this is comparatively an easy
matter. If a lumber, or a firing pin, or
a scar or a scar spring, gets out of order
it is but the work of a short time to put
in new one or remedy the trouble in the
old one. With the force at his command
now about ten men, probably 200 rifles
could be repaired in a day. The number
sent to the shop does not run that high,
of course, but there may come a time
when from long use of the rifles, the
continuous services of the entire force
of artifcers will be required.
All the parts OF the new Krag-Jo rgersen
rifles have been received. The supply on
hand is adequate for the repairing of ff-
teen thousand rifles. These rifles are
more easily taken apart for repair than
the old Springfield. There are hardly any
screws in their construction and a rifle
can be taken to pieces with the unaded
fingers very quickly by one who under
stands its construction. This expedites
the work of repairs materially. There
has been no severe test of these rifles and
1t is hard to tell just what parts viii be
the most apt to show signs of weakness
as evidenced by breaks. In the model of
1888, Mr.. Stevens says, the safety lock-
cut off and magazine spring We're the
parts that required the most attention
from the repair shop. These have been
strengthened in the models of 1895 and
1898 1t will not take long before any
weaknesses in the guns supplied by the
Seventh Corps are shown. They will be
put TO a hard test in the constc.It drill
ing and target practice that may be ex-
pected when the soldiers reach Cuba.
Drilling is very hard on a gun, the me-
chanism being Jared frequently and
severely. What the life of one of the guns
viii be is not known. Tests have been
made in the direction of ascertaining how
many shots could be fired from one and
the total runs well up into the thousands
II IS stated. win the use luey VIII get
from the volunteers they will be good for
fighting purposes for many years. As
soon as there is anything wrong with one
it is attended to and this constant keep
ing in order prolongs the life of the
weapon indefinitely.
The Krag-Jorgersen rifles, Mr.. Stevens
said yesterday, is reputed TO be dangerous
at three mile range, nearly mile fur
Their than the old Springfield This greater
h.. eoaA tI,F In L [rap TDTso ~
sen has a flatter or lower, trajectory, is
what recommends it as a superior weapon.
\ bullet shot from an old Springfield rifle
at a two mile range. it is said, will so to
a height of 200 feet in the air in max
ing the required distance to the target.
The trajectory of the bullet fired from the
Krag-Jorgersen, or The rise Of he bullet
above the actual level of sight, w'll be
considerably less than this. This is
claimed to be a great advantage. Then
the Krag-Jorgersen bullet will have a We
iocity of about 200 feet a second, while
that of the Springfield would cover but
1850 feet in that shortest measurement CT
time.
The new guns are appraised at $l9 if
soldier loses one. But when the Volun-
teer retires from the service it is the I'M
Outstanding that he can keep his gun if
he is wiling to pay the government $40
1t is not probable that many men viii
ever avail themselves of the opportunity
TO hang a Krag-Jorgersen on the wall at
home as a memento of the days spent
in camp in Savannah and Cuba. A rifle
that shoots three miles can be of no SER
vice. outside of the army, except as an
ornament to a library or some other room.
The artificers who have been working
under the chief armorer will not go 10
cuba with him. They return to their
regiments and accompany them to the ISL
and. While here they have been mess
ing out by the signal corps, the shop be-
ing an old house in that vicinity.