Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1898-09-30

SCIENCE OFBULLETS.
POWER OF PENETRATION OF ARMY
RIFLE PRoJEcTlLEs.
Why the Unieed States GovernmentA Adept
ed;the Krag-JorEensen pattsrn-It Does
1ts Work Without MauglinE the ,viotim
lt strikes.
To the mind Of the laynan, who has
gone no further into tho art Of war than
10 know that nowadays tho side which
kills the greater number Of men wins, In
almost every Eight, humanity as. q oonsid-
eration in tho matter Of bullets is an an
omaly, in itself ridiculous. In spite Of
this the moral principle cited has played q,
very considerable part In tho arming Of
u foot soldiers, and, as Said by an army
officer, has. caused much comment that
has been unfavorable to the United States.
Infantry.
No ordnance officer will admit that the
40 oAVOkCeAtoS $u0b WACl1. ukp1loU.
% tho arms and bullets authorized for tho
use Of. the infantry, and when II comes to
other nations having better arms and
more effective bullets. than we have, he
says4"No!" emphatically.
1T iss not q question. Of how badly q.
bullet mAnglcs tho body Of Asman whom
1t kills." said IN officer skilled in the sci.
enco Of bullet making. ''for one dead man.
u just as dead as another. The question
as, How far will o bullet go and to what
extent does its Ire and speed depend
upon its shape? The power Of penetration.
comes under the same head, but that 10
governed partly by the material Of. which
It is made.
ut took a good many; years for us to
discover that abullet made entirely of lead
was limited In penetrating power. Every
officer in tho army and navy knew that
steel would pierce any substance to a.
greater depth than lead, but whoever
thought of using it for small bullets in
preference to tho softer metal until the
man who discovered the advantages of q
rifled bore found also that the leaden bull
lets stuck in tho barrel and frequently;
madc the breech OF o gun quito rs danger
GUS as tho muzzlc? Tho revolution began,
then, aud at tho present time 1t has gone
| ~ - OAsS1e II ~ N&1llV{ekCS vi
. kind OH tho side of the explosive bullet
and tho mushroom bullet, the United.
States government does not like tho kind.
"Tho question has been asked repeated.
~ why tho United States have not adopted.
these more destructive bullets, and upon
this tho many adverse criticisms have
been based. Any bullet, will kill when 1t
hits In the right spot, and, that being 40
copied, the only conditions to DO met are
those Of getting the bullet that goes the.
straightcst and the greatest distance.
Speed carries a bullet to the greatest dis
tance, and II you have in your bullet .
material which offers the greatest resist
ancc to an opposing forco the problem 10
solved.
1T was found early in the lifo OF. the
rifle that lcad was necessary to give q bull.
let tho weight required to make it effect
i've, and then tho jacket bullet Of steel
filled with lead became q fact. Tho force
being supplied to carry this bullet two
miles and more when sent ut a dead level,
the ingenuity of man found another field.
Inventors We'd with each other in maxi
ing tho most destructive bullets; but, aft.
or oil, not one has made q bullet which
will kill moro than ono man at q time
unless they happen to be in line, 80 that
tho bullet having passed through one man
can keep on until Its force is spent There
you have como to force again, just where
you started. The officers who have had
tho small fircarm and its bullets under
consideration for years havc thought all
this out, and out of tho fifty odd bullets
which have been invented since the war Of
the rebellion. they have chosen the best.
By tho best I mean tho one that will go
the farthest in o straight line and at the
end Of its journey retain the greatest
penetrative power.
"It is not human to manglo q man Just
for the sake Of making the horrors of war
more hidcous, but 1t is human to put him
out Of the fight and give him u chance to
live Gftcrward If it must be done. It Is
sense, too, for in these times, when nearly
all nations have improved arms at their
disposal, each ono may do unto his enemy
just what his enemy will do unto him."
That Is side Of the question, and
when tho United States government found
Q bullet which would do all that a bullet
ought to in the matter Of speed and accura-
oy 1t accepted 1t with tho rifle for which it
was made. This happened when the Krag-
Jorgcnsen rife and bullet were adopted.
All tho improvements which have been
made in this gun and projectile since that
time have been adopted as they have come.
Tho inventors found early in the prog
ress OF tho evolution Of the small projectile
that a small caliber bullet had many ad-
vantages. Tho recoil resulting from the
use Of tho largo quantity Of powder ncccs-
sary to send even the As caliber Springfield
bullet q moderate distance was, lessened
by tho reduction of tho caliber, and then q
stronger powder was made. The surface
against which the powder acted being
smaller, the i'll effects Of rocoil were then
not to be commended against. At the same
time tho bullet attained o fiat trajectory,
giving it killing power at 1900 yards, q
greater accuracy and IN increased pene-
trating power. The 80 calibcr bullet,
which is acknowledged 80 be the most
effective, will go through II inches of Pine
wood ut 1900 yards range and when
through that will pierce the bodies Of five
men. At the Same distance it will bury
itself IA inches deep in sand, which, next
to water, offers q greater resistance to o
bullet than any other substance.
Tho evolution of the bullet vas marked
II -s---.-..aa-. - Ice >. 1,,1k oi,>no k11~. kI.~