West Virginia daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1894-1902, 1898-07-27
GUNS OF EACH ARMY.
HOW THE MAUSERS COMPARE WITH
OUR RIFLES.


Less Than Those Used by American Sol
diers In Cuba-Longer Range and Great
er Danger Zone-Wounds Not SIS Severe.
"The hiss of the Mause,'" is the !
dreaded sound that lets our bravo men
in Cuba know that somewhere in the
surrounding brush or concealed in the
thick foliage of the trees that Overlook
the plain" there is lurking Spanish
soldier, armed with modern magazine
rifle of small caliber, which is known
TO the world as Mauser.
This rifle possesses many admirable
characteristics So, too, does the new
American army gun, which is known
generally as the Krag- Jorgensen. But
while all the Spanish troops in Cuba are
armed with the modern small caliber
repeating rifle, the greater number of
lur soldiers, owing to the haste in arm.
ing are compelled to use the old Spring
field rifle, an excellent weapon in it's
day, but not of much practical value at
long range shooting when compared
with the Spanish gun. The path through
the air described by a projectile is
known as the trajectory, and the danger
zone is that portion of this curve where
a man standing ereGtwould bo hit Evi-
IDENTIFY the faster the speed Of the bullet
the nearer to a straight line will the
trajectory approach, and consequently
the greater will - the danger zone.
The speed of Cne bullet, it's initial
velocity, is the number of feet per sec
ond at which it is travelling when it
leaves the muZZle of the gun. This rate
for our Springfield rifles is about 1850
feet a second; for the Spanish Mauser
it is 2,2S6 feet a second, and for the
Krag- Jorgensen 1000 feet q second,
and, generally speaking, the faster the
bullet the farther it will travel in q
straight line. To illustrate this, in a
300 yard trajectory the greatest height
of the bullet above the plane of fire will
be at 100 yards from the muzzle for the
krag-Jorgensen approximately Ia feet,
for the Mauser about o feet and for the
Springfield about 81 feet. Further de-
tails Of the three guns are appended:
Weight
Name Caiber. Weight Of car
Of gun. Inches. OF gun. fridge
U. S.. Krag- Iorgensen 800 "a AGA
L. S.. Springfield As 03 $40
Spain. Mauser .273 81 1873
A''S AOAAONN AAiSS NttDlS lldy DION6 lllJGT-
esting, since it gives the service data
approximately of the three types of rifles
used in the engagements before San
tiago:
Springfield. U. S. Army. Spain.
Calber. As 800 .276
Initial velocity,
foot seconds. =. 1880 1870 to 2l4O $500
Height of verteX
OF $50 yards ira
jectory above
line OF sight,
inches. ......... 132 g. toss q
Depth of danger
at LOO
yards height of
target 81 yards. % SO 20
Weight of 200 car
tridges, pounds,
ElsSaT4s ,vsEss gaAl y "A.
carried per man. 20 1876 lis
From the above the great advantage
of the Mauser over the Springfield is at
once seen. A man feet and z inches
tall distant l, 100 yards from the firing
| line will be under fre-that is, he will
be liable to be hit-so long as he is with
in 40 yards of the range of 1, 100 yards
of the Spanish bullet. On the other
hand, Spaniard distant LOO yards
from an American Springfield rifle will
be within the direct line of fire for only
% yards and when the distance apart
Of the opposing troops is lessened to
within 800 yards the flight of the
Mauser bullet becomes practically a
straight line However, our troops, de-
spite the advantage of the Spanish
small arm, should take courage, for ev-
cry gun, be it Mauser or Springfield,
needs to be accurately aimed to send the
bullet on it's deadly work, and thus far
III our war our enemies have shown that
hitting the object aimed at is not their
forte
Also it appears from recent dispatches
that many more men are wounded by
the Mauser bullets than are killed by
them, and that the wounds they make
are not SO bad as those made by Spring
field rifle bullets Indeed among our
wounded few amputations have been
found to be necessary. An American
surgeon who has been with the insur-
gents In Cuba, reporting on the effects
of the Mauser bullet, states that he saw
man who had been shot through the
head fully restored at the end of a year
Another man lived three hours after he
had been shot through the middle of the
forehead. Had this been an ordinary
bullet he probably would not have lived
as many seconds
In another case bullet entered about
oneeighth of an inch above the heart.
and for three hours it was Impossible to
tell whether the mans heart had been |
hit or not. The man was taken to the |
hospital, whence in week he was dis
charged. Still another man was shot
through the thigh bone. The doctor re-
ports having ripped open his trousers