The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1898-04-30
MODERN RIFLES
IN PRESENT WAR

legions were armed as Napoleon's Weap-
ons were an Improvement over the mus
kets of the men who fought at Mnden.
Indeed, IL Napoleon were alive today, 1t
Is certain that there would be little OPP
portunity for the exercise of his remark
able tactical genius. The battlefield o. Old
was small and one man could easily over
look 1t. The battlefields of the future
will cover miles upon miles of territory,
and the general commanding will direct
the movements of his many corps from
some house family within hearing dis
lance of the big guns. The field of Wat
erloo is singularly disappointing in re-
spect of size to one who views 1t with pre-
conceived modern notions, but no such
complaint will be entered against the next
scene of deaths struggle between the arm
les of civilized nations. More men will
be engaged and their guns will shoot
further That makes the difference.
AS in the development of modern pow
ders, so in the development of the modern
rifles, the Germans have led. 1t is Prof.
HELLER, of Berlin, who first showed that
the As caliber was about one-third too
large, and that a cylinder reduced to
caIiber of 80, with a very rapid twist,
would give the best results. This reduction
has lessened the weight of the bullet by
one-half and increased its velocity by ~
per cent. The velocity has been further
increased by the change of powders. The
soldier is now able to carry with him
double the old supply of ammunition. The
substitution of the material called COR
dite' for the compressed powder, which
now obtains in the British service has
further increased his offensiveness, until
he is by far the most dangerous animal
that walks.
Practically all of the small arms with
which the troops of the nations are fur
nished are magazine guns. Their adoption
was delayed by the doctrinaires, who de-
.clared that soldier with magazine gun
in the stress of battle and excited to fren-
zy by conflict, would waste more ammuni-
ton than he was worth. The same argu-
ment was advanced against the adoption
of the breech-loader many years ago. 1t
was proved fallacious in the latter case.
The belief among military men is that it
will be proved fallacious against the mag
azine arm. officers in future will trust TO
discipline to keep the fire down to a proper
limit There seems to be little difference
in the value of the various modern mill
tary rifles Each has some minor defect.
The improved arm of the Germans, the
Mannlicher of the Austrians, the Lee-Mat-
ford of the British, the Lebel of the
French, the Mauser of the Spanish, and
the Krag-Jorgensen and Lee of the United
States, have about the sans zone of fire,
are practically of the same caliber and are
universally deadly The difference between
the nickel-jacketed bullet, the steel-har-
dened bullet, and the German silver bullet,
by which the soldiers of Wilhelm swear,
is largely one of the inauguration They
will all kill at tremendous ranges. Perhaps
the best general results are given by the
nickeled projectile whose penetrative pow
ers are simply phenomenal
In the long peace that has brooded over
the world the limit of Improvement in
military small arms would appear to have
been reached. 1t remains now to try
them on living human bodies instead or
upon cadavers, which cannot shoot BACK.
In scientific parlance, I'VE have reached
an equation in the proportions OF mass in
the rifle and the projectile, in caliber.
rifing and twist, in the power of the ex-
plosives. Beyond this any possible I'M
provement would be ineffective for the rea-
son that to exceed the present limits would
be to exceed the muscular and visual pow
er of men,
The modern arm, when rified on the Met
ford plan, has seven grooves on the In
terror of the barrel which go three times
around the barrel in its length OF thirty
inches. The rifing is made thus severe
in order to steady the missile In its long
flight. The weapon is sighted up to $500
yards and it's point blank range is min
imum of 300 yards In action the sights
will not be altered up. to 1000 yards The
English compressed powder gives muz-
gle velocity of 800 feet per second. From
cordite muzzle velocity of $3.50 feet per
second is obtained. At 1000 yards the mean
| deviation of the bullet from the Spring.
| field rifle is 2l.4 inches. From the modern
arm forty shots minute may be fired
| if the soldier has a spare magazine ready
| for adjustment. If man stands near
| him with more than one magazine a
speed of sixty shots a minute can be made
| This, of course, is firing without aiming
| The Mauser rifle to which the United
| States troops will be opposed in the war
with Spain is UNNECESSARILY superior to the
| old Springfield superior, in fact, to any
| gun we have save the Lee and the krag-
| Jorgensen. Its rapdity, long range, ac-
| curacy and low trajectory have more than
| doubled the danger spaces up to mile, and
| 1T Is exceedingly disagreeable even beyond
| that distance. The general penetration
| of the nickel jacketed bullet may be stated
| at $40 of an inch of STEEL 311 inches of oak
| and inches of beech Singularly enough.
| It has been demonstrated that the best de-
| Tense against it is loose sand and attack
| ing parties of the future will throw up min
iature entertainments in front of each squad
| This can be done readily and rapidly with
| the bayonet The lead pencil bullet pene-
trates some fifteen inches into sand, and
| is then battered out of all resemblance to
| its original SELF Much has been said of
| it's inability to produce sufficient shock.
| and there is no doubt that its paralyzng
| capacity Is much less than that of the As
| calibre missile, but 1t may be said that
| any man struck with it will be put out Of
the fight, and in military formula man
| hors de combat is a man dead.
| The effect of modern magazine small
arms In combats between large forces is,
| of course, problematical. Military writers,
| however, are pretty well agreed that these
| effects will be unprecedentedly serious. The
| next war will be approached by the oppos-
| ing parties with feeling of curiosity tenn
pered by grave apprehension between
troops equally numerous and equally dis
| ciplined the encounter will settle once and
| for all tho tactics of the future. Many
cobwebs will be brushed from the brains OF
lien will a killed