The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-17
THE REVOLVER.
It Is Not So Much Used In War In
These Days.

There are indications that the one
distinctive weapon of America-the re-
volver-as characteristic as the ma
chete of the Spanish-American, the bo-
las of the Pampas, or the boomerang
of Australia, will shortly be a back
number. The invention of the revolv-
ing cylinder is not American-it had
been foreshadowed long before 1t came
into practical use-but it was in Amer
lea that it was developed, and Ameri-
cans have shown the most appreciation
of its merits. In fiction. YOU may know
the American by his pistol. even as by
his dialect. The occupation of the wild
west gave opportunity for the devel-
opment of a miraculous skill, which ex-
cited the lasting awe of all who had
the good fortune to see ar. exhibition of
it and survive.
In military use, also. the revolver
has played a more prominent part in
the United States than elsewhere. Dur
ing the civil war the cavalry of both
sides, acting rather as mounted infan-
try than as cavalry proper showed
great reliance upon the six-ehooter-
Forrest. Mosby, Morgan and other con-
federate leaders, especially in the ir-
regular cavalry, had little esteem for
the sword, as compared with the pistol,
pointing out that a saber was of no
utility II you were shot before coming
within striking distance. Both armies
were full of expert revolver shots,
trained in a strenuous school, who
placed their bullets with the instinc-
tiveleSs of a boy throwing at a mark,
and wasted no time in the careful
sighting, which is unfortunately char.
acteristic of the crack American target
in this respect the English are superior.
They make a speciality of off-hand
shooting. and our cracks are at a dis
advantage from being trained by a
method which is entirely alien to the
rough and-ready spirit of the weapon.
II a man wants to draw a bead, let
him get target rife with peep
sights. The only raison d'etre for the
revolver is the need of hitting an en-
envy, and hitting him quick. As a tar
get weapon ii is inferior to the single
barrel, because the escape of gas be-
tween the cylinder and the barrel is
not a constant quantity.
For its purpose. as a handy, quick
shooting weapon for close range in an
emergency, the revolver, as developed
by American mechanical ingenuity is
an entirely adequate weapon. 1t has
the disadvantage that it is slow to re-
load, but as an English officer who
had seen service on the Indian from
tier recently testified in speaking of
this point, there is seldom need to re-
load in haste. If six shots don't stop
the enemy, there is nothing to do, he
said, but to throw the weapon in his
face. 1t is probably because the need
of more rapid fire is not felt in ordinary
use. and partly from the feeling that
the American arm has been perfected.
that American makers We're slow to
realize the significance of the develop
mert OF the box magazine principle in
military small arms, and the POSSIBLE
ity Of applying it to the pistol.
At all events. the Yankee inventor,
while holding his own in machine gun
improvement, has fallen behind in
small arms and pistols. The United
States uses n European rifle in the
army, and will adopt the same in the
navy. And the development Of a SER
viceable magazine pistol, which ought
to have come from New England, was
left to German manufacturers. The re-
cent tests of the Mauser pistol at the
armory in this city show that there is
no comparison between it and the SER
vice revolver. The Mauser feeds in its
cartridges in packets of ten. They
can be fired at the rate of ten Sec
ond. and it takes less time to reload
them than to put a single cartridge
into revolver. In shooting the COM
parison is equally one-sided- A re-
volver has no great penetration. and
little accuracy except at short range.
The Mauser sends a steel-jacketed
bullet of 80 calibre through an inch
steel plate. Used as a carbine, with
the stock provided, 1t can take the
place of a musket for considerable
ranges. AS pistol it spits forth
death with a rapidity not dreamed of
by the most practical cowboy. There
can be no question that for military
purposes the magazine pistol is the
coming arm. For cavalry it serves
adequately as a carbine, and at all
ranges it sh pots with a force and pre-
cision which could bysno possibility be
attained by weapon which allows
part of the gas to escape before the
bullet has left the muzzle. For ordinary
purposes. the revolver will still hold
its own for the present, by reason OF
its lightness and compactness, but il
will probably not be long before Ameri-
can ingenuity devises a more convent
ent magazine pistol than this clumsy
German affair. and then the revolver
will go to join the fiint-lock and the
muzzle-loader.
Sale! Sale! Salei