The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-01-13

bore them out and rifle them all by
hand. They We're mighty accurate guns
up to $50 or 200 yards, but beyond that
they We're not much good"
How are the rifles tested?" asked the
seeker for information.
The government test is very severe
when choice of arms is being made,
The exhibitor of the gun is required to
demonstrate is accuracy and it's fitness
for practical service in divers ways,
lie must show that it can be shot rap
idly and truly without getting out of
order The sand or dust test is the
most trying on the machinery, particu1-
larly of a magazine gun. The weapon
Is placed in a box with the magazine
open and empty and subjected to a
blast of fine sand dust foritwo minutes.
Then it is taken out and the surplus
sand removed by blowing in it with
the mouth and wiping with the bare
hand. With no additional cleaning it
must be loaded and fired twenty times.
Gums submitted to the government
under contract are not tested one by
one. The Inspector takes one from
each stock of, say, ten, has it taken
"p't - tiiSii lliihFo iIit pdIlS VI ali Liz
! specimens and orders them put togeth-
er again, If they fit it is proof that
the parts are interchangeable and made
according to pattern.
1T is different when man orders a
rifle for particular purpose. Say you
were to order me to make you a target
gun. Do you think I would let you see
me test it? No sir. After I bad put
on the sights I would try it on a mark
| would aim directly at the bulls eye
If the bullet went inches to the right
| would aim at the bulls eye again.
If the second bullet went to the right
and so did the third and fourth, I
would know the gun was all right and
| would only have to shift the sights.
The idea of testing gun is to ascer-
tain whether the sights are right or not.
The maker is supposed to know that
the barrel Is true, and putting on the
sights is necessarily matter of guess
work But it won't do to let the man
who is buying the gun know too much
Reverting to the matter muzzle-
leaders, the man who wanted informa-
ton asked if it We're not true that the
old Enfield rifles were supposed to
SilUOl more imam mile.
Maybe they were supposed to, but
they didn't do it," said the expert
The Enfield carried a big, heavy bull
let and large charge of POWDER and
when bullet from it struck man it
stopped him, but it's accurate range
was much less than 1000 yards The
Springfield rifle, with which the Union
troops were armed during the latter
part of the Civil War, shot harder and
better 1t was a S-caliber-think of
that, in these days of mall-calber
guns! Later the caliber was reduced
to so, and then to AS They did make
an Enfield that would shoot more than
a mile, but it weighed about thirty-tive
pounds and was only used by sharp
shooters who lay in pits.
"a famous long-range, powerful, |
Misunderstanding gun was the roer or ele- |
plant gun that was invented by the |
Dutch and used by the Beers. 1t car
fied ball like a young cannon and |
quarter of a pound Of powder. Only
very strong man could handle a roer, as |
1t weighed more than twenty pounds. |
1t was regarded as the only elephant |
gun until the British sportsman intro
duced double express rifles and ex-
plosive bullets into South Africa"
How would one of the new military
guns do for game?'
mo good at all, If you used the fllll,
hard metal-covered bullets, but with
bullet they ought to be very
You see, the full -jacketed bull
let's bore neat, clean hole right
through flesh and bone, and an animal
struck by one of them is not stopped.
If the point of the bullet is lead 1ow-
aver, it will spread when it strikes "a
bone and have an explosive effect. All
he smokeless powder cartridges made
or sporting rifles exclusive have soft
points"
How about revolver bullets?"
Lead is the best material Cor Them
t Is desirable to stop a man or beast
when you shoot MIN with
PISTOL. and nothing will do it so effac-
lively as good, heavy piece of lead
\ good many army officers think the
government made a mistake in adopt-
ing a 3S-caliber revolver for the army,
tanning that it is too small. The pro-
essional bad men in the West all pre-
err the .45-caliber. st. Louis Globe
Democrat
1