The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-11-11

rlfleman paints lines on the bar of his
packslght and aims over one or other
OF them when he wants to make allow
ance for wind. In the field. hayine
no nnes and no opportunity of making
them, he must aim off the mark alto
gether' or over an imaginary line on
the BAR. The United States army rifle
men, on the other hand, has the sim
pest mechanism conceivable on his
pack sight for taking off or putting on
Wind. The time taken in adjusting it,
When once the Judgment is formed, is
lnnnltesimal, the correspondence be-
tween the judgment and the adjust
ment is absolute, and sim
solutely until it is disengaged
Also, there is a small orifice in the bar
OF the Krag-Jorgensen backsight which
makes an excellent orthoptic sight for
those who like such sights.
In fact Krag- Jorgensen Improved
United States paten) has sights as eff
hclent as match-sights, more Efficient
indeed, since they can best be used in
the prone position, and they are per-
fectGy serviceable and capable of with
standing rough usage. So forcibly,
however, was this impressed on mem
bers of the Small Arms Committee
W AO NClC SHOOlllls dl DlSley lndI there
is still room for some hope, apart
from the forlorn hope that the new
rifle will be abandoned altogether. An
adjustable wind gauge may even yet
be affixed to the new rifle. If so, it
will still be poor gun, but not so bad
as it is proposed at present that it
should be.
So far 1 have written of the new gun
only as target-shooting weapon, in
which respect it will. for no adequate
reason, certainly be inferior to the old.
1t is also heavily cased in wood, TO
obviate scorching of the hand in rapid
firing, but the wood will warp when
wet. There are, indeed, preparations
to obviate this, but they are hardly
applicable to active service. The mag
azine action is better too, and the
clip loader, similar to that of the Maui
ser, is to be introduced. This is a point
TO the good, but obviously il could
have been made without spelling the
barrel by cutting II short. In the very
faulty breach action, so far as l have
been able to ascertain, no change has
been made. That, again, is an omission
difficult TO understand, unless it is
prompted by a desire for economy near
akin to parsimony.
Our action is insecure when the rifle
is charged. and when it is empty; bolts
have been known to be blown clean out
more than once, and for them to be
opened by accident when rifles are car
ried on the march particularly on
horseback, is quite a common occur
renee. They are unnecessarily compli-
Gated. They are rear-locking, when
they undoubtedly ought to be 'front.'
locking. OF all the bolts available they
are unquestionably the worse, and the
better ones are as numerous as their
superiority is obvious. Best of them all,
to my lay mind, is the Ross, adopted
by the Canadian government, which
has a straight pull. and of which all
experts speak highly, and have never
been able to obtain any other explana-
ton of the failure to adopt it than that
of expense. This does not mean that
1t is an expensive bolt and action in
itself, but that any new bolt, plus the
machinery necessary for making it,
would involve some additional expense
by comparison with a continuance of
the old bolt and action, which few can
be found to defend.
The upshot of it all is that unless
public opinion can be reused sufficient
ly to check the present design, the
British army already ill-armed enough
in all conscience, is doomed to be worse
armed, instead of better In these cir
cumstances it is natural to turn round
and to inquire with whom, or with
what body of men, the responsibility
lies. 1t cannot fairly be said to lie en-
tirely with the special committee re-
ferred to in an article in the Times
of Jan. II, 1901, and presided over by
Col. Hopton; for that committee was
appointed, not to settle upon a new
form of rife, but to inquire into and
reDOrt on the performance Of tho 902
rifle in South Africa. 1t may be that it
ought to have reported that an entirely
new form of rifle was necessary, but
it is certain that it did not report in
favor of the present pattern. Consid-
cradle blame is, no doubt to be ap-
portioned to the majority of the Small
Arms Committee for declining to sane
ton the adjustable wind-guage, of
which nearly every practical rifleman
sees the absolute necessity; but that is
a detail, although an important one,
which can be set right SeDaratRlV