Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-09-29
National Guardsmen Are Much
Interested in New York Regu-
latiOn Army Weapon
4O,OOOOF THEM ALREADY MADE
Something Regarding the 81 s, Mag.
olluc Rifle, Model of 1905
As 1t is Known.

Nqlulinl'Gcncral Burton and other
officers Of the national guard. as well as
the enlisted men themselves, are much
Interested IN the new army rifle which
win lake the place Of the Krag.Jorgen.
sen guns IN a short time
Every government arsenal I'm the
United states, with the necessary facll-
tiles Is working night and day JUST now
turning out the new arms and 10000 of
them have already been completed.
None win be issued to the troops Of the
regular establishment, however, untn
lOoOOO-the number requisite to supply
the maximum strength Of the army on
a war footing have been completed.
AT the present rate OF progress this 'Nill
| probably be- about Dec I. and their is-
suance win be- Immediately begun. The
old rille viii be returned TO the arsenals
ana later reissued 10 various militia
organizations nos armed with the am.
cient Springfield rifle which Is regarded
as almost az obsolete as the old flint
lock or percussion cap guns
The most noticeable difference be-.
tween the old and the new arm n the
tact the barrel OF the latter arm Is en-.
tlrely covered with wood This innoya.
ton was the result Of suggestions made
TO ordnance officers boy enlisted men Of
the army, Following the campaign i'm
cuba and I'm the Philippines. many
complaints were made 10 the ordnance
officers by officers IA the field, 'Who said
that after period NJ rapid discharges
the rife barrels become so hot that Ii
was sometimes necessary 10 cease firing
for time 10 permit them to cool. IN
many cases, men IN the heat Of battle
had the skin burned from their hands
by the hot barrels. The bore Of the
new rifle is smaller, the calibre being
about 30 inch while the initial velocity
ana penetrating power are both great
er' The new gun Is also several inches
shorter than the old arm-about the
length IN fact Of the old Springfield carr
blne. with which the United States cav.
airy were armed after the civil war.
The 'U, $. Magazine Rife, Model Of
1903" as the new arm IA technically
known viii, Il Is believed, prove excep-
tionally popular with the enlisted force
Of the regular establishment In adj
dltion 20 the covered barrel feature the
eiectlng lever, which on the rife now
In use projects at right angles from
the piece and has been the cause Of
more profanity on the part Of enlisted
men than any other portion Of his en-
tire equipment, projects downward In
the now arm and Is somewhat shorter
The magazine has q capacity Of five
cartridges and can be filed with ease
and quckness, The gun fully assem-
blet weighs a trllle over eight pounds
and according to ordinance experts, is
exceptionally well balanced, making
case OF discharge and accuracy Of aim
a feature OF Importance
Some idea OF the efficiency OF the
new arm can be gained when Il Is
known that 20 aimed shots have been
fred in one minute with the rife, used
as a single loader and rs shots IN the
same time. using magazine fire. ring
from the hin without aim, n shots
have been fired In one minute. using
the rifle as single loader and 80 shots
In one minute from the magazine.
With an ordinary service charge the
powder pressure In the rifle chamber is
about 1900 pounds per square inch,
the maximum energy Of free recoll is
1905 foot pounds and the maximum
effective fghting range i7Sl yards
7'he exceptional penetrating powers Of
the rife were illustrated In test held
some time ago. With fIll service
charge, the ride fired at a distance Of
30 feet. draye It's steel missile 54.4 inches
into white pine butts and pentrated
% steel plate nearly one half on inch |
thick. The bullet which will be used !
In the arm has a core Of lead and tin |
composition IN a Jacket Of cupro-nlckel |
and when fred with service charge |
has a muzzle velocity Of 1900 feet
second
General Burton has sent to the war
department for a sample OF the new
gun. and Il is expected here any day.