The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-09-04
UNCLE SANS new ARMY RIFLE
BELIEVED TO BE SUPERIOR TO
ANY NOW IN USE.
Has Been Fired Thirty-fiye Times In
Minute, Has Range Of 7-8 Miles,
and Can Penetrate 4 IL Feet OF Pine
Will BE Issued to Army About Dec. 1.

VIII BE Issued to Army About Dec. i.
WASHINGTON, Sept SIT is hoped to
issue the new magazine rifle to the army
in about three months. This weapon Is
believed to be superior to any In use in
foreign armies at this time
Forty thousand of the rifles have already
been completed None will be issued to
the troops of the Regular establishment,
however, until 100 ,OOO-the number required
to supply the maximumstrength OF the army
on war footing-have been completed.
At the present rate Of progress this will
probably be about Dec. /.
The old rifle, which has been in use since
just before the Spanish war, will be returned
to the arsenals and later reissued to the
various militia organizations now armed
with the ancient Springfield rife.
1t Is interesting to note that the Spanish
war; If it did nothing else. awoke the army
authorities to the necessity of keeping
abreast of the times in ordnance construc-
ton. The United States magazine rifle,
which was introduced Just before the war
began, was considered a good weapon,
but great advance has been made in the
last few years in the construction OF small
arms.
The most noticeable difference between
the old and the new arm is the fact that the
barrel OF the latter Is entirely covered with
wood. This innovation was the result OF
suggestions made to the ordnance officers
by enlisted men. In the campaigns in Cuba
and in the Philippines 1t was found that
after period of rapid discharges the rifle
barrels became 30 hot that it was sometimes
necessary to cease firing for time to per-
NIT them to cool. In many cases men in
the heat of battle had the skin burned
from their hands by the hot barrels. The
wood covered barrel is the result Of these
experiences, the steel being entirely covered
to within two inches OF the muzzle OF the
gun.
In almost every other particular, from
stock to forward sight there is an important
difference between the old and the new
guns. The bore of the new rife is smaller,
the calibre being about 80 inch, while
the initial velocity and penetrating power
are both greater The new gun is also
several inches shorter than the old arm
about the length, in fact of the old Spring
field carbine with which the United States
Cavalry were armed after the civil war.
The ~. s. Magazine Rife, Model of 1908"
as the new arm is technically known, will,
it is believed, prove exceptionally popular
with the enlisted force. The magazine has
a capacity Of five cartridges and can be
filled with ease and quick nees. Fully
assembled, the rife weighs trife more than
eight pounds.
Some idea Of its efficiency can be gained
when 1t Is known that twenty-three aimed
shots have been fired in one minute with
the rifle used as a single loader, and twenty
five shots in the same time, using magazine
fire. Firing from the hip without aim,
twenty-seven shots have been fired in one
minute, using the rife as a single loader
and thlrty,five shots in one minute from
With an ordinary charge the powder
pressure in the rife chamber ia about
10000 pounds to the square inch, and the
maximum effective fighting range 4,7sl
yards.
The exceptional penetrating powers OF
the rifle were ILLUSTRATED in a test held some
time ago With full service charge, the
rife fired at a distance Of fifty feet, drove
its steel missile 545 inches into white pine
butts, and penetrated steel plate nearly
one-half inch thick.
The bullet which will be used in the arm
has a core of lead and tin composition in a
jacket Of cupro- nickel and when fired with
a service charge has muzzle velocity Of
$500 feet a second.
1t is hoped by the ordnance experts that
the new gun will prove to be not only
abreast Of small arms construction, but some
what in advance 20 that it will be unneces-
sary to make another change in the weapons
Of the United States Army for a good many
years to come.