Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1904-10-10
UNCLE SANS NEW RIFLE.
1t Is Believed to Be Superior to Any
Now in Use.

Now in Use.
New York Sun:-It is hoped to is
sue 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 100000
the number required to supply the
maximum strength of the army on a
war footing-have been completed.
At the present rate of progress this.
will probably be about Dec. 1.
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 organ,
izations now armed with the ancient
Springfield rifle.
1t is interesting to note that the
Spanish war, if it did nothing else,
awoke the army authorities to the nee
essity of keeping abreast of the times
in ordinance construction. The Unit
ed States magazine rife, which was
introduced just before the war began,
was considered good weapon, but a
great advance has been made in the
last few years in the construction or
small arms
The most noticeable difference be-
tween the old and the new arm is the
fact that the barrel of the latter is en-.
tirely covered with wood This limo
walton was the result Of suggestions
made to the ordnance officers by en-
listed men. In the campaigns in Cuba
and in the Philippines it was found
that after period of rapid discharges
the rife barrels became so hot that it
was sometimes necessary to cease fir,
ing for a time to permit them to cool.
In many cases men in the heat of bat
tie 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 ia
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 Springfield carbine with which the
United States cavalry were armed af-
ter the civil war.
The ''U. S. Magazine Rife, Model OF
1903,' as the new arm is technically
known, will, it is believed, prove popu
lar with the enlisted force The mag
azine has a capacity of five cartridges
and can be filed with ease and quick
ness. Fully assembled, the rifle
weighs a trifle more than eight
! pounds.
Some idea of it's efficiency can be
gained when it 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, TWEEN
| ty seve nshots have been fired in one
minute, using the rife as a single
! loader, and thirty-fve shots in one
minute from the magazine.
| With an ordinary charge the powder
! pressure in the rife chamber is about
! $4,000 pounds to the square inch, and
the maximum effective fighting range
! 4,7S1 yards.
The exceptional penetrating powers
OF the rife were illustrated in a test
held some time ago. With full serv-
ice charge,e the rifle, fired at a dis
lance of fifty feet, drove it's steel mis-
sile 54.5 inches into white pine butts
and penetrated steel plate nearly
one-half inch thick.
The bullet which will be used in the
arm has core of lead and tin compo>
milton In jacket of cupro-nickle and
when fired with a service charge has
a nluzzle velocity of 1890 feet a Sec
ond.
1t is hoped by the ordnance experts
that the new gun will prove to be not
only abreast of small arms construc-
ton, but somewhat in advance, so
that 1t will be unnecessary to make
another change in the weapons of the
United States army for a good many
years to come.