Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-17
MORE AMMUNITION NEEDED
Fair Reserve Supply Of Cavalry and
Infantry Rifles.
TESTING AUTOMATIC PISTOLS
Annual Report of Gen. Crozier,
Chief of Ordnance-Light Mortar
for Throwing Grenades.


velopment of army ordnance Is recorded
in the annual report of Brig. Gen. Will
liam Crozier, chief of ordnance. He says,
In part. that the armament of the sea
coast Notifications of the United States
is In a very forward condition of eff
fectiveness The coast defense is not en-
tirely complete, but 1t Is believed to be
such as to preclude the occurrence of
great disaster Of a class to be prevented
by that kind of preparation. There Is
some reserve supply Of ammunition. but
1t Is not what it should be. The fortified
ton of the insular possessions Is proceed
ing at a rate which should be considered
reasonable. 1t was slow in commence
ment. but as thus far provided for Will
give a very good degree Of protection to
the harbors to which it is being applied
1.-The reserve supply Of mobile artil-
lery," says Gen. Crozier, lis in a less
satisfactory state than that of any other
class Of fighting material We have
sufficient number of mountain guns, but
the model is not completely up-to-date
The standard field gun Is believed to be
of as good model as any in existence.
but the supply should be much greater
and should be increasing at a more rapid
rate than current appropriations permit
The model of the heavy field gun has
just been decided upon, but there are not
sufficient funds to proceed with their
manufa cture In any considerable guam
tity. The model of the light siege gun
has been established. and a small num-
Der are under construction. The rate OF
production should be considerably IN
creased. Models of light and heavy f1eld
Howitzers and Of light siege Howitzers
have not yet been adopted. but expert
mental pieces and carriages are under
construction and will soon be ready for
tests.
Reserve Supply Of Rifles.
1.-The reserve supply Of infantry and cav
airy rifles is very fair and Is increasing
at satisfactory rate. For some years TO
come, however. an army Of war size
would have to be armed with rifles OF
two models; namely, that OF 1913 and
that of 1898, the last generally known as
the gJorgensen. with Whlch the NIL
iitia Is now armed. The reserve ammuni-
ton for the latter rifle is sufficient. and
only such additional supplies need be cur
rently procured as to meet the annual ex-
penditures. The reserve supply for the
rifle of the model of 1903 Is not SUFFICIENT
There is a moderate supply of revolv-
ers of caliber SO and Of caliber As; but
the commencement of the accumulation
of proper reserve for the contingency of
war is delayed by the effort to develop
the automatic pistol to satisfactory
stage.
There is very good reserve OF infan-
try and cavalry and horse equipments.
THE department having decided to is
sue to the troops and militia gallery
practice rife, using % caliber cartridge.
series of experiments was undertaken
as to the best form Of rlf1ing and cham
ber The result of these experiments is
| the ABORTION OF the model of 1903 rifle
| using the erThompson holder. Three
thousand rifles and a supply of holders
have been completed.
Gen. crozier says that the new mus
ket with knife bayonet has proved most
satisfactory, and as soon as sufficient
supply of new ammunition Is secured the
modified rifle will be issued to all Of the
troops.
Test Of Automatic Pistols.
No completely automatic pistol has yet
been found, and 1t Is recommended that
six troops in the Philippines be supplied
with two different makes Of these wea-
pons for a years service test. Meanwhile
an increase Of the caiiber of the present
army revolver to As is recommended. to
get greater stopping power than is az
forded by the present .3S caliber.
Under the head OF guns and mortars
It Is stated that the rapid erosion caused
by the modern large powder charges have
80 seriously damaged the hve, six, ten
and twelve inch guns that It has been
necessary in order to preserve them to
reduce their muzzle velocities. In fur
Their pursuit Of some means of prolonging
the life of the guns experiments were
made with five different kinds OF steel.
but 1t was found that the kind now in
use for the magazine rifle, model 1909, is
az good as can be obtained.
The ordnance department Is not only
making hand grenades experimentally,
but is designing a mortar for throwing
these projectiles to a much greater dis
lance than they can be hurled by hand.
this mortar to be light enough to be car
ried by each soldier.
Smokeless Powder.
The army and navy are now using the
same kind Of smokeless powder. and
Gen. Crozier. pointing to the fact that
six months time Is required to make this
powder, urges the accumulation Of re-
serve supply sufficient to last that length
of time after the outbreak of a war.
After much experiment the ordnance
officers have finally designed a smokeless
powder which will give satisfactory re-
port without danger of excessive press
ures, to Re used instead of the old-fash-
Toned charcoal powder for saluting pur-
poses.
Much space Is devoted by Gen. Crozier
to the discussion of the personnel of the
ordnance bureau. with the conclusion that
In the near future the existing system Of
filling vacancies will be found sufficient.
OIL ON DIRT ROADS