The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1913-06-06

THE FLiNTLOck. r.
, have shells gagged for size of pocket,
| heads gagged for diameter shells care
| FULLY inspected inside and out for flaws.
dents and buckled Iiecks. primer pock-
cts examined for shape and condition,
shells gagged for length. shells gagged
In chamber gauge for body diameter.
nerked shells gagged for profile and dis
lance from head, shells examined for
depth of primer seating condition OF
anvil and exploded primer and shells
finally gone over for general defects
that may have escaped other inspec.
| tons
Weighing Bullets.
| In the same spirit workers with deli.
! cate scales. like those you see In a
| druggists prescription department, are
weighing the bullets carefully. one by
one hour after hour, day after day,
| giving all theil thought and attention
to this one thing, while other employ.
ees explode about 2.ODOOOO primers
year III testing tii,ir sensitiveness
The loaded shells and cartridges 20
through series of gauges and tests
seemingly unnecessary after all that
nave preceded the loading For exam
pie. 1t does look little wasteful to
see men take shells ut random from
the various loading machines and
packing tables in order to cut them I'D
md examine the contents When we
earn that half million perfectly
GOOD shells are thus destroyed each
scar 1t impresses us as painstaking
run mad. but it helps to explain why
there are no misfires In your U M @
box
Testing For All the World.
And then at last come the shooting
.ests Five hundred thousand rim fire
nrtridges, 25O.OOO center fire car
ridges and 100000 loaded shells must
till be sacrificed on the various shoot
ing ranges each year in order to study
velocity, intensity of sound, penetra.
ton. pressure and shot pattern; also
the mushrooming qualities of soft
point bullets and the rightly Of those
with metal cases. Each Of these points
work has special experts and ap-
p"ratus. There Is no guesswork any
where.
How Shot 10 Made.
How many Of our readers have ever
seen shot tower? The great building
At Bridgeport. of solid masonry, metal
md concrete. is sight worth miles of
travel. Two large iron cylinders de-
'cend in the center. coming down
through the ceiling from above. We
are invited to look through an open
port in one Of these
Raining Shot.
We see nothing but the whitened
opposite well. against which a light
burns.
1t appears absolutely empty, though
within It Is raining such a swift show
or of invisible metal that If we were
to stretch our hands into the apparent
" vacant space they would be torn
from our arms.
A large water tank below Is churned
into foam with the impact Of the fall
Ing shot, and as We look downward we
make out finally the haze of motion.
It Is SO interesting that We take the
elevator and rise ten stories to the
source Of the shower.
Here high In the air are the large
caldrons where many pigs Of lead, with
the proper alloy. are melted into a
sort Of metallic SOUP This is fed into
small compartments containing sleeves
or screens. through the meshes Of
which the shining drops appear and
then plunge swiftly downward
Cascades Of Shot.
But this only begins the process.
Taken from the water tanks and hoist
ed up again. the shot pellets in a Sec
ond journey down through complicated
devices are sorted tumbled, polished.
graded. c"ate1 viii. graphite and final.
~ stored.
The building is almost bare of work
men; everything Is mechanical.
One pretty sight Ii that Of cascades
of shot pouring out Of spouts and roll
ing smoothly down glass inclines, tier
above tier. Here perfect shot moving
more swiftly than the occasional i'm.
perfect ones. shoot over low yaxtitions,
which check the latter and dros then
into separate bins.
Some Ssersts Of Arms Manufacture.
From the ammunition plant let US
travel to the great factory at lion that
was once forge shop As in the car
fridge factory, we find here similar Wis.
tas OF swiftly whirrlng shafts. belts
and pulleys. long rows of resounding
machinery and armies Of operators
Making Barrels.
One Of the most important features
Ia, of course the making OF barrels