Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-10-03
THE
WAR EXHIBIT
Big Difference
Germany, Russia and Belgium
F. Using the MauSer, as
Did Spain.

aTm Is Of the W. ID have been eApSTi
menting for many years are now be
Ing tried, just az G-e. the different
Styles Of artillery. In the armies Of
tie countries nJw a. war foHr differ
ent makes OF rifles are being used
Belgium. Germany ana Russia usc the
Mauser, as did Spain in her war win
/. America. Britain usE5 the Lee-Entield
France uses the Lebgl aut Austria
Uses the Mannlicher While Germany
Russia and Belgium use the Mauaer'
the rifles Of these thIee armies are
very different. and 4 Ia simply the
basic principle OF the Manser that gov
erns its name
Many changes haYr been pade with
rifles In recent years and now these
magazine guns can shoot and Kill al
1000 Yards and the bullets will carry
much further than That distance. Gen
orally the far sights on thesa rifles
are set at about 2N00 yards, but on the
German Mauser they ats set Tor 2sS2
wards, Perhaps German soldier can
sight an object q mile and hall away
when locking over rue sights at the
end OF his piece, but rtflemen gener-
ally think that 1o0oSards Is the great
est distance TO shoe: with accuracy.
These six different rifles vary IN
weight from pounds II ounce Ter the
Belgian piece to 3 pounds 81 ounces
Tor the French rifl-.. This Is leaving
out the long Iee.Entseld rife. which
Is used by a part of the British army
Since 1906 II has been gradually re.
nlaced by a shorter weapon, and now
the long Lee-Enfield is used by the
territorial soldiers or those OF the sec.
ond line OF defense. That rifle weighs
q mounds 4 onnces, and with the bay
onet attached IL weighs 10 pounds Sls
ounces.
Austrian Gun the Lightest.
With the bayonet attached the Aus
trlan gun Is the lightest, weighing a
quarter Of an ounce less than '
bounds. and the French soldier again
has 10 carry the heaviest. bis piece
with the baycnet weighing 10 pounds
1 II ounces.
These rifles ALI have magazines.
Tho French is tube through which
he cartridges pass to the shooting
chamber. and the others fhaye box
or q charger fitted to the gun just
under the stock and In front OF the
trigger guard. This charger on the
Mauser and the Msnnlicher holds five
cartridges. and with one shot In the
barrel the soldier has six bullets
ressiy for use 20 be discharged as fast
IS he can pull the trigger. Fhe
French carry in the tube eight car
tridres and the British in their mag
azines carry 10 cartridges.
An argument made against the
tube Of the French rife is that It's
balance is changed with each shot
fred and that this has TO be taken
lnto consideration by the man using
fhe Gun. IL IS also much harder to
had because the cartridges are placed
N and forced through the tube one
By enc, while with the other rifies as
seen as a charger is emptied y Is
opened and another clip Of cartridges
inserted 10 be operated In the same
way as the first
The British argument against the
magazine was that the. men should
recharge their rifles after each shot
until al emergency arose. and then.
they should draw on their ten shots
in the magazines. But in recent years
this order has been changed and they
work lust as do the other rifemen.
Seven Inches Difference.
The British use the shortest rife.
n measures 3 feet So inches and Is
I'VE inches shorter than the rife used
until after the Boer war, which meas
nred feet | IS inches The next short
est is the German rifle. which meas
nres 4 feet a inches The Austrian
rifle is next. feet inches, and then
GENES the Belgian, feet 2.25 inches;
the Russian, 4 feet 1875 inches, and
the French, feet 3.i2 inches. The
difference in length between the short
British and the French arm is a frac-
ton over seven inches. and the French
rife Is an inch and three-quarters
longer than the German.
With the bayonet attached the
French rifle measures fraction
under 6 feet. ~ to be exact, feet
lisa inches. This may give them an
advantage in close fighting. The Ger
man rife with baycnet attached meas
uree 5 feet 9.75 inches or a fraction
over two inches shorter than the
French weapon. The Russian arm
measures s feet 3 inches, the British
s feet Ii inches, the Belgian 4 feet
lI.75 inches and the Austrian 4 feet
11.5 inches. THIS shows that the
French bsyonet is the longest. being
20.72 inches. the German POSI- inches,
the British and Russian 172 inches,
the Belgian SIS inches and the Aus
trian the shortest. 90 inches.
In length OF barrel the Russians
have the advantage, the length being
3l.5 inches, but this is only very
small fraction longer than the French
barrel. 1896. The Belgian gun has
barrel OF 1867 inches, the long En-
field OF the British Is 3c.19 inches, the
Austrian S012 inches, the German
29.O5 Inches and the modern British
arm 25.I9 inches. The barrel Ct the
French rifle Is 2.446 inches longer
than the barrel OF the German rife.
In calibre again there Is much diff
ference in these arms. The Russian
is the smallest, 8 inch Next In size
As the Belgian. sol Then comes the
British. s0s. the German, 81, and the
! 49,