The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1917-08-02
WILL BE
ARMED WITH ENFIELDS

Following is some interesting in
formation about the British Enfield |
rife, which is to supercede the
Springfield our troops are carrying |
now:
Even if the British gun was super
ior, it is not likely that the American
army would discard its regular rife
on the eve of going into war if it had
sufficient supply of this arm or was
in a position to make all it required
in a short time. The reason for
adopting the British arm, however, is
that three of the largest rife factor
les in the United States have been
making Enfelds for the British gov
eminent since the beginning Of the
war, and it would take them year to
set up the special tools, jigs and
gauges necessary for making the
Springfield. In fact, there is not
single private factory in the United
States capable of turning out the
Springfield rife today, and the gov
eminent supply and facilities for in
creasing the supply are small and in
cilities available for making En-
fields. In just one respect will the
American Enfield differ from the
British rife, it will be of 80 calibre
instead of 305. 1t will be made to fit
American ammunition. The desir-
ability of all the allies using the same
sized bullet is plain, but the fact is
that the British, French, Belgian and
Russian bores are all different, and
there would be no great advantage in
the Americans using one of them.
American soldiers going to the
front may rest certain that they will
be equipped with rife that has
"stood up" under the strain of the
most terrific conflict in history. The
Enfield has made good. The British
soldier swears by it. Canadian SOL
diers tossed away their Ross rifles,
|
ed, to get hold of an Enfield. They
had lost confidence in the Ross. Above
everything else the Enfield has prov
ed that it can stand rough usage. 1t
was made for war. The Springfield,
On the other hand, developed flaws
that were noted by soldiers in the
Mexican campaign. 1t is sighted on
the theory that attacking troops
would march erect from distance
of 1000 to 1900 yards, and that the
rife should have "battle sight" so
devised that the soldier would shoot
point blank at $40 yards, and there
fore would have a reasonable proba-
bility of hitting a standing man al.
most anywhere, between the muzzle
, and 1000 yards without altering the
sight.
The war has shown the fallacy Of
this supposition. Men nowadays dc
not march as they were expected tc
do by the designers of the Spring
? field. AS soon as they get within 8
thousand yards they begin to crawl
and when crawling make very Low
i mark. Moreover, the chief rife shoot
| ing on the western front today is a
objects sixty or eighty yards away, ;
J hand or a head shown for an instan
over a trench. The soldier who is
good shot today, says Gen. Wingate
. must be able to shoot quickly and hi
an egg at distance of 100 yards. T.
do this as any marksman knows, h
must shoot at the egg and not below
it. TO hit an egg at 100 yards with
Springfield it would be necessary t.
depress the muzzle of the rife, sine,
! it is sighted for more than 500 yards
TO hit a mark at 100 yards tn
Springfield would have to be sighte,
IA inches low, and two feet at 30
yards.
4 How difficult it would be to ain
: two feet under" a German crawlin,
t along 800 yards away over uneven
ground will be appreciated even b,
4 the non-expert. American soldiers il
{ Mexico complained that they usual,
I overshot the mark offered by Mexi
: cans crawling through the brush. Il
e Gen. Wingate's opinion both tn
/ sights of the Springfield are too del
e icate for war. They are not proper
. ly protected, as are both the Enfiel'
n sights by steel wings or fanges
Moreover, the rear sight is set wei
forward of the breech, while the rea
. sight of the Enfield is set behind tn
breech, which is an advantage in tn
opinion of this expert. French AM
Russian rifles have the rear sights 10
|. Gated like the Springfield sight, but i
y is everywhere admitted that none o
l. the allied armies has made sucl
wonderful craftsmanship as tn
t British, fact which will further con
/. vince the American soldiers that the
: are going into action with the bes
/ rife in the world.