New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-05-30
The Springheld's Merit
An Answer to the Criticisms
Lieutenant Colonel
~ ~ Fditor of The Tribune.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: Lieutenant Colonies" letter Of VI.
" on the Springfield rife has interested -
very much. II seems 10 me, however, thar
maligns this excellent piece somewhat
The first defect he mentions, the settins u
tho battlc-sicht at 5l7 yards. is undoubte a, |
one Of those adjustments made under q.
theory so prevalent couple Of years A
,ba, modern warfare would not involve eIos.,
work than 200 70 300 yards in the typical con.
bat. This idea was popular when ] was al
Plattsburg in 1915. Since then the conser,..
tive military world has received many Jon,
among them the practicability OF hurlins On.
tire nations en- masse against one another.
inst as in the time Of Attila or Jenghiz Khan
charging guns in truly romantic od-fsshioae8
STYLE with sauadrons Of cavalry, the emplo,.
mont Of armor, gas. liquid fire, the beag,i.,
and limitations OF the machine gun, the use
Of tanks concentration Of gigantic "e,,,.
nillarv howitzers and thousand other hirrx
sucb az systematic devastation and terors-.
which would have been deemed phantasticsl!,
mad before 1914. The muniton and ssrs
makers have not been able to keep pace via
all these rapid changes.
knowledge Of the Piece
Nv experience and observation has bsa
that the Springfield battle-sight works zen
vol at the shorter ranges of 200 and 800
wards. provided the individual knows hs
niece. This knowledge Of the piece, common.
" termed dope" is essential to most al
rife work. The'old "Krsgs" used before the
Springfield we're extremely dependent on this
factor. lust as the man pulation Of the zero
point of chemical balance is generally nee
essary. so with the individual rife; the user
must study the performance OF ms vihd
oauoe TO correct small faults in firing, such
as the wandering OF the bullet TO the ngAt
ovon when there is no so-called O'Clock
Wind When a correct set is obtained empri.
calJv. the piece usually performs consistent
w One Of NY lieutenants at Plattsburg used
70 say IN 1915, you've got TO use your eess,'
and | imagine this holds true to-day.
The "V." or triangle sight. on the Spnfg'
field is not so much used, but the peep .
little round hole, about big enough fora@
TO pass through and almost impossible TO con-
fuse with anything else on the raised nyh.-
leaf. is excellent with the longer ranges Up
70 500 or 700 yards. Still, man must'Iesrn
70 set his range on the leaf with the lower
edge Of the slide adjacent the figure, and get
the "harg" Of the performance Of bis rife.
rot merely trusting to the marks on the
range ecale in any case. This applies mostly
to the longer ranges. Most men require
sandbag rest at 600 yards; the eyesight must
he good and the adjustments, wind gauge.
etc. carefully controlled to get good perform
ances. Fer The extremely short range work,
such as Ian Hay has taught US TO regard as
the normal thing in the trenches, the average
man uses his rife much as he would pistol,
not even raising the "leaf," but simply en-
Flowing the battle-sght Here again success
depends mainly on the individuals common
sense end knowledge of his piece. Getting
ratified" will spoil the best shot in the world,
this phenomenon being the cause OF more
failures in any line than through ineficieney
or ignorance
No Great Amount of Kick
Although a man of medium height % feet
: ;,cbos( have never experienced any great
anount Of kick with the Springfield on the
other hand. | have seen mans snouioe'
nearly kicked off with Mauser ~ an u"-
doubtedlv splendid sporting rife oil the exc
nhant" tyne. Padding, though ADVISED, seems
absolutely unnecessary with the oPi'Is
The butt of the Springfield contains iSif,y
elaborate cleaning kit-there, IS even room "
store YOUR bit of camphor to blaekeh 'he
sight with, a necessary operation before care,
full firing. Ordinary cleaning is accomphsne'
with "3-in-l" oil, while Hopes NO.
the nitro-solvent, removes the foulne
caused BY the high power nitro-cellulose pow.
dor Most camps have racks at the END OF
the company street. where cleaning rods are
nrovided. Here you are supposed to clean
YOUR piece every night, using "3-in-r ana
Homes No. Q. There are still other SOU.
tions used less frequently, such as amy
acetate. acetone and turpentine, as wen I"
the so-called ammonia DOPE consisting W
sentially of ammonium persulphate, ou' ~
above oil and ntro-solvent are TO be ioun'
everywhere and answer all ordinary purposes
Even to clean the rife a man must Learn F"
remove the bolt by turning it 40 degrees !"
the right and pulling it out, as cleaning ir'"
the muzzle spoils the rifing.
II is thus patent that no amount OF meen'',
zeal perfection can make up for want OF
"knack." or horse sense. The Springfield piee'
has the advantage of lightness, simplicity ss'
general "fool-proofness." but it has 10 %
studied individually. just like any otnei
weapon. The elaborate magazine rines ss''
to be employed in Europe, though superior
in rapidlty Of fire to our pieces, are muen
heavier and require even more care
The Peabody Enfield rife has long oee'
a favorite. ranking with the martini
but the arguments pro and con with 'h'
rifles are like the case of Viekers YER
sus the Lewis machine gun--other tnins'
being approximately equal, the preieren''
usually goes to the lighter and simpler arm
The Springfield rifle was. Of course, pun
rather as a military rife than sportinS
piece, so it is not so well adapted Tor 'h'
snap shooting" required OF good game OF
fowling piece. &. A. RElChbiN"
Brooklyn, May rs, 1917.
Living's Cost and Idle Land
To tho Editor of Tho Tribune