New-York tribune., 1917-06-08
The Springheld's Kick
One Grave Fault of Our Otberv;..
Excellent Service Rife
To the Editor of The Tribune.

termed recoil reducer, for guns Of l.,,'
or small calibre, which dimnishes the H.,
of Springfield rife by upward of 50 -.
cent Whether or no it will be adopted !.
the government has not as yet been a..,.
tanned. Ii weighs trlhs over one ounce -.
he readily applied to any rifle now in g..
vice and does not interfere with the at,..
ment of the standard bayonet. However ..
advertisement of the matter is needed Or 4.
sired.
Lieutenant Colonels" letter in your is,,.
of May 2s is remarkably clear and ace.
rate non-technical statement OF the "Sprr,
field Rifles Defects but my presen, revi.,
or amplifcation thereof will be confined ..
the rife as a kicker. | do not concur W..
Lieutenant Colonel" where he refers to "a,
shortness Of the stock. that in conseous,,.
thereof the Springfield is irisb,.
full kicker" and | presume that further con.
sideration would persuade him that a mar.
accurate statement would be: "lt is par,ialv
in consequence thereof"
Nor do | concur with Private" in your i,
sue of June ,, when he expresses his bel,,
that any man can use this arm withOv
having his shoulder pounded black and b.,
if he has been instructed in the proper va
to hold his gun" To hold a hard keli,,
gun so that it will not injure the man behind
i is a "knsck" rather difficult 70 ACQUIRE.
many do not acquire il at all; many other,
may do so more or less effectively, but at ,ha
expense of accuracy in targeting IN.
'knack" is, in fact, to finch to let the shOu
der yield precisely with the recoil as it an.
proaches the maximum, but not in such wsy
or to such an extent as Will swing the ra,
in a horizontal sector of a circle.
Again, a marksman may do the trick well
when in the ideal position, but quite fail Il
in an awkward or cramped position. To
lengthen the stock would not mitigate the re.
coil, unless perchance this should ncres.
the total weight of the rifle, but longer
stock, with tall men, would certainly, as |
presume Lieutenant Colonel" really means,
make heavy pounding less likely for tho
reason that the position of the hands, arms.
head and neck is more natural and under
better control.
Ninety Pound Bump
That the 1903 model Springfield is, as
Lieutenant Colonel" states. "the most sceu.
rate and powerful army rife ever devised
is not without cause. As constructed at III,
Springfield Armory, the material, machinery,
fitting and gauging are OF the very highest
character. and the Frankford Arsenal car.
tridges of the 1906 model are correspondngly
excellent. In view of the results attained,
nothing less than the very best would serve.
Thus when a cartridge is exploded the
breech pressure is $1,000 and the muzzle
pressure $3.50 pounds 10 the square inch,
and the bullet leaves the bore with yeloc.
ity rate of 300 feet a second. To produce
this forward velocity in the bullet sets up a
rearward recoil, kick, in the rife Of about
IS foot pounds. or when measured BY com
pressibe spring scale the bump is equal to
about 80 pounds. 1t is an axiom In boxing
that repeated wallops on the same spot max
sore spot.
Elaborate experiments have been made VT
the Springfield at the American School q
Musketry, at Monterey, where it has bee
demonstrated that the limit of endurance
under normal conditions, lay at about the
hundred rounds a day" Also that even =
grown man, husky and Injured 20 hardship,
is sensitive to the rocoil Of the service rife
Comparisons and various deductions have
been made as between the heavy recoil Of 4
rife and a shotgun The late Grover Cleyelsnd
used a large bore heavily charged duck gun
that would outkick an army mule. and he
liked il, The usual explanations as TO Why
the fowling piece viii not produce physical
- 4 a.,
at the wrong end of the problem.
But the paramount fault Of the Springfield
is that in the main it produces soldiers who
are "gun-shy." and where there may be one
like Private" who qualities as frst-clss'
narksmen, there are score OF others whc
should and might do so, but they don't and
can't. Lieutenant Colonel hits the nail
square on the head as to this point; "Nc
man can shoot accurately when his shoulder
is being pounded black and blue; he is GER
tain to finch"
Another point and ! am done: Under tt'
conditions set forth It requires a much longer
period Of time ana the wsstago Of much moH
ammunition TO train recruits. even 70 A sta''
Of mediocrity. than would otherwise be th'
case. A regiment Of 500 men tsrgeting al
100 per cent efficiency would bo as effective
for Hun killing as another regiment Of lo''
rated at a firing efficiency Of 50 per cent
The present vicious recoil Of the Spring
field is more detrimental than IS the sdysn
tage of its high bullet velocity. one rem
cdy, and it would be effective and good, is "a
substantially reduce the pressure of tho roS'
der gases. CIVIL ENGINEER
New York, June ,, 1917.