The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-07-17
The Rifle of the Hun.

In the hands Of the chap i'm the
sloppy greenish- gray uniform, watch-
fully waiting in the trench across the
way there is a rifle with higher ve-
locity than ours, with nearly a foot
greater stabbing length, when the
bayonct is fixed, and with a better
STOCK, making snap shooting and
shooting ut night more certain.
The rifle of nation that has spe-
clalizcd on war and it's tools, the Ger
man Mauser in some respects offers se-
rlous advantage to its user over the
new Springfield of the American
torccs.' The weak point is the man
behind. IT gives unquestionable ad-
vantage i'm bayonet fighting-but the
Hun doesn't like the bayonet. and
therefore gets licked in spite of his SUI
periorlty in weapon. 1t gives higher
speed to its bullet-but the German
soldier is usually a poor shot and
even the little hntiquated. patched-up,
snort Lee-Enfield of England proved
TOO much for the better Mauser. be-
cause it was in the hands of better
men and better rifle shots. The stock
is better than the stock on either new
Springfield or our newer M1917, mod
lied Enfield, but the bolt handle is so
clumsy that the superior speed of fire
the American rifle neutralizes this
advantage and gives us lead into the
bargain.
Consider Mauser rifle No. 1868, cap
tured at the Somme, and made i'm the
year 1916 at the German works of
Oberndorf, where Paul Mauser de-
veloped the great rifle that bears his
name. 1t was taken by the British in
the year i'm which it was made, but
as it lies before me it looks the part
of the battle SCARED veteran. The
wood of the stock is chewed up and
SCARED and full of dents, as il it had
been used on barbed wire. But the
bore is still clean and bright, testifying
to the German efficiency, and the fear
OF the consequences that compelled its
owner to keep it clean in spite of hell
and high water"
The stock is 13 inches long, or one-
fourth more than the Springfield. IT
is far better shaped, with its neat
pistol grip, and semi-shotgun lines,
and it is better shaped than the stock
of the Ml917, because it fits the
shoulder and aids to line, up the rife.
In mechanism the rifle is practically
the same as the new Springfield and
the M1917-which are both modified
Mausers.
! We tried it out one day at Camp
Kearney, Major White and /, and a
lieutenant with a very Teutonic ac-
cent, man who had doubtless serv-
ed his time with someS other army
regardless Of his love for America now.
The African big game hunter, snap
]
ping OF his shots in the short time
OF 3-5 seconds per shot. from a po-
sition below the elbow to the report
of the rifle. and using only this square
of light for rear sight, made bulls
eyes on the little inch black spot
at 100 yards, or else 'fours" close up
to the black spot. The lieutenant did
nearly as WELL
We tried out the Hun rifle at long
range, 500 yards, and then some
groups. at $50. 1t was accurate
enough for fighting-it hit the 3-ft.
black spot eight times out of ten shots
at 500 yards, with the other two shots
not far off. AT $50 yards it put five
| shots into a space smaller than a
mans chest, but not into so small a.
space as would the two American
rifles.
But with all the Mauser's good
points, it has a point so bad that our
Yankee rifles far outclass it in the
sort of fighting now done on the fields
of Europe. This is that the American
rifle, in the hands of skilled Ameri-
can riflemen, will fire, / should say,
three or four shots to only two shots
for the Hun rifle.
The sole difference lies i'm the silly
and clumsy shape of the Mauser bolt
handle, the only weak point in the
Mauser, but the fatal and necessary
concession TO the rough handed, half
trained "wop" type of soldier found in
the armies of central Europe. / say
hall-trained. because as riftemen,
they are half-trained; n regiment of
marine of the old days
don't know about them since war
DrCnp Clt-poull lilo i'm n f;aId at oaa