New Britain herald., 1918-04-03
RIFLES USED BY
 AMERICANS BEST
U. s. Troops Arms Superior to
 Those of Germans

Washington, April s.-The Chief of Ordnance authorizes the follow ing:
 American troops are armed with a faster firing and more accurate rifle than used by the Germans according to our expert designers, manufactur- CTS and marksmen. One military crit ic and writer Edward c. Crossman) claims that the German Mauser does not permit the most skillful user to , get more than 50 per cent. of the fir ing speed of the modified Enfield adopted for the United States service. If the rapidity of fire of one armys rifle is twice that of the weapon used by enemy riflemen, and the forces | mum erically the same strength, the former has in effect, other things be- ing equal, two rif1emen to the enemys one. Hence to make two bullets fly ', where one flew before has been one of the main objects sought in gun de- sign since organized fighters found a more effective way to battle than the primitive stage of throwing missiles at one another;
 The superiority claimed for the American weapon is supported on three counts: CD Quicker firing as a result of bolt handle design: CD cas- fer and quicker sighting as result of sight design; (3) greater accuracy of bullet flight as a result of bullet design and greater m mechanical accur- acy of chamber and bore. Each of these points Is explained hereafter. CD In both the attack and defense of trench positions the rifles are fired without removing them from the shoulder at a rate called rapid fire" which Is the most rapid rate of mag azine fire consistent with quick &C., curacy.
 When the Mauser rife, with which the German troops are now armed, was designed in 1898 no one could foresee the development of rapid fire" from the shoulder which fol- lowed and the necessity for which is emphasized by present-day trench warfare.
 In all modern rifles 8 "bo1t handle" is used to lock the cartridge in the chamber for firing. After each shot the right hand must leave the trig- ger. grasp the bolt handle, unlock the bolt, eject the empty shell. thrust home another cartridge-all done by ] movements of the bolt handle-and then push the bolt handle into the
  fridge in the chamber. Thus the po- sition of this bolt handle in reference to the trigger is of great importance to rapidity of fire.
 The Mauser rifle has the bolt han dle propecting horizontally from the rife so that. In locking the bolt for 1 firing, the index or trigger finger is left several inches above the trigger. When the U. s. rifle, model of 1903 (popularly called the Springfleld) was designed, the length of the barrel was reduced from 30 to "A inches, so that the rife thus shortened could be used 1 by both infantry and cavalry. The carbine had been carried by the cav airy for years in leather scabbard attached to the side of the saddle. To allow the Springfield rifle to go read fly into a scabbard and to protect it's rear sight, the bolt handle was bent down toward the trigger so that 1t : locks a little in front of it. It was little realized at the time what great advantage this design would ulti- mately result in.
 In the U. S. rife, model of 1917, (popularly called the Modified En- field) the bolt handle is bent not only down but also about an inch to the rear so that upon locking the bolt for firing the index finger is guided nat urally into position for firing. This feature, was adopted from the Brit ish Enfield rifle, model of 1914, as made in America for Great Britain. The speed of firing thus gained Is considerable.
 CD The contrast in the position of the sights in the two rifles is best H. luStrated by a. sim DIe eyamDla. If a pencil is held between the eye and a doorknob it may be seen that the far ther the pencil from the eye, the greater the movement of the head necessary to cause an equal amount of lateral displacement in the post ton of the pencil. Assume the pencil to be the position of the rear sight of a gun and the door knob the front sight: the nearer the rear sight to the eye, the slighter movement of the head brings the eye in position to sight the gun.
 The rear sights on both the modi- fled Enfield and Springfield rifles are placed nearer to the eye of the f1rer than in the case of the Mauser rife The rear sight on the Mauser Is placed we'll forward of the receiver on the barrel, while the rear sight on the Springfield is placed right against the front end of the receiver. The modified Enfield has the rear sight on the rear end of the receiver imme- diatIy In front of the eye of the frer.
 The modified Enfield Is also pro- vided with a large "open peep near the eye, through which the eye cas- fly looks and quickly and automati- cally centers itself in aiming. This