Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-06-24
About Rifles
By Frederic J. Haskin

,,odnced ia this country for the use 0i the
United States army Will probably put to
rest for all time the controversy, and the
Misunderstanding II engendered, over
the supply Of rifles available for our Soops
In addition To these recently mnnuiac-
tured rifles. we have IN use 600 900 spring
field rincs which were on hand when We
entered the war As only about half ol inc
men in an army carry rifles. we nov have
enough of them to supply force oi two
million men. including the vastsge Tor
wear Our average rate Of production IL
% rifles day
The truth about the rife situation has
t~en obscured bv tho dust and fuss Ut
nay.isan contention The public was told
on the one hand that we had N broom
stick army and on the other, that there
vas n rifle for every recruit. Tho real
story Of the American rife IN this war -
known N but few.
To understand that story IT ls necessary
to go bark 10 the beginning Of the war 10
Europe At that time the British govern
ncnt was Just getting ready to manu-
facture neV model of rife short
time before. the Germans had discovered
that a cartridge with a pointed bullet
would shoot straighter and farther than
one with blunt bullet Accordingly all
the principal governments began manu-
featuring pointed bullets But y hen the
British tried TO shoot Il pointed bullet IN
their regular army rife (the BOB tnheldi
IT didn't work. the bullet turned +piner-
saultz in the air and otherWlse misbc-
haved. BY putting a llttlc piece oi aidiill
mum in each bullet tho British succeeded
IN restoring the balance Of their msslle,
so that the rife they had would shoot i
L .L. x-.t-.ah4ff and RTDFT-
siye one Accordingly they set 70 work
and designed new rife. borrowing
freely from our Springfield model and from
he German rifle
BRITISH rHoUs1gs
when var broke out IN 1914 'he
British had fine rife on paper hoy
did not have any considerable quantity
Of the new rifles actually made. and only
small supply If the old ones ne
Germans had caught John Bull with hls
SHIRT off 20 far as rifles were concerned
immediately the British agents rushed
to this country with their designs tor
ncw rife. bur altered 10 shoot the old
british 303 ammunition instead oi inc ~
as had been intended This had 70 oe
done IN order that All ~ the Brittsh rfes
would use the Same ammunition for much
~ lse different kinds Of ammunition IN its
rifles
The very best gun factories N ne
United States were now gwen contracts
for the manufacture Of the nev British
Enfield rife The immediate result Was an
UNEXPECTED DELAY The Amerca manr-
fncttirers were competent but i took
much longer to evolve quantity prodnc-
ton Of rifles than anyone had realized
II was nearly wear and half before
rifles were shippcd from this country TO
England IN large enough numbers to
count
When the United States entered the
war. We had the great good fortune 70
have already developed this quantity
production of rifles in the interest of
Great Britain Had il not been for his
fac We probably would not have m effec-
tive army in the~icId today Bi1 ve en-
coUntered the same difficulty that the
British encountered at the hegn- NJ. IN
that ve had on hand rifles q another
calIbre
These we're our own regular army
Springfield rifles OF 30 cahbre We had
about 7O0. 900 Of them on hand. and fwo
government arsenals with a capacity oi
about 800 rifles a day, which was enough
to supply the normal ~astage On the
7nO. 600
In other words. We Were capable pi
producing the British f-nheid rlf1e IN
quantity with none on hand, white OF me
Springfield rife We had q considerable
supply on hand, but could not produce
Quantities II We manufactured the Brit
i.h rife and ammunition, We would be
unab ble 10 supply ammunition tor our
SpringheldS and the 100000 rifles OF that
make you'd have to 60 to the scrap heap.
DECISION REACHED.
Accordingly. the decision WAS reached TO
alter the design Of the British Enfield 50
that It would shoot the American 80
calibre cartridge II was this change IN
design which caused all the delay. all the
controversy. and all the charges that We
vere putting a broomstIck army INTO the
field. Il was decided upon, however, ny
the leading rife experts and manuiac-
turers OF the nited States. and It's wisdom
seems 10 be demonstrated by the fact
that We are now producing this American
Enfield rife in quantities, and are also
using 100000 Of the Springhelds, all Of
these rifles shooting The same ammunl-
ton
Experts pronounce this new American
Enfield one OF the best OF InOueFn FiIleS-
In "A test which comprised the tlrlng OF
$50, 600 rounds OF ammunition, there were
only three accidents and two OF those
we're due 10 the carelessneSs OF soldiers N
getting dirt IN the muzzles ot their guns.
II appears that there IS a tendency for
thi, rifle TO burst, owing 10 the very high
pressure TO which the chamber Is subjected
when the piece IS fired. This pressure :
IL 600 pounds 10 the square inch Men
are being very carefully trained IN he Use
Of the arms. and officers are provided with
proper gauges and tools. 50 that they can
make frequent inspections, similar 10
those made OF coast and field artillery piece
By these precautions the number OF accls
dents have been reduced to an almost
negligible percentage
The rife problem IS not only that q
supplying each man with rite. but oi
keeping him supplied The wastagc OF
rifles used to be calculated at about forty
pcr cent a wear. but IN this war It has
often been much higher. To be on the
safe side there must be produced at least
two rifles every wear for every man who
carries rife Every sudden retreat means
q heavy loss Of arms
The making of rifles, as of other war
materials, has been an Immensely costly
race between the nations In the Spanish
American War, some of our regiments
were still equipped with the old black
powder Springfield a powerful arm, but
having Il poor trajectory. Then came the
X ag-Jorgensen, and it Was followed IN
1903 by the American Springfield. Each
49,, .hauvac rt1oaut fha selling at