The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-08-29
BROWNING. GUN M
/ GLASS By ITSELF!
800. A
Remarkable New Tool Better
3; Than Anything Of It's Type. .
DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER
Fired From Shoulder Or Hip IN sursts
Of twenty Shots In Two and One
Half seconds-Air Cooled,
L, Gas Operated.
BY JAMES n. COLLINS.

Cfom the Committee on Public lnfofn2.
ton. Washington, D. CO. ..E
Three hundred senators, representa-
tives, journalists, and army officers
of the French, British, Italian, Bel
giarl and American forces stood be-
hind a. little squad of ordnance men
the other day at rifle range outside
Of Washington. h..
"Attention!" commanded the officer
In charge Of the squad: - :
"Shoulder fire-one magazine
semi.automatic-Ready! Load! Aim!
.rire!" T''~
There was a popping like that, say,
of half a dozen packs Of giant fire.
crackers all set off at once. 1t lasted
about ten seconds, the time required to
fire 20 shots from what looked like an
ordinary rife in the hands Of each
soldier. Five hundred yards away the
dirt flew behind a row Of small tar
gets set up to represent men. 80.
"Sh0ulder fire one magazine
utomatic-1oad! was the next COM
mand given. ....
But different >volley was heard at
the command "Ffre!" 1t sounded Ike
B-r.r-r-r-r! and lasted only two and q
half seconds! If you want to estimate
the rapidity, listen to the ticking Of
your watch, which averages about four
ticks per second, and realize that the
automatic fire Of this weapon was just
twice as fast--eight standard army
rifle cartridges fred in q second with
one pull ofsthe trigger. @. - =" =. y
And that was the new Browning
machine gun which Uncle Sam, was
about to manufacture at the rate of
thousands week, and had brought to
this rifle range for its first public exhi-
billion. a.:
1 Other methods of firing were shown
with. the gun placed at the hip and
with the soldiers marching toward the
target, firing as they walked. Then
the spectators crowded around and be.
gan asking questions, ~! < ?
us 1T air cooled or water cooled !?
What does It weigh? How fast can
they be made? What do they cost?
Is it a better weapon than this machine
gun or thatT r@. - Ei
.l All Were Convinced. n'
Among those present was one mem.
Der Of congress who. few weeks be-
fore, during an anxious inquiry into
our war preparations, had stated his
belief that the Browning machine gun
was only dream. And now he was
allowed to fire the weapon himself,
and planted q succession Of bullets in
the distant target with an accuracy
which left no question in his mind .as
to the tang!bllity or accuracy Of this
new tool Of the American soldier. =
On the following morning newspa.
pers throughout the country published
detailed description Of both this gun,
known, as the Eight Browning" and
another type called the ''heavy Brown.
ing" which was also demonstrated,
being fired froma tripod, water cooled,
and fed with canvas belts containing
ESQ cartridges each. It has fired 10000
shots in little less than 4S minutes.
Each legislator and journalist asked
his own questions, and there was an
honest spirit of Inquiry evident. Every
American present, while admitting the
impressive nature of the test, seemed
! to feel that he was personally repre-.
senting the: nation and bound to over
look no technical details touching the
e4ciency Of these new weapons. And
In that matter each American did truly
represent, the nation which has been
keen to discover every part of.our waf
program open to question, each accord.
lne to his ownNght and reading.