The New York herald., 1921-06-19
Rifles of future
may project ray
OUR RIFLES. BY Charles Winthrop Sawyer.
Boston: The Cornhill Company.

reSS In this r1elQ mas Deen practl-
cally nil. The difference between the rifle
Of to-day and that of fifty years ago is
rather slight, insignificant indeed. as COM
pared to the difference between the rifle of
a half century ago and that of century
ago. Flint lock- cap lock, metallic cartridge,
muzzle loader to breech loader-what next?
Says Mr.. Sawyer. author of Our Rifles"
which is the third volume of the series,
Firearms in American History:
Rifles must be fired electrically. Five
hundred years of use of the ancient trigger
has more than warranted its discard. Its
pull, heavy or light, disturbs the aim of any
but the most accomplished rifleman.
Rifle sights must be magnifying,
light gathering, range indicating; simple,
protected multum in pdrpo.
"A rifle must handle several kinds of am
munition. And ammunition must be both
lighter and cheaper To this end cartridge
shell less in both weight and cost than brass
will replace the present one. Probably 1t
will be made Of aluminium compound, having
. metal value about one-fifth that of brass,
and the cost of work upon it with punch
and die will be greatly lessened by the alb
ssnce of expensive primer pocket and pri-
mer, both of which will become unnecessary
with electric ignition Of the charge.
''SOund, flaSn ana smoke OIL expiOSlOH
need reduction to the minimum. approaching
zero as closely as possible. And the loud
swapping sound of the bullet In flight, caused
by the air whip behind 1t. can be greatly re-
cuced, perhaps eliminated by improvements
in bullet shape. AS to the elimination OF
audible and visible qualities, perhaps the
first>step may be in the direction Of modern
air rifles Already in European markets
powerful air rifles can be had which fire
from 500 to 1000 times from one filling OF
The air reservoir The first hundred shots
are fired with pressure averaging about
5000 pounds to the square inch.
soldier could carry easily thousand bullets
and an extra charged reservoir; the latter.
of steel need not weigh more than pound
"Projectles will be Of many kinds to suit
VARYING purposes, all used by one arm. Ulti-
nately rife will project avity-infiuenced
solids and composites and also non- gravity
influenced pencils Of light or heat. which
will be electrically corrosive at impact
Solid bullets will have stream lines
and both ends pointed. and the centre OF
gravity will lie in the forward half
The detectives are higher speed, lower ira
iectory greater accuracy and penetration
less wind drift and the reduction and elimi-
nation of fight sound Composite bullets
will be either miniature shrapnel greatly
simplified or shot so encased as to open au-
tomaticaly without explosion at set ols-
tances; doubtless both.
Last and in haze through which we
now see but dimly, Is the uninfuenced py
gravity straight line ray. directed by an
electrically operated rifle. How may ray
of heat or of ultra tra-violet electrical
manifestation be isolated and maintaineo
intact as a destructive force?'
America be it remembered. was pioneer
in the use of the rifle. The first large bat
lie TO test out the relative value OF the
smooth bore musket and the rifle was tne
Battle of New Orleans, January 3, 1872
when the hastily recruited army OF Gen. An
crew Jackson, numbering 1000 men. ittie
more than half of whom carried rifles,
killed and wounded 2,100 of the British
force of. 10000 musket armed veterans. Inc
American casualties were thirteen killed
and wounded
Europe was amazed at it. Napoleon, In
exile upon E,lba refused to credit the report
unless he could see specimens OF American
sharpshooters, their arms and marksman-
ship. and several OF the victors of New
orleans actually started for Elba to demon
strate their skill. But the Hundred Days
came too soon TO permit Napoleon 10
change his musketeers to rifemen. VINO
can say"
throughout the evolution of the rife. from
muzze loader to breech loader and from
rint lock to metal cartridge. American In
ventors the author shows made important
contributions He deplores. however, the de-
crease in Workmanship among our people
as is evinced by the fact that American SOL
diers I'm the world war fired 1000 shots Tor
each casualty, which. even making allowance
for the changed conditions of warfare. was
n far less credtable performance than that
NJ tho raw recruits I'm the three hour battle
of New Orleans AS a remedy the author
suggests. among other things. the fostering
of a national interest in rifle shooting
Practically every variety of rifle manufac-
tured and used I'm America from 1900 to 1920
and those used by our allies and enemies Is
shown I'm illustration and its mechanism ex-
planned. There are some excellent photo
graphs OF old Kentucky muzzle leaders
those long. flashing. richly inlaid' things
of beauty and destructiveness.
The interested rifeman may find here de-
tailed information on the care OF the weapon,
the manufacture OF bullets and suggested
lines OF experiment For furnishing gun
room, the author advises:
Arrange the arms in wall case formally
and symetrcally. Have the furniture
OF kind as TO style and wood mahogany
reproductions of Chippendale patterns are
eminenty satisfactory. Over the fireplace
game head with couple OF valueless ancient
guns. crossed and pendant powder horns
and ditty bag or knapsack On the mantel
the appurtenances Of arms and shooting:
not many. On the polished floor one goo6
rug. If the air of the room smells a bit OF
good tobacco and leather and scented oil,
no matter, for there are draperies to
make the room stuny: above all keep the
Feminine Touch out OF the gun room"