The Wilmington morning star., 1940-04-12
WASH|NGTON
DAYBOOK
BY JACK sTINNETT

WASHINGTON, April 11.-There's going to
be a duel-with rifles-in the senate.
1t may develop into a falr-slzed battle, with
verbal barrages from both sides and a lot of
sniping from the flanks by crackshot experts.
The duel will be over the army's new semi
automatic Garand rifle. The first pop-pop will
be heard in Senator Elmer Thomas sub-com-
mittee on military appropriations. From there
on, anything is likely to happen and my ad-
vice is don't get caught in the crosstlre.
The Garand rifle is nine pounds and some
ounces of wood and steel. 1t fires eight cart
ridges as you pull the trigger. then flips out
the empty cartridge clip and is ready for eight
more. Experts have said that a man can fire
with it 2 IL times (whoever heard of firing
half a time), while a man using the old Spring
field, standby of the World war, is firing once.
The Garand's automatic operation works on a
gas combustion principle, like the piston in
your car.
Five Years Old
That's all T know for certain-and that's
enough to make the Garand sound like some.
thing pretty hot off the ornaments griddle.
The Garand was standardized and accepted by
the army five years ago. Its official name was
then the U. S. semi-automatic calibre 80 MI
rifle. 1t was designed for use of MI ammuni.
ton, a new-type, heavy-load cartridge, firing
a boattail or streamlined bullet. Cause of the
present ruckus seems to be that the army has
decided to return to the use Of NJ ammuni.
ton, which is a lighter load and fires a bullet
which is not ~streamlined in the rear.
Here's what the anti-Garands say: That the
rifle won't shoot straight over 600 yards CHATS
four good long city blocks) that the reason
the army has gone back to NJ ammunition Ga
type, it is said, discarded 20 years ago. is be.
cause the Garand won't stand up under MI;
that the gas chamber has to be fabricated with
graphite grease to keep it from jamming up;
that the sights are bad; and that when you've
fired some of your eight shots, you can't re-
load without firing the rest and emptying the
clip.
Army ordnance, the boys who developed the
Garand (the gun takes its name from Johnny
Garand, an expert at the Springfield armory
in Massachusetts,, say phooey to all that. Tests
prove it isn't so, they say. And, furthermore,
they add, men don't need to shoot deadeye
more than 600 yards. There is a lot more, but
it's all technical stuff.
One of the leaders of the ants is Maj. Gen.
NJ. A. Reckord of the national guard and exec
utive vice president Of the National Rifle as.
ISOLATION. Just about head man of the pros is
Maj. Gen. C. M. Wesson, chief of ordnance of
the United States army.
May Be Best
And that, friends, is prelude to a battle, ex.
cept for a lot of underground mumblings that
there are subversive forces at work on both
sides-you know, lobbyists on one side, bureau
Gratis on the other. That kind of talk makes
for bad blood and I hope faint so. But if it
is, we, the public, have a right to know about
it.
It's time we got this rifle business settled
once and for all. Even the mother who DID
raise her son to be a soldier would like to
know that he's going out to battle with weap-
ons as good or better than the other fellows.
If Johnny gets his gun, whether he wants
it or not, it oughtn't to be the kind that will
give him buck fever every time he swings it
to his shoulder.
Mind you, I'm not getting into the line of
fire. When I start out to learn about rifles,
it won't be the kind that weighs nine pounds
or over. The Garand may be the best semi
automatic rifle in the world and since the boys
in brown are already toting a lot Of them
around at the expense of us taxpayers, 1 hope
it is.
What I want to do is stay on the sidelines
where 1 can't possibly get hit and find out
WHY, in the name of common sense, a bunch
of grownup experts can't agree on whether a
gun Is good or bad.