Year: 1866

The present war In Europe has afford
ed the Prussians an opportunity of fully
testing the needle gun a weapon In which
they have for several years placed enthu-
siastic confidence, but have never had
the opportunity to test on a large scale.
1t was used to some extent, we believe,
in the revolutions of 1913, but not enough
to prove all the points claimed for it as a
weapon for the battlefield.


In the recent battles, the claims made
for this remarkable weapon by the inVen-
tor and by the PrUssian Government,
which IS now its sole proprietor, seem to
have been fully vindicated. A cOrrespOn-
dent writing from the battlefield ofPOdO-
LA, states that the fire Of the Prussian in
fantry was six times as effective as the
Austrian. The entire Prussian infantry
are supplied with this arm it is in fact
the peculiar national arm Of the Prussian
service. 1t is a breech loading rifle.
The load is contained in single car
fridge, consisting of a ball resembling the
Mimic ball, the prlmlng and charge OF
powder so arranged that when the car
fridge IS inserted IN its proper place 10
the gun, there is left behind it in an air
chamber, through which when the trigger
is drawn the needle darts through the
powder into the priming. By this ar
rangement the ignition of the powder





behind, and in the air chamber, instead
of in the solid cartridge as in every other
gun. The chemical composition of the
priming, which IN connection with the
air chamber causes a more complete com
bustion of all the powder employed than
is obtained by any other gun, is the Sc
cret which is supposed to be known only
to the PTUssian Government. The effect
ofignitiug the powder In the air chamber
is, that the gun combines the explosive
power of gunpOWder with the expansive
power of the intensely heated air. While
in the ordinary rife the explosive force
of the powder ends with the explosion, in
this the explosion IS prolonged and inten-
sified by the air, so that the pressure on
the ball increases by an ever accumula-
ting explosion, until it reaches the muz-
zle of tile gun It is claimed that while
the ordinary rife, by making the muzzle
souaaUhat- smaller than the breech, re-
tards the force of the ball for the sake Of
! accuracy, the needle gun, by the expau-
sive aud cumulative force of its explosion.
increases in power by reason of the for
nation of the barrel It IS claimed that
its range is several times as great as that
of any other rife; that its aim Is more
perfect that its protection of the prlm-
ing and powder from the weather is more
complete, that by placing the prlmlDg 10
| front OF the powder 1t effects more per
feet ignition, and that by exploding the
powder in an air chamber, its power is
doubled or trebled. On the other hand
it is objected to this gun that the needle
is very likely to get furred and useless by
the heat of the explosion, that the recoil
or kick" of the gun IS so great as to be
serious objection to its use, that the
storage of the cartridge is made unsafe by
/ the fact that the priming is between the
powder and ball. and ignites by percus-


sion, and that the escape. of gas from the
breech during the explosion is a serious
evil. The Prussian infantry usually car


ry a small sword, which, when firing the
needle gun, they stick in the ground, so
| that It's hilt sustains the barrel and gives
them a more perfect aim. American
military critics have generally preferred


other rifles to the needle gun. Whether
| their judgment is better than that of the
| Prussians is still an open question, at least
| with the Prussians