BRITAIN'S NEW ARMY RIFLE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1894, 31 October 1913, Page 7

BRITAIN'S NEW ARMY RIFLE.

ft WONDERFUL WEAFON—WHE.N IMPROVED. L_ HYTHE, AND ITS SYSTEM. ' Though the now army rifle hnsbeen' semi-oilioialiy condemned, it would not' bo altogether wise for the Common-, ivealth Government to recommence tha wholesalo manufacture of Lce-Enfields (writes tho special correspondent of tho Sydnoy "Sun"). Tho proposed new English rifle is not entirely suitable for arming Great Britain's forces at present; but tho improvements required to rnako it the most efficient army riflo ill the world aro bo fow and so small and so certainly attainable, that within, a very short time they may liavo been effected, and tho army will havo a weapon perhaps .30, perhaps GO, per cent, better than the Lee-Enfield now in use-. The now rifle is merely a. composite combination of' tho best parts of tho military rifles of Franco, Germany, Anstria ( Italy, and oven Russia. Tho barrel is somewhat longer nhd moro rilled than tlmt of the Lee-Enfield, • and tho stook is encased in wood. Tho cartridge is long, thin, and pointed, somewhat lighter than the one now used, but with an explosive—a form of cordite—of much greater power. So high is the velocity of tho bullet that it will at point-blank kill any man of sft. liight at COO yards, that is to say, that you can fire it without sighting up to 600 Sards, and bo sure of hitting an object sft.' tall. At 500 yards also it will cut clean through a plato thrcoeights of an inch thick of milled etc el and bury itself in another steel plato Bin. behind tho first one, Tho bullet is made of lead encased in nick-el. Tlie.ro is nothing of' tho "Dum-dum" about it. It bores a clean, sharp hole, taking tho diso aivav withit. For this reason iio "man of blood and iron" would think it a perfect rifle, since tho vast 'majority of tho wounds that it would inflict would not bo fatal, unless, of course, it happened to pass right through a vital part. Hero again surgery is capable of such miraclcs that :it is difficult to-day to say what is a, rcaly vital part. I forgot to say that tlie now rifle is known as tlie : Enfield* Its two worst- points, apart- from its Jnw mane destructivc-ness is that it makes a great bias® upon discharge, and that ; ii_ it is at all jgnorantly bandied it kicks hard enough to hurt any man'tf shoulder severely.

Th 6 "School of Misery^" When the now riilo was perfected in its imperfect' Way, 1000 were made and distributed to different divisions of tho forces for testing purposes. Tito major number naturally found their way to tho Hythe School; and there for month after month they wero submitted to tho most rigid, soat'cliing, and fault-finding test, Tito ranges Used for flat stretches of land bordering the bench, and flanked at either end by decrepit Mariello towers, which were constructed to repel tho Napoleonic invasion. At the school itself there are generally about 200 . souls, 50 of them being permanent instructors, and tlie other 15G officers drawn from regiments stationed in all parts of Great Britain. Except to tho enthusiast or tho ambitious seeker of" promotion, tho month's course at Hytlitt has never been popular. The officers who have to be schooled tnlco up their rosidonco in tho boai'dinghouscs Which constitute tho greater part of the townsliip. With hardly an exception, they describe tho school in the visitors' Ti&tebooks, kept in each of these ostablidiments, as tho "School of Misery." Obviously, to tho great majority tho ocmrso is a tiresome grind, only to be endured because it is a liocessary evil on tho road to preferment. The squads who have to be taught are out oil tho ranges very early in tho morning, and systematic firing is maintained from 9 o'clock until 1 o'clock; tho ceaseless spat-spat of the bullots on the targets making music which is ; not that of peace. Ijjvfevy man fires from 10 to 20 rounds, and tho targets, which consist of numbers of very lisrge size, are most carefully examined, and tho results of tho shooting tabulated, so that tlio of every man or every squad of men is. known. Every condition malting for tho most scientific and analytical testing of a now rifle iij present. Therefore tlio opinion of to llythe School is moro valuable than that of other ranges conducted on loss exacting lines. On tlio whole the new rillo gives satisfaction to tlio best instructors in the school. They ndnitfc that in one or two respects they are not wholly pleased., but if they wero given tlio choice to-jaortofr lictwcon tlfo new riflo arid tho old Jpee-Eufield, they 'weukl-seloot tlio now weapon despite its imperfection. Hi.di|her tribute there could not bo to its efficiency.