RIFLES OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2305, 12 November 1914, Page 7

RIFLES OF THE WAR

THE ARMS OF THE INFANTRY

COMPARISON OF SMALL ARMS

The British troops engaged in the war on tho Continent are not all armed nlike, s but all the rifles in use are adapted to the same' cartridge'. The short Lee-Enfield rifle, which is the standard arm of the Ecgular Army, was the outcome of experiments induced by the experience of tho Boer war. . It. represents an effort to produce a rifle which, while not too long in the barrel to be conveniently carried on horseback, is efficient for infantry purposes, which include on occasion the use of > tho bayonet. The barrel of tie rifle is 25m. long, and has seven grooves- in the rifling. The cartridges afe> usually fired from a magazine which holds ton cartridges in clips, but the gun can be loaded with single cartridges if required. The second rifle ft the LeeEnfield familiar in the hands of Territorials, with a barrel sin; longer, and with the wood casing extending not so far towards, the muzzle and not around the whole barrel.

Both of these weapons fire a bullet 303 in. in diameter from" a cartridge loaded with cordite. The muzzle velocity with round-nosed ammunition is 2000 ft. per second. With the most recentlyissued ammunition, the bullet of which comes to a sharp point", the muzdle velocity has been increased to 2440. The advantage of the higher velocity is not in greater striking power or in the longer range of the bullet —a velocity of 2000 ft. per second carries the bullet a much greater distance than that at which any ordinary man can see to aim accurately—but.in the lower trajectory of the bullet, which minimises the effect of errors in the estimation of. the range. With the lower velocity of the older ammunition a bullet fired at the "fixed sight" range of 500 yards at no point in its flight rises too high to be dangerous to a standing man. '■ The higher velocity reduces the trajeotory so that abullet'aimed at a target 700 yards away is dangerous in. the whole of its flight to the standing man or horseman. When fighting is going forward it is of immense advantage to have a fixed sight which does not require alteration for the distances over which the effective work. of. infantry has to be done. Over a distance .of: a thousand yards the trajectory.of the'new bullet 'rises to a height of only 18ft. as against the 24ft. of the older pattern. _ At present it has not been found practicable with the Lee-Enfield to attain a higher muzzle velocity than 2400 ft. per second, because .the; relatively weak breech-action of the rifle makes. a very high chamber pressure dangerous.. The pointed bullet was introduced by Germany in 1905, and has been copied with variations by other Powers, including. France .and England. The. main gain from it is an increased velocity, which rises in some case's as high as 2900 ft. per second, '. thus ; in-; creasing the depth . of the . "dangerspace" in the flight'of the bullet. '..The Gorman Army carries a Mauser rifle, which fires these pointed bullets.. with an initial velocity of 2800 ft. per'second. The rifle is of the 1898 pattern, it has a barrel 29iri. in length, with four grooves to the rifling,, and - carries a magazine .with five cartridges, J-his magazine not being detachable, as-in the;.: British yrifle. , With the round- ' nosed bullet, which is still served out, the muzzlo velocity is 2090 ft., per second, the bullet; weighing 227 gams, as against the. 215 of "the '..English .303,. and-haying a diameter of .311. Rifles similar to this . were.the, favourites of the Boers, .and the weapon, in competent hands, is capable' of very excellent shooting, "• The French Army remains faithful to the Lebel rifle of 1886, \with ' a tube magazine under the barrel containing eight cartridges. The barrel is Sljin. in length, with a calibre of .315 in., and four grooves to the rifling. The initial velocity of the bullet is 2078 ft; with the round-nosed bullet, and 2380 ft. with a pointed bullet.' ■ The ' French pointed : bullet differs from most others in being made of copper zinc,' without covering envelope. France has- great faith in the Lebel rifle, and, several proposals to. change to other types have been rejected, possibly in the expectation that an automatic weapon suitable for hard service in the field would be invented. All the Powers are ' seeking, hitherto vainly, for .such a weapon. ; An earlier pattern of Mauser, that of 1889, is in the hands of' the! Belgian troops. Lighter in weight by about 2oz. than the short Lee-Enfield;i•, this, weapon has a 30in. barrel and fires a .301 bullet weighing ■ 219 grains, with an initial velocity of 2034 ft., the chamber pressure developed being very much higher than in most of the more modern weapons., . . ._ _: Austria has armed itself with the: Mannlicher, which has a box-magazine, holding five cartridges, and a barrel of 30in., with four grooves to the rifling. Tho bullet is of steel, with a weight of 244 grains, .a diameter of '.322 in., and a muzzle velocity of 2034 ft. per second, •with a chamber pressure of 19.7 tons per square-inch, 1 equal to that developed in the. Belgian Mauser; • The Russian rifle dates its adoption .from 1894. ..It.is the Nagant, with a ■box-magazine, holding flvo cartridges, a length of barrel of 31.5 in., and with, four grooves to tho rifling. The bullet weighs 214 grains, and has a velocity of 1985 ft. •; "' ' . • '. Of all these weapons it may_ be said that they 'are modern in design, and that the differences between them in the field, aro comparatively slight. The' higher initial velocity of- the German Mauser gives, a slight advantage to that weapon, but the war has shown that this is more than compensated for by tho better- marksmanship shown' by the British troops. If another European war were fought after a comparatively brief interval, the troops would probably ; ■bo I armed with "'automatic rifles which are rapidly approaohing that state of perfection which would enable them to be taken on active service without fear of auv failure of their mechanism. But the day of the automatic rifle is not yet. Its action is too delicate, and the'characteristic of. all the rifles ; with which iva-r is now being carried on is an almost perfect simplicity of action combined with the great strength Which 'enables them to endure the hazards of service without risk of failing at the moment of necessity.