RIFLES FOR ARMY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20875, 29 August 1942, Page 5

RIFLES FOR ARMY

AUSTRALIA’S 81G OUTPUT SPEED-UP INTRODUCTION SYDNEY, Aug. 21. Army rifles, still the basic infantry weapons employed by all the belligerent Powers, are being made in such quantities in Australia that every two years, if necessary, a brand new riflo and bayonet could be given to every man in the forces, writes Mr. Edward Axford, a special representative of the Sydney Morning Herald. That could be done at the present rate of output, but the rate is still rising. The speedup in production is the latest achievement of the Commonwealth’s remarkable munitions industry.

After two and a half years of this war the rifle is in just as much favour as it has been in previous wars. Its usefulness has not been diminished in any material degree by the multiplication of automatic weapons, effective and deadly though those weapons may be. .It is true that the time may come, sooner than we expect, when it will be superseded by the semi-automatic rifle, whether it be the American Garand or some other type not yet developed, but that time has not arrived yet. Until it sdoes, the boltaction rifle w'ill continue to dominate the armoury of the infantry soldier.

The Australian service rifle is an exact copy of the ,303 in. short magazine Lee Enfield rifle used in the British Army. 'lt has been standard equipment for 40 years. The present model, with minor improvements, is substantially the same rifle as the Lee Enfield which first made its appearance after the Boer War.