The Rifle

Horowhenua Chronicle, 16 October 1915, Page 4

The Rifle

HISTOKY m ITS DEVELOPAIENT. The lining or spiral grooving iu&ide tJio barrel (from the Low German rille or gix)ovo) in order to give the bullet or ball a spin, liko tho spin which, .keeps the plauete steady, was the discovery ot an umknown sixteenth century genius, iiut, except by hunters, wlio usually can take their time, it wius not onucli ueod, owing to tiio difficulty - ,1 forcing a bullet down a muKzle just too narrow to receive it, sa-ys tiio Atlantic. * At first tihe bullet was pounded Uowu ■with ii wooden mallet., Then a conical bullet with a cavity o>l , plug at the tower end, and lubricated with tallow and bee&wux, was rammed tight and expanded by the explosion, so as to taiie the grooving. Tlie Uriniean 'War was fought with nines made on this pattern, sighted up to 1000 yards and effective up to 500. „ But Prussia had already adopted another sixteenth century invention, liithorto regarded as too dangerous for practical use. in the disturbances of '84H and the brief but murderous wars with Denmark (l&i-l) and Austria (18(i(i), tho Prussians appeared armed with the "needle Run." it loaded at the breech instead of the muzzle, the advantage being partly in speed of lire, but chiotiy ia position; for the soldier could now load lying down without exposing all bis body to the enemy's aim. In imitation franco adopted the chasseput, which had a longer accurate range—about 600 yards—bat was easily fouled and thrown out of order. Her collapse before the I'niissians in 18/0 was notjhowever, duo to the rifle's :lofecfc, but to failure in artillery, organisation, supply, housekeeping and generalship. lu 1867 England hurriedly constructed the Snider, and in 1871, folJowd it up with tlie Martini, a far superior weapon to the needle givn or chassepot. it. had a muzzle velocity of 1350 icot a second, and could be fired unaimed at twenty-live rounds ain inn to'. I , 'or a long generation it held its place, and iti spite of a kicking and uncertain teir.per, it died lamented.

America killed it with the repeater or magazine riile. America, whose game hunters had been the first to use the rille ior sport were tho first to use it for Jkilliny men. The magazine loaded by a clip or charger, with live or more cartridges at a time; smokeless powdor, a i'iuiich. invention, chiefly composed of guncotton, or cotton soaked in nitric acid,' and free from fouling; the consequent small bore or calibro of less that .46 inch—in our rifle the bullet is .303, in the German .311 inch—these were the applications of science which rapidly produced a complete enange in small arms, and so in tactics. "Lebel, ,, "Mauser," "Mannlicher," "Mark Hl' and "tlireo line"—the models now used by the Powers at war—are alike in the advantages of small recoil, light bullet, high velocity, flat trajectory and rapid Ere.