RIFLE 



5017 



RIFLE 



"He has produced with imperishable power, in 

 monumental form, the intellectual and moral 

 ideals of the nation, in the persons of their 

 noblest representatives." 



RIFLE, ri'J'l, the principal weapon of all 

 modern armies. It was invented in Germany 

 in 1498, and was first used for military purposes 

 in 1630. A rifle is practically a musket, with 

 certain improvements, the chief of which is the 

 "rifling," or spiral grooving in the interior of 

 the barrel. This grooving gives a rotary mo- 

 tion to the bullet fired and lessens its tend- 

 ency to depart from a straight line. The 

 grooves, or corkscrewlike twists, vary consider- 

 ably in different patterns, old rifles showing 

 from a half or three-quarter turn to one com- 

 plete turn in two to three feet of barrel length. 

 The introduction of rifled barrels and modern 

 ammunition has increased the effective range 

 of rifles from about 200 or 300 yards to con- 

 siderably over a mile. 



The value of rifles was demonstrated in the 

 Revolutionary War in America more than in 

 any previous conflicts, and from that time the 

 rifled barrel has been regarded as essential. In 

 1851 appeared the first rifle firing an elongated 

 bullet instead of a round metal ball. It was 

 called the Mirde, after its inventor of that name, 

 who was awarded $100,000 for his invention 

 by the French government. The Minie rifle, 

 weighing, with a bayonet attached, 10 Ibs. 8% 

 oz., was used in the Crimean War (1854). It 

 fired a charge of 2% drams of powder and was 

 sighted from 100 to 1,000 yards. 



Between 1857 and 1861 Sharp's, Green's, 

 Westly Richards' and Terry's breech-loading 

 guns were introduced. In these rifles the 

 breech was closed by a block which contained a 

 striker, or piston; when the striker was re- 

 leased by a spring it struck the cartridge and 

 exploded the charge by percussion. Sharp and 

 Spencer carbines and rifles were used by the 

 Federal troops in the War of Secession, but 

 the universal adoption of the breech loading 

 dates from 1867. 



Breech loading, combined with rifling, had 

 greatly added to the efficiency of armies, but 

 still further improvements were sought to in- 

 sure quicker firing. This led to the introduc- 

 tion of the magasine principle. The Winches- 

 ter was one of the earliest magasine rifles, and 

 was used with groat effect in the Russian-Turk- 

 ish War of 1877. In the Winchester rifle the 

 cartridges wero loaded into a tube under the 

 barrel and were forced into the chamber by 

 the action of a lover. 



Germany was the first world power to arm 

 all its troops with a magazine rifle, converting 

 the older pattern rifle then used, the 1871 Mau- 

 ser, into a magazine rifle by addition of a tube 

 beneath the barrel, as in the Winchester. The 

 tube magazine was suspended by the box 

 magazine behind and below the chamber. In 

 these magazines the cartridges are forced in and 

 out of the chamber by the bolt which opens 

 and closes the breech. This principle is em- 

 bodied in the rifles used by all modern armies. 



The United States army up to 1904 was 

 armed with the Krag-Jorgensen, which was 

 then superseded by the Springfield rifle. The 

 Springfield rifle barrel Jias four grooves and a 

 caliber of 0.30; the rifling in the barrel makes 

 one turn in eight inches of barrel length. A 

 charge of 44.5 grains of smokeless powder is 

 fired. The bullet is steel-jacketed, covering a 

 core of lead, and weighs 44.5 grains. Wounds 

 inflicted by modern bullets are more easily 

 healed than were those caused by the bullets 

 of former weapons. The rifling of the barrel 

 and the high velocity of the projectile give 

 the bullet a steady course and it leaves merely 

 a small hole which if no vital organs are 

 touched causes only temporary disablement. 

 These bullets are effective at ranges up to 4,000 

 yards, but accurate shooting cannot be obtained 

 at that range. At" a distance of 1,500 yards a 

 modern bullet will penetrate six human bodies, 

 one behind another. So-called mushroom, or 

 "dumdum," bullets have slight penetrating 

 power. They expand on striking and often 

 remain in the body struck. 



The rifles used by European armies differ 

 only in details of weight and length from the 

 Springfield rifle, the principles of action, load- 

 ing and firing being practically the same. The 

 Springfield magazine is below the breech mech- 

 anism, and is loaded with ii Igcs from 

 a metal clip. Between the magazine and the 

 breech is a "cut off," or piece of metal which 

 closes the magazine and allows tin- rifle to be 

 used as a sinplr-lin-r. loaded by hand at the 

 breech. This makes it possible to keep a full 

 magazine ready for immediate use when quick 

 fire is essential. 



The Lee Enfield and Lee Metford, used by 

 the British army, have magazines holding ten 

 cartridges, the Mauser and Mannlicher of con- 

 it nl armies an with a clip of five 

 cartridges. The Mauser rifle is not provided 

 with a rut off between the magazine and the 

 breech, but has a safety which prevents acci- 

 dental discharge; it is considered the simplest 



