ORDNANCE. 



pressing against its flange, and is then restored 

 to its place by a spring. The rifle shoots with 

 great accuracy, putting every shot into a six- 

 inch ring at four or five hundred yards, in the 

 hands of a good marksman. The velocity of 

 its shot is somewhat less than that of the Wes- 

 son, Maynard, or Colt rifles. 



There are three models of repeating arms 

 which have gained a high reputation : Colt's re- 

 volving rifles, and the Henry and Spencer re- 

 peating rifles. 



The COLT'S rifle is constructed on the same 

 general principle as his pistols. A revolving 

 chamber, fitted either for five or six shots, re- 

 ceives the charges, which may be either loose 

 powder and ball or cartridges ; a rammer, which 



COLT'S RIFLE. 



is moved by a lever, insures their being sent 

 home perfectly true, and the balls fit so exactly 

 to the bore of the chambers as to close them 

 hermetically. The calibre of the barrel being 

 .02 of an inch less than that of the chambers, 

 the ball is necessarily forced to fit itself exactly 

 to the grooves, which are seven in number, and 

 cut with a gain twist (that is, revolving more 

 rapidly toward the muzzle than toward the 

 breech of the gun.) The charge is fired with 

 a cap, and the working of all the parts is sim- 

 ple and exact. Like all of the weapons from 

 this famous manufactory, the excellence of the 

 material and workmanship are not surpassed. 

 The annexed cuts give an idea of the construc- 

 tion of this rifle : 



Mr. Cleveland states that he has with open 

 sights placed ten successive shots from this rifle 

 in a nine-inch ring at two hundred yards, and 

 Lieutenant Hans Busk, of the Victoria Rifles, 

 placed forty-six out of forty-eight shots inside 

 a twenty-four-inch ring at four hundred yards, 

 and the other two less than an inch outside, 

 while eighteen of the forty-eight were inside a 

 ring eight inches in diameter. He says : "For 

 efficiency and strength of shooting nothing can 

 beat it." General Marcy, U. S. A., pronounces 

 it the most reliable and certain weapon to fire 

 that he has ever used, and says, that if he were 

 alone upon the prairies, and expected an at- 

 tack from a body of Indians, he is not ac- 

 quainted with any arm he would as soon have 

 in his hands as this. The objections to it are, 

 that it takes longer to load than any of the 

 other breech-loaders ; but when loaded, its 

 five or six shots can be delivered with great 

 rapidity) ; it is not so easy to clean as the me- 

 tallic cartridge rifles, and is liable to be affected 

 by dirt and rust in its working parts to an ex- 

 tent which would be objectionable to its mili- 

 tary use. For hunting purposes it is admi- 

 rable. 



The SPENOEE repeating rifle is a compara- 

 tively new arm, having been patented in 1860. 

 It uses the metallic self-exploding cartridge, 

 and has a magazine in the breech of the gun 

 securely protected from all danger of accidental 

 explosion, containing, in the army and navy 

 rifle seven, and in the sporting rifle nine, cart- 

 ridges, which are fed successively to the cham- 

 ber by means of a spiral spring, and with^ such 

 precision as to avoid the possibility of their not 

 taking the grooves properly. An ordinarily 

 skilled marksman can discharge the seven loads 

 in twelve seconds, and whole platoons of sol- 

 diers waiting for the word of command can 

 fire with good aim once in three seconds. 

 When the seven charges are fired, the rifle is 

 held with the muzzle pointing downward, and 

 a tube being withdrawn, which contains the 

 spiral spring which pushes the cartridges for- 

 ward, they are dropped into the magazine and 

 the tube replaced. The operation requires but 

 a very short time, and the soldier or sports- 

 man is ready to fire his seven shots again. The 

 gun is not liable to foul or to get out of order. 



