720 



RIFLES 



mathematical expression used in England to denote 

 the power of the air to retard bullets in their flight, 

 where D is the diameter of the bullet in inches 

 and W its weight in pounds ; therefore the smaller 

 the value of the fraction the leas power has the 

 air to retard the flight of the bullet, and nice versa. 

 The heavier the bullet can be made in proportion 

 to ita diameter, the better able it will lie to main- 

 tain it-s velocity at long ranges. It was deter- 

 mined to endeavour to remedy the defect referred 

 to above, so that the English ride should be 

 superior to all others in all particulars at all 

 ranges. To do this it was necessary to maintain 



the low value of - - - and to increase the proportion 



of powder to bullet; this led to the introduction of 

 the Knlield-Martini rifle, in which the Martini 

 action was maintained, but the calibre of the barrel 

 was reduced to '4(1". Owing to the high muzzle 

 velocity obtained viz. 1570 feet the trajectory 

 was very flat and the shopting exceedingly accurate. 

 Several thousands of these arms were made, but 

 before they were issued to the troops a far more 

 important change was determined on viz. the in- 

 troduction of a magazine rifle. A magazine rifle 

 may be described as one which has attached to it 

 a magazine or case or hopper containing four or 

 more cartridges which are fed one by one into the 

 barrel by mechanism in connection with and 

 actuated by the breech-action ; and the primary 

 object of a magazine arm is to enable the soldier 

 at a critical moment to fire a certain number of 

 consecutive shots without having to reload from 

 the pouch. 



The great importance of a magazine arm was 

 first practically demonstrated in the American war 

 between the North and South in 1861, when one 

 regiment of the northern army, armed with a 

 magazine rifle, successfully resis'ted the attack of 

 a force at least three times as numerous armed 

 with the ordinary single loader, simply on account 

 of the great rapidity of tire. And again in the 

 war between Turkey and Russia in 1877 the con- 

 stant repulse of the Russian assaults on the Turkish 

 lines before Plevna was in a great measure, if not 

 mainly, due to the fact that the Turks were armed 

 with the Winchester repeating rifle, which enabled 

 them to mow down the Russians by hundreds as 

 they crossed the open to the assault. In the 

 United States there were at that time several 

 systems already in practical use, and after the 

 experience of the Turkish war the question was 

 seriously taken up by most of the European 

 governments. By the end of the year 1879 the 

 French government had adopted the Kropatschek 

 magazine rifle for the navy; the (lermans were 

 experimenting with a Manser rifle converted to 

 take the Lee magazine ; the Austrians were ex- 

 perimenting with the Kropatschek and the Spit 

 alski ; in Italy the Bertoldo rifle had been 

 issued to some few regimento for trial ; in Switzer- 

 land the troops were armed with the Vetterli 

 repeater ; and in Norway and Sweden a repeater on 

 the (ifrmari principle was on trial. The matter 

 was then taken up by the English government, 

 and a committee was appointed Dy the War Office 

 to consider the whole question. Although the 

 number of magazine rifles is legion, the magazines 

 themselves are all modifications of one or other of 

 a few principal systems or types, which may for 

 convenience be divided under the following heads : 



( I ) Tho-e with the magazine in the fore end of 

 the stock under the barrel; (2) those with the 

 magazine under the breech-action ; (3) those \\ith 

 the magazine above and at the side of the breech- 

 art ion; (4) those with the magazine in the butt 

 of the xtock ; (6) those with the magazine in a 

 circular form round the breach-Action. 



Type No. 1 may be described briefly aa follows : 

 The- magazine consists of a metal tube fixed in the 

 fore end of the stock, and capable of containing 

 eight or more cartridges. The tube or magazine 

 is loaded by drawing back the bolt of the breech- 

 action and inserting the cartridges one by one into 

 the tube at the breech end, there being a catch to 

 retain them when once in-cued; the insertion of 

 the cartridges gradually compresses a long spiral 

 spring contained in the tube, so that when- the 

 tube is full the spring is completely compressed, 

 and is exerting its force on the whole column of 

 cartridges in the direction of the breech end of the 

 barrel, the base of one cartridge being always 

 pressed against the bullet of the one next behind 

 it The action of unlocking and drawing back the 

 bolt withdraws one cartridge at a time from the 

 magazine, and places it in front of the bolt ; and 

 the action of closing the bolt forces the cartridge 

 into the barrel. As each cartridge is thus with- 

 drawn for loading, the column of cartridges within 

 the tube is pressed back as already described, leav- 

 ing another cartridge in position'to lie withdrawn 

 for loading. There is generally a stop or ' cut-oil'' 

 which, when applied, prevents the bolt from act- 

 ing on the magazine, so that the arm may be 

 used as a single loader on occasions when it may 

 not be considered either necessary or desirable to 

 bring the magazine into play. 



In type No. 2 the magazine can either be detach- 

 able and carried in the soldier's pouch, to be attached 

 to the rifle when required for use, or it can be a 

 fixture on the arm itself. In either case the maga- 

 zine consists of a metal box containing from six to 

 ten cartridges, according to the size of the cartridge. 

 The cartridges, which are inserted at the top of the 

 box or magazine, compress a spring in the maga- 

 zine which is generally either in a zigzag form or 

 in the form of a C. In this type of magazine the 

 cartridges lie on the top of one another, anil not 

 bullet to base as described in No. \ type. They 

 are held in the magazine by a catch or ' cut-off, ' and 

 when this is applied the rifle can lie used as a 

 single loader. On withdrawing the cut-off and 

 drawing back the bolt, the spring in the magazine 

 forces one cartridge up in front of the bolt, which, 

 on being pushed home, forces the cartridge into the 

 barrel. By a mechanical contrivance, only one 

 cartridge at a time can be forced up out of the 

 magazine. 



In type No. 3 the magazine can also be either 

 detachable or a fixture on the rifle. In magazines 

 of this type no spring is neoc>-.n\ to force the 

 cartridge out of the magazine, which is loaded by 

 dropping the cartridge in at the top. At the 

 bottom of the magazine, on the side next the body 

 of the rifle, there is a slot, with a corresponding 

 slot in the body or shoe of the breech-action, (hi 

 drawing back the bolt one cartridge passes out of 

 the magazine through these slots into the shoe, and 

 just in front of the bolt, by the force of gravitation 

 alone. The cartridge is then forced into the barrel 

 by the action of closing the bolt. Their i> also a 

 cut-off with magazines of this type to prevent car- 

 tridges passing through the slots when it is not 

 required to use the magazine. 



In No. 4 type various attempts have been mode 

 from time to time to utilise the butt of the stock 

 by hollowing it out and converting it into a maga- 

 zine. In this system the cartridges are brought up 

 one by one into the loading position by a ratchet 

 actuated by the bolt. As the liolt is drawn bock 

 the ratchet is also forced bock, and hooking on to a 

 cartridge brings it forward as the bolt is pushed 

 home again. 



In type No. 5 the cartridges are contained in a 

 cylinder placed around the breech-action of the 

 rifle. A spring acts on these cartridges and brings 



