RIFLES 



721 



them up one by one in front of the bolt, the act of 

 closing forcing the cartridge into the barrel. There 

 are objections to the two types Nos. 4 and 5 

 which have prevented the adoption by any govern- 

 ment of a magazine arm constructed on these 

 systems; it is unnecessary therefore to describe 

 them further. Of the arms previously referred to 

 as being under trial by various European govern- 

 ments at the close of the year 1879 the Kropat- 

 schek is an example of type No. 1, the Lee maga- 

 zine of type No. 2, the Jarmann of type No. 3. 

 There is no example of type No. 4, but the 

 Spitalski is an example of type No. 5. 



The Germans were the first to re-arm the whole 

 of their infantry with a magazine rifle ; but, pending 

 the result of trials which were being carried on 

 with small-bore rirles and smokeless powder, they 

 determined in the first instance to convert the then 

 existing Mauser rifle into a magazine arm, as 

 this would require no change of ammunition, the 

 magazine being placed in the fore end of the stock 

 as described under the head of No. 1 type. But it 

 was generally understood that in order to derive 

 the full benefit from a magazine arm the soldier 

 would have to carry more ammunition, and, as it 

 was not desirable to add to the weight of his 

 equipment, this could only be done by reducing the 

 weight of the cartridge. 

 A reduction of bore, 

 therefore, became 

 almost a sine quA non, 

 as by that means only 

 could a sensible reduc- 

 tion be made in the 

 weight of the bullet, 

 and with it of the car- 

 tridge. But this led to 

 fresh difficulties. It is 

 quite impossible in the 

 space available for this 

 article to di.scuss fully 

 all the difficulties which 

 had to be overcome 

 either as regards car- 

 tridge-case, bullet, 

 powder, rifling, &c. , 

 but it may be stated Fig. 2. The Lee-Metford Magazine Rifle, Mark I. : 



that it was generally A, riBe showing section of breech after four cartridges have been fired ; B, part of rifle showing 

 conceded that the ordl- sights, &c. ; C, section of barrel ; D, E, magazine ; F, magazine spring ; O, cartridge. 



Experiments were carried on in England with both 

 these rifles, and the results were such as to warrant 

 the committee, which had been investigating the 

 subject, to recommend in the year 1887 the adop- 

 tion of a magazine rifle for the English army, of 

 which the following is a brief description. The 

 barrel is rifled on the Metford principle (fig. 2, C), 

 in which there are no corners nor angles to hold 

 the fouling. The twist of the rifling is one turn in 

 10 inches, the bore of the barrel is "303 inch, and 

 its length 30-20 inches. 



The bolt breech-action which has been adopted 

 for the rifle is a modified form of the Lee bolt. 

 The Lee magazine (fig. 2, D, E), as first adopted 

 (Mark I.), holds eight cartridges, and is detach- 

 able i.e. it can be carried on the arm itself or in the 

 soldier's pouch ; its position on the arm is immedi- 

 ately in front of the trigger-guard underneath the 

 body of the breech-action, in which a slot or opening 

 is cut through which the cartridges are fed up by 

 a spring ready to be pushed into the barrel by the 

 closing of the bolt. There are two turned-in lips 

 (fig. 2, D) at the mouth of the magazine under 

 which the heads of the cartridges are inserted 

 when filling it ; the rim of the cartridge projecting 

 sufficiently to be caught by the bolt. These lips 

 prevent the cartridges from being shot out by the 



nary charge of loose 

 black powder could not be used in a rifle with 

 a bore less than '40" on account of the difficulty 

 of overcoming the fouling which would take place 

 in a small bore, and also on account of the diffi- 

 culty of making a suitable cartridge-case. There- 

 fore the question of the explosive to be used had 

 to be considered in connection with the question 

 of the reduction of bore. The Swiss were the 

 first to arrive at a practical solution of the diffi- 

 culty. Two rifles were brought out in Switzer- 

 land very similar to one another, and merely 

 differing in points of minor details. One was the 

 Kubin rifle, having a calibre of -295 inch. The 

 powder charge consisted of 70 grains of black 

 powder compressed into a solid pellet, ami the 

 weight of the bullet, which was nickel coated, was 

 217 grains. The force of the powder was very 

 greatly increased by compression, and, the propor- 

 tion of powder to bullet being very high, a muzzle 

 velocity was obtained of no less than about 1850 



D' J 

 feet ; and the value of being 2 - 8 the velocity 



was well kept up at all ranges. The other Swiss 

 rifle was the Hebler. The calibre of this rifle was 

 the same as the Rubin viz. '295 inch ; the charge 

 was 74 grains of compressed black powder, the 

 weight of nickel-plated bullet 225 grains ; both 

 tli>-'- rifles had magazines on the Lee principle. 

 410 



spring, and hold the head down till the bullet has 

 entered the chamber of the barrel. A cut-off is 

 provided to enable the arm to be used as a single 

 loader ; this is a plate pivoted at one end, and it 

 is pulled out by means of a thumb-piece projecting 

 on the right side. When it is thus pulled out the 

 magazine is in action, but when pushed in the plate 

 partly covers up the aperture through which the 

 cartridges pass out of the magazine, and forms a 

 bed on which to place the cartridges by hand. 

 The magazine, which fits into a slot cut in vhe 

 stock under the opening in the body, is held in 

 position by a catch. This can be withdrawn by a 

 small trigger in front of the main trigger, when the 

 magazine is released. The magazine can only be 

 filled by one cartridge at a time ; these can be 

 passed into it through the slot in the body of the 

 breech if it is desired to fill the magazine when 

 attached to the rifle. The spring ( fig. 2, V ) which 

 forces the cartridge up is in the form of a coil 

 flattened at the side. The rifle has two sets of 

 sights, the ordinary back sight (fig. 2, Aa) being 

 graduated to 1900 yards ; but for longer ranges 

 there is a pair of sights consisting of a dial si^ht 

 (fig. 2, B6) on the left side of the fore end of the 

 stock, and a short arm (fig. 2, Be) near the trigger, 

 at the end of which is a small hole. The weight of 

 the rifle is 9 Ib. 6 oz., and length 49 - 5 inches. The 



