722 



RIFLES 



bayonet, weighing 15 oz., is in the form of a short 

 knife having a blade 12 inches long. The car- 

 tridge (fig. 2, (5) for this rifle consists of a soli.l 

 drawn bran cartridge-case, in which is inserted a 

 pellet of 70 grains of compressed black fine-grain 

 ]N>wdr. After insertion of the |n>wder |icllct the 

 case is necked so a* to reduce UM diUMUt at the 

 month i>f the cane to ^'.l'-' in. lies. The lutti put- 

 tern ..f l,ce Met ford ritlc(Mark II. ). issued in ivis. 

 has various moditicat inns, tin- principal iM-ing that 

 the magazine holds ten cartridges instead uf eight, 

 an<l black powder is sii|>er*eded by cordite. 



The smallness of the bore necessitated a long 

 bullet, in order to get the necess; U -y weight, and a 

 quick twist in the rifling ; it was found that an 

 ordinary hardened lead bullet could not stand the 

 strain, and therefore the bullet, which weighs 215 

 grains, is composed of a hardened lea/1 core inserted 

 into an envelope of cupro-nickel turned over at 

 the end to prevent the gas on the explosion of the 

 pellet getting up between the envelope and lead 

 core. The length of the bullet is :<<>."> inches, and 

 diameter '312 inch. It is pressed into the mouth 

 of the cartridge-case, which holds it firmly. A 

 packet of ten of these cartridges weighs 10 ounces. 

 The muzzle velocity obtained with the powder 

 pellets is 1830 ft. -seconds; but with the cordite 

 powder about 2000 ft. -seconds. When tiring at 

 500 yards' range the highest point of the trajectory 

 above the line of sight is 5 feet, whereas that of 

 the Knticld- Martini -4n Ixirr rifle is 6 feet, and of 

 the Martini-Henry -45-bore rifle 8 feet 7 inches. 



But the English government was not the first 

 .to adopt a small-bore magazine rifle for the 

 general armament of the whole army, the French 

 having adopted the Lebel rifle as early as the 

 year 1887. It has l>een already stated that the 

 French navy had for some time previously been 

 armed with the Kropatschek repeating rifle, having 

 the maga/ine in the fore end of the stock ; and, like 

 the Germans, the French had converted their single 

 loading (iras rifle into a repeater on the Kropatechek 

 model. The Lebel is an improved (iras repeating 

 rifle; the bore of the barrel is '315 inch. The 

 magazine (fig. 3 ) is in the fore end of the stock, and 



light metal frame or clip holding five cartridges; 

 l he clip is dropped into a receptacle to liulil it, but 

 cannot drop through, as the bottom cartridge rests 

 on a spring which forces the cartridges up. aa in 

 the case of the Lee magazine, and the clip is held 

 up by the top cartridge, which pieces against the 

 turned in sides of the clip. As 1.0011 as the lost 

 cartridge is fed into the barrel by the bolt there is 

 nothing to hold up the clip, which then drops out, 

 and on the withdrawal of the bolt another clip full 

 of cartridges is inserted. There is a cut-oil which 

 enables the rifle to be used as a single loader. The 

 bullet weighs '205 grains, and consists of a hardened 

 lea. I core coated with a white metal envelope. The 

 charge is 33 grains of smokeless powder. Ten 

 cartridges weigh aliout 8! oz. The bore of tin- 

 barrel is -301 , and weight of arm 8J Ib. The 

 muzzle velocity is 2070 ft. -seconds. The extreme 

 simplicity in tue mechanism of the bolt of this rifle 

 is one of its chief recommendations. In Germany 

 the original Mauser rifle, which had been converted 

 into a magazine arm as a temporary measure, as 

 already described, was, in 1889, superseded bv one, 

 also the invention of Mauser, having a barrel with 

 a bore of '315 inch, and in which the magazine is 

 filled from a metal clip containing five cartridges, 



Fig. 4. German Mauser Magazine Rifle, in section. 



somewhat like the Mannlicher ; but the clip or 

 cartridge-holder does not itself pass into the re- 

 ceptacle made for the cartridges, as in the Mann 

 licher; but, being held over the receptacle or 

 magazine, the cartridges are pushed out of it by 

 the thumb, and the clip itself falls oil'. The maga- 

 zine rifles of other nations are all modifications of 

 one or other of those already described ; but 1 1 1 e i < i s 

 a peculiarity in the construction of 

 the Mauser and Mannlicher rifles 

 which must lie mentioned. This 

 peculiarity consists in the barrel 

 proper being encased in a barrel 

 jacket or light steel cylinder, both 

 being screwed into the body of 

 the breech, and the nose end of 

 the barrel passing loosely through 

 a thimble at the end of the barrel 

 Fig. 3. French Lebel Magazine Rifle, in section. jacket. The sights are fixed to 



the barrel jacket. There 



holds eight cartridges. The points of the bullets 

 are flattened to lessen the chance of accidental 

 explosions in the tube, which might be caused by 

 the cap of one cartridge resting on the point of the 

 I ni I let of the cartridge in rear of it. The cartridge- 

 case is charged with alxiut 35 grains of smokeless 

 powder, and the bullet weighs about 215 grains. 

 The muzzle velocity is about 2000 ft. -seconds, 

 (treat results were expected from this ritle when 

 first introduced ; but experience has shown that 

 the smokeless powder adopted for the Lebel 

 cartridge is not reliable, and that after being kept 

 a Tear or so it greatly deteriorated. 



The Lebel rifle iteelf has proved inferior to 

 one of a simpler construction, called the Berthier 

 rifle after the name of the inventor. The breech 

 mechanism is on the same principle as that of all 

 other magazine arms viz. the bolt containing the 

 striking apparatus; but the magazine in the fore 

 end of the stock is discarded, and the Mannlicher 

 magazine adopted in iu place. This consists of a 



is a 



very slight air-space between the barrel and the 

 jacket, and the advantages claimed for the com- 

 pound barrel are chiefly that the barrel proper ig 

 protected and is less liable to injury from a blow, 

 and that the outer coating does not heat so rapid ly 

 as a barrel constructed in the ordinary way, and 

 that therefore a handgnard, such as is used with 

 the English rifle, is not necessary. The Mannlicher 

 and the Mauser both have a calibre of '3)5", and 

 fire a bullet weighing 216 grains, the charge of 

 smokeless powder being about 35 grains, and the 

 muzzle velocity about 2000 ft. -seconds. In the 

 hands of the Chilian Congressionalists the Mann- 

 licher rifle contributed very largely to the defeat of 

 Halmaceda in 1891. 



Snorting Kifle,i have already been dealt with 

 under the head of Breech-loading and Firearms 

 (i|. v. ). Hut it may be as well to observe that the 

 same principle or law governs the ammunition for 

 the sporting as for the military ritle, only it i 

 differently applied. In the military rifle a high 



