THE NEW SAVAGE HAMMERLESS REPEATING RIFLE 



41 



THE NEW SAVAGE HAMMERLESS REPEAT- 

 ING RIFLE. 



The Savage Repeating Arms Company, of Utica, 

 N. Y., has now ready for the market its New Hammer- 

 less Rifle— model 1895. 



It is made by the Marlin Fire Arms Co., of New 

 Haven, Conn., and embodies the result of years of care- 

 ful experimenting by Mr. Arthur W. Savage, a practi- 

 cal sportsman, who spent several years in hunting in 

 Australia. It includes the best features of several well 

 known systems, and combines simplicity, strength, 

 lightness and ease of manipulation. The rifle is built 

 to use metallic ammunition loaded with smokeless 

 powder in its full strength. 



lie cartridge, with an extra heavy primer— the shell 

 holding 30 grains of the " Savage " brand of smokeless 

 powder; the metal-jacketed bullet weighing 190 

 grains ; second, cartridges using the same shell and 

 primer, with a metal-jacketed bullet— the jacket being 

 placed on the rear portion only of the bullet, the front 

 end of the bullet being soft lead forming an expand- 

 ing bullet for large dangerous game; third, cartridges 

 having the same shell, primer and bullets as first men- 

 tioned, the shells being loaded with 40 grains of black 

 rifle powder ; and fourth, a gallery cartridge loaded 

 with 5 grains of " No. 2 S " smokeless powder, with an 

 alloy bullet weighing 100 grains. These latter cart- 

 ridges are made for gallery practice and for light 

 shooting. 



The point-blank range of the Savage Rifle, with 

 smokeless powder ammunition, is 200 yards for accurate 

 shooting ; for practical hunting, 250 yards. 



The '" stopping'' power of the small metal-jacketed 

 bullet, driven by smokeless powder, is, it is claimed, 

 far more deadly in effect on game than that of the 

 larger calibre lead bullet driven by black powder. The 

 superiority lies in the extremely high velocity of the 

 bullet, which imparts a portion of its energy to the 

 flesh and bone, both of which become, in a sense, pro- 

 jectiles, producing a frightful wound, which must be 

 seen to be understood. 



Rifles of substantially the same calibre, using smoke- 

 less powder, are now being constantly used in hunting 

 large and dangerous game in Central Africa. 



The accompanying cuts show the regular Savage 

 Sporting Rifle, one with the action closed, and the 

 other with same open. 



The weight of the gun and the ammunition is such that 

 the sportsman will be relieved of about one-half to one- 

 third of the weight heretofore carried in using black 

 powder rifles. Some of the numerous features of nov- 

 elty and advantage in this rifle are : the concentric- 

 lever, which operates the working portions of the gun 

 and serves as a trigger guard ; the cocking of the gun 

 is accomplished after the cartridge is in the chamber 

 and the gun breeched up, the cocking being effected 

 when the gun is pulled against the shoulder of 

 the operator ; shells are ejected to the right of the oper- 

 ator ; the withdrawal of the breech-bolt, which is moved 

 downward at the rear end, unlocking the action and the 

 breech-bolt is retired inside of the steel frame ; the 

 breeching-up is in the direct line of the strain, and is 

 exceedingly strong and reliable ; the magazine is circu- 

 lar in form, and is inside of the steel walls of the frame, 

 each cartridge is held independently in the sprccket 



The rifles are hammerless repeaters. The magazine 

 is arranged within the steel walls of the receiver, and 

 is constructed to hold five cartridges, together with one 

 cartridge in the breech opening, which makes the rifle 

 a six-shsoter. The weight is -]% pounds ; the length of 

 the barrel is 26 inches ; the calibre, .303 ; the pitch of 

 the rifling is one turn in 10 inches. The rifle can be 

 fired by an amateur 25 shots per minute when used as a 

 single loader, and 40 shots per minute when used as a 

 magazine gun. The barrel and breeching mechanism 

 are made to resist a tensile strength of 100,000 pounds 

 to the square inch ; the barrel steel has an elastic limit 

 of 60,000 pounds. The rifle has a multiplied extracting 

 power on the ratio of 1 to 16—/. <?., a force equal to one 

 pound in weight on the lever will exert a force equal to 

 16 pounds on the empty shell in the chamber. The gun 

 is provided with an automatic indicator, consisting of 

 numerals on the head of carrier G, exposed through a 

 hole in the wall of the receiver, so that the sportsman 

 can see at a glance the state of his magazine. On the 

 top of the breech-bolt there is arranged an automatic 

 indicator, showing, at all times, whether the firing 

 mechanism is cocked, or in safety position. The gun 

 is also provided with a safety device for locking the 

 action, which can be instantaneously operated. 



Four different kinds of ammunition are provided for 

 use in these rifles : first, the regular, solid head, metal- 



carrier, the cartridge being held from end thrust by 

 its rim, thus preventing the bullet from bein« 

 jammed into the shell, which tends to produce danger- 

 ous pressure. The cartridges in the magazine can be 

 held in reserve while the gun is used as a single loader. 

 If the sportsman desires to lay aside his rifle with the 

 magazine charged, without a cartridge being in the 

 chamber, he can do so by opening the action and plac- 

 ing the thumb of his left hand in the breech opening, 

 against the right face of the automatic cut I 



crowding the same toward the left into its v 

 holding it in this position while he closes the action 

 until the breech-bolt passes the head of the upper cart- 

 ridge in the magazine, when the closing of the car:- 



