the Fourth Week of Advent
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Rifle
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or a firearm which may be shortly defined as a musket in which, by grooves (cf. Ger. riffeln, to groove) in the bore or otherwise, the projectile is forced to rotate before leaving the barrel. This rotatory motion, maintained during flight, equalizes any irregularities in the form or weight of the bullet, and so lessens the tendency to depart from a straight line, and also in a measure overcomes atmospheric resistance. Rifling was invented about 1520, by Gaspard Koller or Kollner, a gunmaker of Vienna, according to some authorities; by August Kotter of Nuremberg, according to others. It has been said that at first the grooves were made straight, with the object of admitting a tight-fitting bullet and relieving the effects of fouling, and that the virtue of spiral grooving was subsequently discovered by accident. But this theory is unsupported. The earliest known rifle barrels have spiral grooving. The amount of turn varied in old rifles from a half or three-quarters turn to one turn in two to three feet. The form and depth of the grooving and the number of grooves also greatly varied.
Historical Development of Military Rifles
For the chief infantry firearms that preceded the modern military rifle, see GUN, Arms And Armour (firearms), Arquebus, &c. Rifles were at first used for amusement. There are, however, instances of their occasional employment in war in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1631 the landgrave of Hesse had a troop of riflemen. Ten years later Maximilian of Bavaria had several troops armed with rifled arquebuses. Louis XIII. armed his bodyguard with rifles. Napoleon withdrew the rifle from those of his troops to whom it had been issued during the wars of the Republic, nor did the French make any considerable use of it again until 1830, when the Chasseurs d'Orleans were armed with it for the invasion of Algeria. The British learnt the value of rifles during the American War of Independence, when the government subsidized continental Jagers armed with rifles to oppose the American riflemen. After the war these corps disappeared, and though they are now represented by the 60th (King's Royal) Rifles, the senior rifle corps in the British Army is the Rifle Brigade, raised in 1800 as the 95th Regiment and armed with a flint-lock weapon known as " Baker's Rifle, " which weighed 92 lb. The barrel was 22 ft. long, its calibre 20-bore, with seven grooves making a quarter-turn in its length. A small wooden mallet was at first supplied with this rifle to make the ball enter the barrel, and it was loaded with great difficulty. In 1826 Delvigne, a French infantry officer, invented a breech with abrupt shoulders on which the spherical bullet was rammed down until it expanded and filled the grooves. The objection was that the deformed bullet had an erratic flight. Delvigne's system was subsequently improved upon by Thouvenin, who introduced into the breech an iron stem, upon which the bullet, now of conical form, rested, and was expanded by a sharp blow with the iron ramrod when loading. In William IV.'s reign the Brunswick percussion rifle was introduced into the British rifle regiments. Its weight with bayonet was II lb 52 oz.; length of barrel, 2 ft. 6 in., with two grooves making one turn in the length of the barrel; weight of spherical belted bullet, 557 grs.; diameter, 704 in.; charge of powder, 21 drs. This rifle was not easily loaded, soon fouled, and shot wild beyond 400 yds.
In 1835 W. Greener produced a new expansive bullet, an oval ball, a diameter and a half in length, with a flat end, perforated, in which a cast metallic taper plug was inserted. The explosion of the charge drove the plug home, expanded the bullet, filled the grooves and prevented windage. A trial of the Greener bullet in August 1835 proved successful. The range and accuracy of the rifle were retained, while the loading was made as easy as with a smooth-bore musket. The invention was, however, rejected by the military authorities on the ground that the bullet was a compound one. In 1852 the Government awarded Minie, a Frenchman, £20,000 for a bullet of the same principle adopted into the British service. In 1857 Greener received a belated reward of £1000 for " the first public suggestion of the principle of expansion. " The Minie bullet contained an iron cup in a cavity at the base of the bullet. In 1851 a rifled musket of the Minie pattern was introduced into the British army, and, though not generally issued, was used in the Kaffir War of 1851, and in the Crimea. Its weight with bayonet was to lb 84 oz., length of barrel 3 ft. 3 in., with four grooves making one turn in 72 in.; diameter of bore 702 inch; 'The percussion principle, invented by the Rev. Alexander John Forsyth (1768-1843) in 1805, was not accepted for military arms until the introduction of this rifle. A small and belated money grant was made to Forsyth in 1843. See Major-General A. J. F. Reid's memoir of Forsyth (1910).
charge of powder 22 drs., and sighted from zoo to moo yds. The form of its bullet was at first conoidal, afterwards changed to cylindro-conoidal, with a hemispherical iron cup. In 1855 the Enfield rifle, having in a series of trials competed favourably with the Minie and Lancaster rifles, was introduced into the British army; it was used during the latter part of the Crimean war, having there replaced the Minie rifle and the percussion musket, and remained the general weapon of the entire infantry until the introduction of the breech-loader in the year 1867. This rifle weighed, with bayonet, 9 lb 3 oz., barrel 39 in.; diameter of bore 577 in.; three-grooved, with one turn in 78 in. It fired a bullet of cylindro-conoidal form with hollow base, weighing 530 grains, made up into cartridges and lubricated as for the Minie rifle, adapted to this rifle by Pritchett, who was awarded boon by the Government. This bullet was wrapped in greased paper round the cylindrical part half-way up its length. Short rifles of the same pattern, with five-grooved barrels 2 ft. 9 in. long and a sword bayonet, were supplied to the 60th Rifles and to the Rifle Brigade. Two small carbines of the same principle were at this time introduced for the cavalry and artillery, also a rifled pistol.
In 1854, on the suggestion of General Lord Hardinge, Sir Joseph Whitworth, the first mechanician of the day, began to consider the subject of rifling, and after a long series of experiments the Whitworth rifle was produced with hexagonal bore, 45-in. calibre, and with one turn in 20 in. It was tried at Hythe in 1857, and completely defeated the Enfield rifle up to 1800 yds. upon a fixed rest. This trial and Whitworth's experiments proved the advantages of a sharp twist, a smaller bore, and elongated projectile; but Whitworth's rifle was never adopted into the Government service, probably because the hexagonal rifling wore badly, and owing to the difficulty of equal mechanical perfection in all similar rifles and ammunition. Several improvements were subsequently made in the sighting, grooving and some other details of the Enfield rifle. In 1855 a boxwood plug to the bullet was used.
Between 1857 and 1861 four breech-loading carbines were experimentally introduced in the cavalry - viz. Sharp's, Terry's, Green's, and Westley-Richards'. Sharp's and other breechloading carbines and also Spencer repeating carbines were used by the Federal cavalry in the American Civil War. The general adoption of the breech-loading principle may be said to date from 1867. The Prussians were the first to see its great advantages, and about 1841 had adopted the celebrated needle-gun, a bolt-action weapon. In 1864 and 1866 committees were appointed by the British War Office to report on breech-loading arms, and after protracted experiments, Jacob Snider's method of conversion of the muzzle - loading Enfield to a breechloader (fig. 1) was adopted, with the metallic cartridge - case improved in 1867 by Colonel Boxer, R.A. All available Enfield rifles were thus converted, and new arms made with steel barrels instead of iron. Great Britain was the first to adopt for her army a breech-loading ?
FIG. 1. - Snider Rifle. (Text Book of Small Arms, by permission of the Controller, H.M. Stationery Office.) ammemal o .?.?.?.?.?.,.
? ? ` ? ? ? ?. ?
rifle with metallic cartridge-case, which secured the perfect obturation of the breech. The Snider breech was a hinged block, a type much in favour at the time. The French similarly converted their muzzle-loaders, the converted weapon being known as the Tabatiere or snuff-box. Other breech actions on the same principle were the Austrian Werndl and the Bavarian Podewils and Werder rifles. But these were only transitional arms. In 1866 France adopted the bolt-action Chassepot; in 1867 Sweden the Hagstrom, and Russia the Carte; in 1868 Italy the Carcano. All these were breechloaders firing paper cartridges containing their own means of ignition. After further experiments by a fresh committee the Martini-Henry rifle (fig. 2) was definitely adopted by the British FIG. 2. - Martini-Henry.
Government in 1871, with the short chamber Boxer-Henry ammunition. This rifle was a combination of Martini's blockaction breech mechanism with Henry's barrel of 45-in. calibre, firing a papered bullet of 480 grains from Boxer cases with a wad of wax lubrication at base of bullet, as proposed by Henry. The Henry rifling had seven grooves with one turn in 22 in.; the lands and the centres of the grooves were contained in the same circle. About the same time or a little later the various powers re-armed their infantry with breech-loaders of different patterns and names, all of which were of about 11 mm. (. 433 in.) calibre, and nearly all of the bolt-action type.
The next stage in the history of military firearms was the introduction of the repeating or magazine system. The Winchester rifle, an American invention which appeared in 1865, was one of the earliest magazine rifles. This weapon was used by Turkey to some extent in the Russo-Turkish War of 18 77-7 8, but Germany was the first great power to provide its army with a magazine rifle. In 1884 it converted the 1871 pattern Mauser of 443-in. bore into a magazine rifle, holding eight cartridges in a tube magazine in the fore end. In 1885 France followed with the Lebel, which had an enormous advantage in its smokeless powder. In 1886 the question of the best calibre for small arms was reopened in England. In this year, 1886, Austria had adopted a Mannlicher rifle, 433 bore, with a straightpull bolt. This rifle was the first adopted by any European nation embodying Lee's box magazine, an invention patented in 1879 and 1882, and consisting of a box, in rear of and below the entrance to the chamber, containing the cartridges. Another important improvement, the steel clip loader containing five cartridges, was also introduced with this rifle. In 1888 these rifles were converted to .315 bore, firing black powder cartridges; and in 1890, on the introduction of smokeless powder, the sights were re-graduated. In 1887 the British Small Arms Committee, after experiments with the small-calibre rifle invented in 1883 by the Swiss Major Rubin, director of the Federal laboratory at Thun, recommended the small calibre for adoption into the British service. The essential features of Rubin's system were the employment of a compound bullet with a leaden core in a copper envelope, and the use of a compressed charge of black powder. In 1888 a pattern of 303-in. calibre rifle, rifled on the Metford system and with the improved Lee bolt and magazine, was approved for trial by British troops. The Metford rifling is as follows: - diameter of bore, 303 in.; depth of rifling, .004 in.; width of lands, 023 in.; twist of rifling, one turn in io in. (left-hand); radial grooves, seven in number. About 1862, and later, W. E. Metford had carried out an exhaustive series of experiments on bullets and rifling. He invented the important system of light rifling, with increasing spiral with a hardened bullet. The Metford match rifle was prominent in all N.R.A. competitions from 1871 to 1894. In 1887 he laid down for the Small Arms Committee the proper proportions for the grooving, spiral and cartridge chamber of the. 303 military rifle. This weapon proved satisfactory and was adopted by the War Office as the Lee-Metford rifle, Mark I., in December 1888. It had a magazine of eight cartridges. In 1891 the Mark II. pattern was approved, with a ten-cartridge magazine, a simplified bolt, and many minor improvements. A magazine carbine with barrel 21 in. long and a six-cartridge magazine, otherwise identical with the Lee-Metford Mark II., was also approved. The Lee-Metford Mark II. rifle was subsequently further improved in its rifling to resist the wear of smokeless powder, and also in its bolt action, and became known as the Lee-Enfield rifle, and under that name was officially adopted as the rifle of the British army. The number of grooves were reduced from seven to five. Neither the Lee-Metford nor the Lee-Enfield has increasing spiral grooves, which are found inconvenient for military arms from a manufacturing point of view. 1 The L.M. and L.E. carbines are similar to the shorter models of the rifles, but are covered for the whole length of the barrel by a wooden handguard and take only six cartridges; the fore-sights are protected by wings on the nose-cap, and the long-range sights are omitted. These, as also the Martini-Metford and Martini-Enfield carbines (falling-block action small-bores), have practically been replaced by the "short" rifle described below. The efficiency of the modern small-bore magazine rifle is largely due to the production of smokeless nitro-compound powder. France was the first country to adopt, about 1885, a smokeless powder with the Lebel magazine rifle. It was known as " Vieille " powder, or " Poudre B " (after General Boulanger). Since then smokeless explosives have been universally adopted in all small-bore magazine military rifles. The smokeless explosive known as " Cordite "or " Cordite M.D." (see Cordite) is used for the cartridges of the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles and rifle-calibre machine guns. (H. S.-K.) Military Rifles of To-day.--About 190o, the various armies were equipped with weapons of nearly equal efficiency. The weights varied between 84 and 94 lb, the lengths between 49 and 52 in.; the calibres were 315, 311, 303, with one or two 256. None of the rifles were sighted to less than 2000 yds., and nearly all had a " fixed " or " battle " sight. All were bolt-action rifles, and had a muzzle velocity of about 2000 f.s. (the. 256 Mannlichers, about 2300 f.s.). Except France, with the tube-magazine Lebel, Denmark and the U.S.A. with the horizontal-box Krag-Jorgensen, and Great Britain, all nations used multiple-loading by clip or charger. With Lebel and Krag-Jorgensen weapons, multiple-loading is a practical impossibility, but in Great Britain the charger was deliberately rejected. It was desired to use the rifle normally as a 1 Of all modern military rifles, the Italian 1891 weapon alone has an increasing twist.
??i,?, AMI ' 'rs I I Emma single-loader, and to reserve the magazine (which held ten cartridges, or twice as many as the multiple-loading Mausers, Mannlichers, &c.) for emergencies. But from about 1903 this equivalence of infantry weapons began to be disturbed by two new influences: the tendency towards a " short " rifle, and the introduction of the pointed bullet.
In the first, Switzerland took the lead with the short SchmidtRubin in 1900. But amongst the greater powers, England and the United States alone have followed her example. At the close of the South African War Great Britain issued 1000 short Lee-Enfield rifles experimentally, and in 1903 the " short rifle " was actually approved and issued generally. Since then it has been improved in details. The barrel was shortened by 5 in., multiple-loading by charger was introduced, and by the Musketry Regulations of 1909 magazine fire was laid down as the normal, single-loading being forbidden. The change met with very considerable opposition, especially from target-shooting experts, who maintained that a long rifle, so perfected in details as to be equal to the short in every point except in length, must be more accurate. The view of the military authorities, which was maintained in spite of criticism, was that for service purposes, and especially for prolonged snap-shooting, the handier weapon was preferable. One important factor in the decision was the desire to give the cavalry a weapon with which, when dismounted, it could fight the infantry rifle on equal terms. A more serious objection than that of want of superfine accuracy in bull's-eye shooting was the loss of 5 in. of reach in bayonet fighting. This objection was met in 1907 by the introduction of a new pattern bayonet with a blade 5 in. longer. In 5908 the long LeeEnfield and Lee-Metford rifles in store were converted for charger-loading (fig. 3), fitted with safety catches and FIG. 3. - Charger-loading L.E. (Text Book of Small Arms, by permission.) new sights, and issued to the infantry of the Territorial Force in 1909 and 1910. For target purposes many rifle shots prefer this converted weapon to the short rifle (fig. 4).
FIG. 4. - L.E. Short Rifle. (Text Book of Small Arms, by permission.) The United States in 1904 replaced the Krag-Jorgensen (handloading horizontal magazine) by the short Springfield. A sort of spring bayonet was at first fitted to this rifle, but it was soon replaced by an ordinary sword bayonet.
The pointed bullet (" Spitz-geschoss " or " S ") was introduced by Germany in 1905, and her example was quickly followed by France (balle D) and other powers. Its advantage is a considerable flattening of the trajectory, chiefly on account of the lessened resistance of the air. This latter allows of a reduction in the sectional density and consequently in the weight of the bullet. Thus velocities up to 2900 foot-seconds are realized, which enables the " dangerous space " to be very greatly augmented (see fig. 20). The " fixed sight " range with the " S" bullet is 700 yds., as against the Lee-Enfield's 500. It was announced in the House of Commons in 1910 that a modified bullet was being experimented with, and that some increase in the fixed-sight range was expected to be obtained, but the relatively weak breech action of the Lee-Enfield - which is due chiefly to the rearward position of the locking lugs - does not allow designers much freedom in the matter of increasing velocities, as the chamber pressure has to be kept low. It will be seen from the table that other rifles are constructed to stand a much higher pressure.
But both these improvements are destined to be eclipsed in importance by the adoption of the automatic rifle. The application of the automatic principle to the modern highvelocity small-arm of precision has been occupying the attention of the small-arms experts of all armies and of numerous private inventors for some years past. These numerous attempts have, in the case of the rifle, been largely doomed to failure because of the necessary limitations of space and weight; although the automatic principle has been successfully applied both to machine guns (q.v.) and to pistols (q.v.). In these weapons the work of extracting the empty cartridge-case, re-loading and re-cocking, is accomplished either by the motive power of the recoil or of the gas generated by the explosion of the powder, thus enabling a rapid and continuous fire to be maintained to the full capacity of the weapon's magazine. In the case of machine guns the firing also is automatic, but selffiring rifles are not very desirable as infantry weapons and in addition are so heavy as to approximate to machine guns.
Of the recoil-operated class of automatic rifles there are two subdivisions, " short-recoil " and " long-recoil. " In the former, which is most favoured by inventors, the barrel, body and bolt recoil together for a short distance, about 4 in., in which space the bolt is unlocked, and the bolt then recoils freely in the body. The bolt is run forward in reloading by a spring. In the long-recoil type the barrel, body and bolt recoil the whole distance, and the barrel and body are run up by one spring, the bolt by another. Several such rifles have been shown at the N.R.A. meetings at Bisley; the Rexer, Mauser and Woodgate rifles being on the long-recoil, the Halle on the shortrecoil principle. Gas-operated rifles, like the Hotchkiss and Colt machine guns, have fixed barrels and are worked by a portion of the powder-gases which is allowed to escape from the barrel through a small hole near the muzzle, thence entering a cylinder and working a piston in connexion with the breech mechanism. No automatic rifle has as yet (August 1910) been issued as a service weapon by any power, the problem of ensuring certainty in action under service conditions - i.e. with grit and dirt in the working parts - being the principal difficulty.
Great Britain. - There are two principal types of Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles in the service, the " short " and the " chargerloading." The former is carried by all units (cavalry included) of the regular army, by the yeomanry cavalry of the Territorial Force, and by units of the Officers' Training Corps. The latter is used by the infantry of the Territorial Force. There exist, further, the older, non-charger-loading Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles, a few carbines of the same type, and some Martini-Metford and Martini-Enfield carbines which have the 303 barrel and cartridge with the falling-block Martini action. 45 Martini-Henry rifles and carbines, and even Sniders, are still used by local police forces in some of the smaller colonies.
The " long " charger-loading Lee-Enfield is converted from earlier patterns by the addition of a charger guide, the stripping of the bolt-cover, and improvements in the sighting. The action of the breech mechanism 1 is as follows (the breech mechanism of the " short " rifle being practically the same): The breech is closed by a bolt (I) which slides in a bolt-way cut in the body; the bolt-head (Io) abuts against the base of the cartridge when the rifle is loaded, and when the knob is turned down the whole is locked. On the right side of the bolt is a solid rib, and on the left side a lug; these support the bolt on firing by contact with the " resisting shoulder " on the right, and the rear face of the " lug seating on the left of the body. Underneath the bolt there are two recesses and two studs. The bolt-head is screwed to the bolt and is fitted with an extractor claw. The bolt-head, instead of being rigidly attached to the bolt, is so far independent that it remains stationary while the bolt is revolved. Inside the bolt is the arrangement of striker (V) and spring (W), and at its rear end, forming the working connexion between trigger and striker, is the " cockingpiece " (X) which is fitted with a safety-catch (not in the old pattern rifle illustrated). This cocking-piece (which cannot turn) has a long tongue projecting to the front, lying along the under side of the bolt, and the front end of this tongue (Y), called the " full-bent," 1 The annexed figures show the old pattern weapon. In both the existing patterns a safety catch is fitted, the magazine spring is of a different shape and there is no bolt-cover. But the essential parts of the action remain the same.
engages the nose of the trigger sear when the weapon is loaded (a groove in the tongue, called the " half-bent " (Z), serves as a halfcock arrangement, and could be used as a safety-catch if the proper safety-catch were damaged). The trigger sear (K) is a bell-crank lever, the upper long arm of which is put in and out of contact with the " full-bent," and the lower or short arm is connected to the trigger. The magazine holds ten cartridges, which rest on a platform, underneath which is the magazine spring that pushes the platform and cartridges up. A " cut-off " is fitted in the " long " and in some marks of the " short " rifle. This is a sort of lid to the magazine, enabling the magazine to be kept full while the rifle is being used as a single loader. But the present musketry regulations forbid single-loading, and the cut-off is now only closed for special purposes, such as unloading a single cartridge (miss-fire, &c.) without unloading the magazine. The magazine is loaded by ® D' inserting a charger in the " charger guides " (these, attached to the body, form a sort of bridge over the bolt) and forcing down the strip of cartridges into the magazine (charger guides not shown in diagrams). The action of the mechanism is as follows: Suppose that the rifle has been fired and the magazine is full. On beginning to turn up the knob of the bolt, the latter is revolved, but the cocking-piece (the tongue being held by a groove in the body) and the bolt-head remain stationary. Soon, however, a cam on the bolt comes in contact with a stud on the cocking-piece and the latter is brought slightly to the rear, pulling in the point of the striker and partly compressing the spring. At the same time the lug on the left of the bolt, in contact with the front face of a recess in the body (both being cut slantwise to a screw pitch), forces the bolt and with it the claw of the extractor, which grips the base of the cartridge-case, to slide backwards a little. As the bolt continues to turn the rib on the right of it comes up clear of the body and the whole bolt, with the bolt-head, can thus be drawn back until the bolt-head comes against the resisting shoulder on the right of the body and the extractor attached to it flings out the fired cartridge-case. Another cartridge then comes up from the magazine and lies in front of the bolt-head ready to be pushed home. At this moment (the beginning of loading) the stud on the cockingpiece has fallen into one of the grooves on the bolt, and as the bolt is pushed forward the tongue or full-bent comes against the nose of the trigger sear and is held there, while the rest of the bolt mechanism goes on. Thus between the moving bolt and the fixed cocking-piece the striker spring is further compressed, and when the sloping faces of the bolt lugs and ribs engage the resisting portions of the body a last forward push is given to the bolt and the spring is completely compressed, ready to propel the striker forward when the full-bent is released from the nose of the sear. Figs. 5-8 of the older pattern rifle show the working of the breech mechanism. Instead of the older single pull-off of the trigger the " short " rifle, like many Continental weapons, has a double pull-off. This is provided for by suitably shaping the portion of the trigger which is in contact with the short arm of the sear. The " short " rifle has also a somewhat different pattern of safety-catch.
The sights of British service rifles up to 5903 were of a very simple type, the fore-sight a " barleycorn " of triangular shape, and the back-sight a plain leaf with sliding bar into which a V was cut, the tip of the fore-sight seen in the middle of the V being brought on to the mark. In the long charger-loader this form of back-sight has been greatly modified, and in the " short " rifle it has been altogether abolished. The barleycorn fore-sight has been replaced in both cases by an upright blade, protected from injury by two ears or wings, and the V by a U aperture. For elevation the long rifle has still a slide on a vertical leaf, but the movement of this slide is controlled no longer merely by its tight fit but by a clamping screw. The sight of the short rifle is larger and also quite different in appearance and principle. There is a leaf and on it a slide, but the slide (controlled by clamping studs) works on a cam-shaped bed;; its position on the leaf, affecting the point of contact with the camshaped bed, elevates the leaf to the required amount, the actual sighting U being on the extremity of the leaf. The short rifle has also a " fine adjustment " which admits of minor changes of elevation within the usual 50 yds. graduation. Both the long and the short rifles have " wind-gauges," or mechanisms for fine lateral adjustment of the central U sighting aperture, so as to point the axis of the barrel a little to the left or the right of the line of sight. to compensate for wind, error of the individual rifle, &c. In both rifles, on the left side of the stock, is a long-distance sight (graduated to 2800 yds.), which consists of an aperture sight near the bolt and a dial and movable pointer near the hand-guard. The short rifle is cased from breech to muzzle in a wooden hand-guard; all patterns of long rifle have only a short wooden hand-guard just behind the back-sight bed. The bayonet in the long rifle is secured to the. fore-end by a spring catch and to the barrel by a ring passing over the muzzle. This traditional, and still usual, arrangement has been abandoned in the short rifle, as the vibration of the barrel on discharge is more or less checked by the extra weight of the bayonet, and therefore the shooting of the rifle differs according as it is fired with or without the bayonet fixed. With the short rifle the bayonet is fixed to two metal fastenings, a plug for the ring and a catch for the handle., Continental European Rifles. - These are for the most part of the Mauser and the Mannlicher types. The Mauser is a bolt weapon with box magazine. The bolt is simple, without separate bolthead, and is held by two bolt-lugs at its front end engaging with recesses in the body (the German Mauser has an extra lug near the rear end). Near the rear end there is a cam-shaped recess, which, engaging with a stud on the cocking-piece, partially forces back the cocking-piece and spring when the bolt is revolved. When the bolt lever is turned up and the bolt begins to revolve, the cockingpiece and bolt plug, which together form the connexion between the bolt and the trigger, do not revolve, but are forced back slightly, so as to begin the compression of the striker spring. Then, the bolt lever being so shaped as to bear against an inclined-plane edge on the body, the bolt comes back a little, and with it the extractor jaw and the empty cartridge-case. Lastly, when the bolt has turned through a right angle, all studs are opposite their slots and ways in the body, and the bolt can be drawn back. At the farthest rearward position of the bolt the cocking-stud on the cocking-piece is well behind the nose of the trigger sear, and is thus held when the bolt is pushed forward again, the spring being thereby compressed. All Mauser rifles have a safety-catch and a double pull-off. None have cut-offs except the Turkish pattern. All are constructed for clip or charger loading, but the box magazine contains only five cartridges as against the Lee-Enfield's ten. Mauser rifles, which are perhaps the strongest and least complicated of magazine arms, are used in the German, Belgian, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish armies, and were also used by the Boers in the South African War. The type adopted by each of these nations differs from the rest in details only. The German rifle has a long guardless sword bayonet, fixed to the fore-end only and not connected with the barrel, and a peculiar form of back-sight, which bears some resemblance to the [[Xxiii. Ii Figs]]. 5 and 6. - Lee-Metford.
y `?? ---- _ :.?. / iii -=0: 11111._ - = y;., i ii -ti ?
- .. .-?? ' _ - _?? ld ' °r ' FIGS. 7 and 8. - Lee-Metford.
slide and bed arrangement of the British " short " rifle. The special the change of leverage, power at the commencement and rapidity feature of the Belgian Mauser is a thin steel casing for the barrel, at the end of the pull. The weapon is a clip loader. The Dutch, FIG. 13. - Mannlicher, 1895.
Rumanian and other Mannlichers have not straight-pull bolts, but the usual turn-over levers and locking-lugs.
????.??: ' „??
sl /1 s FIG. 9. - Belgian Mauser. (Text Book of Small Arms, by permission.) FIG. 9a. - Spanish Mauser. (Text Book of Small Arms, by permission.) which is supposed to act as a hand-guard or cooler and to free the barrel from disturbing influences due to its connexion with the fore-end; but it is expensive, and if strong adds unduly to the weight of the weapon. The older German magazine rifle, pattern 1888, had a barrel casing, but this was given up when the new 1898 pattern was introduced. The bayonets of the Belgian and Spanish patterns are very short knives.
The Mannlicher rifle, which is extensively used for sporting and target work, has been adopted for military purposes by various states, notably Austria-Hungary. Both the 1890 and FIG. 14. - Austrian Mannlicher Carbine. (Text Book of Small Arms, by permission.) France. - The breech mechanism of this rifle (see fig. 15) calls for no special remark. Its bolt is very similar to that of the British rifle. Its special peculiarity is the once popular tube magazine under the fore-end. This has many defects as compared with the box magazine. It is more cumbrous for the same number of cartridges; its feed and cut-off mechanism is very complicated; the balance of the rifle is altered as the magazine empties; the placing of the cartridges base to point, even when the bullet has a flat point, is not unattended with danger, especially when the magazine is full and the spiral spring strongly compressed; lastly, loading by any form of charger is practically impossible.
4 FIG. 15. - Lebel Rifle.
