THE IRISH VOLUNTEER. 11 (3) Slowness of firing consequent upon RIFLES AS MILITARY IV E A PONS. ihe Iwp preceding difliculitvs. The loading diff cultiea were tmiter ally The progress of '.he rifle ns a military reduced by the invention of the G ret tier weapon will be made clear by a few le.vi- Min e expanding bullet. This bullet mis ing events and dale;.,* made- small enough to pass down the bar­ 11100—A number of rifles -ssned to Dan­ rel just as with the smooth bore. The Ish troops. /v\oc^ rn Weapons bass ol 1he hit lief was made hollow nitd 1(431 — Landgrave cf Hr had i-uo had fitted to Ijl a copper or iron plug or troop of tiflctneit. cap. When the p ece was fired ihe gases' ffill — IJavaria had .r,r-vera1 troops of drove this wedge into tbe bullet and ex­ _ riflemen, ... OF ... * panded- it to fit! the rifling. TVs bul­ 1(570- Rifles issued to 3on:r of ihe let was invented ! 83.31850. I Tench troops. IV.th the breechloader the bullet is 1775—Rifles used in tile A m eren War made the lull bote of the barret, iochiJ- ^ o f. Independence. itig the depth of the grooves. This is I7W3—Rifles issuer 1 to French troepa hy possible .tg the cartridge chamber is lar­ the Republic; wilhdrawn by ger in diameter than the bore of the bar­ Napoleon a* inefficient. Warfare rel, nnd the force of the explosion drives 1800—Baker's rifle issued to a ferf the bullet into the rifling. British tret.'ips. The story of the development of the 183(1—Rifles :s*iied to French Chasseur r.fle would be too long for the scope of _ • d‘Orleans. ,tJvs article. The principal salient points 1833—Brunswick rifle with belted but* only will he lightly touched upon. The let used by Engl'eh expert, epoch-marking inventions were_ mentally. (1) The percuss'on cap, 1800. 18(1—Dreyse breechloader tveedio gutl I?) The breechloader, 1841. This was __ adopted hv Prussia. the Prey Sr Need]* Gun adopted by 1831—Minie rifle_ issued experimentally Prussia, * to IlrLish troop.;. (3) The Grcencr-Mlaic expanding bid 1833—Old Ki:5cfd is tied 'o flriitsK ht. 1833-30. tronps. fit The mi'.all c cartridge, 18GJ. Cart­ 18(50— Repeaters u-.fd 'n . t e t k n f t I ridge* were horsiofere cl paper and War. 2—The Rifle. a grea: pm cf ihe force cf the 18(57—Vetterli Magizine Rific used irt _ powder was wasted. Swiss Army. f5) The Vetterfi Magazine Rifle, 'nven- 18i 0—Breechloader Martini Henry _ ted ami adopted in Switzer!and. _ __ adopted by Britain. Each of these inventions marked a step 1877—Winchester Repeater used in Itv L. J. K ET1I.Il, M.l.Mech. E. in advance, and led by more or less abrupt Russo-Turkish War. This drew stages to the modern magazine, weapon. the attention of a!! the Powers to the necessity for repealer* CHARACTER AND DEVELOPMENT or magazine rifles. INTRODUCTORY. the wheel from side to side out of its ori­ OF RIFLING. 1884—Germany, the first Great PowcV to adapt a magazine rifle—, ginal plane, ahhc-ugh it can be moved A library rithcr than a short article The early forms of r.fle barrel grooves the M a user. cas ly enough in the direction in wh:cb were net arranged on any definite sc.'en- v.ouId be necessary in order to deal ade­ 1888—Britain ndopted the Lev Mr.b r l the axle points. The direction of the tific line.*, 'Ihe shape of ihe grooves, magarine. quately with the subject of this article. the r number, and iltcii depth were va­ 1007—British improved Lee-Er field is­ axle is the direction of the bullet flight, Volumes might be written npcn the prin­ ried recording to the fancy of the maker. sued. and the sideways movement corresponds Some of Lry- grooves were semi-circular, ciple, the h’etory, the method, and ihe to some force which tends to throw the sonie square, some triangular, and in at MODERN ARMY RIFLES. use of rifling, l: Is here proposed to give least oils make, comma ‘shaped. Tht inertly -an oat line sketch enabling one to bullet to one side, th v force being resis­ □timber varied from m e iipwari;, Tbe The following table set* out ihe typa throw a rap'd glance over the subject. ted by the spinning motion. amount of twist cc spiral also v ried. of rifle used by each of the Powers, tha Some riflej had a tin Herat spiral, some bore or internal diameter of b >rrcl. the The gtrcrrl progress u-'ll be traced and The lack of accuracy of the old snicoth- had rm increasing spiral, the tw’st i*t- number of cartridges carried in the maga- avtention deeded to the main or epoch- tore was duo to the fact that the round ing slower ar the breech and laser at z tte, and the greatest distance to which the muzzle, or v'ce versa. Some even the weapon is righted. morSc'ng events and inventions. A fuller bullet in passing through the barrel re­ bounded from side to side and left the h;d a- slow spiral at tire breech and muzzle treatment of various phases and details muzzle on one of these side way bounds. and a. fis; spiral in thr* centre. The will be g'vett is subsequent art clea. In adcVt’on to ibis, the bullet might be amount of twist varied from 1 in 70 in­ twisting in a piano transverse to the line ches. to l in 20 inches. Mith the niuzz’e MILITARY BOOKS loaders and also with the early breech­ PRINCIPLE OF RIFLING. of flight, and this iw oi caused ft to de­ flect just ns the twist or '‘side” on a cric­ loaders the best makers favoured a spi­ Specially recommended to ral slow at the breach and gradually in­ The immense superiority of the mod­ ket c-r billiard bait crusts it to -‘break’* or move sideways, creasing towards the muzzle. This was The Irish Volunteers. ern rifle over the old smooth bore lies in m order to get the spin on th- bullet Section and Company Drill, made s, d. gradually. With the soft bnllc'.s then in lhz fad that. !.t is a rifle. That ts to say, HISTORY OF RIFLING. easy, with Illustrations ... 1 6 vague, il the twin; were too fast at the Training of an Infantry Company 2 6 the .Ulterior of the rifle barrel is not breech, the lniFi-1 ;cnded to pis., straigh', The advantages of range and accuracy Rifle and Sword Exercises Illustra­ smooth as in the case of the musket, hut tip the barrel wllhotil (ctlowng the ted, showing “ Right'’ and ts be gained by imprrtng a rotary mo­ g ro o v e b e in g simply skinned by the has a number of spUaJ groves cut in ihe tion to a speur or elongated projectile - “WTong” positions ... 1 0 was known many centuries ago. He Its edges cjk [he grooves. Tbe old Marlin' On Guard. lYhat to do and how metal, forming one or more coni muons Henry had a twist of one iurtj in 72 in­ to do it ... ... ,,v 0 6 for crossbows were often fitted wi h'ianos ches at tbe breech and one in 22 inches screws from hretch to mnrile. The bul­ to impart such motion, and arrows were Extended Order Drill and the Com­ at the muzzle. The Metford also It rid let, instead of travelling straight' tip the specitiily feathered to attain the same ob­ pany in Battle ... ... T O an ncreasng spiral, finishing at the Aids to Scouting, by Baden Powell 1 U barrel, follows the screw thread, and ject. It is somewhat tracer ui'n who first muzzle w'ih one turn in 17 inches. Tha nrinufactured sp'rally grooved imiskc: Scouts Alphabet of Notes & Queries 1 0 when it issues from the barrel has two incrcoaing spral grooves were difficult to Sketching and Map Reading!, with Itatrels, Ail that Is known is that they manufacture and dfficuli to clean, rud date to the beginning of the 10th cen­ Illnxtrations ... ... I 6 motions i one sircrght ahead towards its the principle has been abandoned in all Aiming Card for using tbe sights of objective, the other a ro'ary motion on tury, and were probably first urede in mcderti military rifles. Tbe r'fl'ng is now the Rifle ... ... „, p 3 Austria or in Germany. its own axis circuinfcrentr il to the Ihe of invariably in the shape of a regular un:, How to Instruct in Aiming Si Firing 0 ti Considerable d'vergencics of opirron ex­ form spiral nicking one turn in 8 to 12 Rifle Eiercisex Made Easy, Latest flight. Th's rotary motion continues dur­ isted for* many years regarding the be- mches hng'h of barrel, Th s rapid spi­ Regulations for .'. ... 0 8 ing ihe flight of the bullet and keeps it hav'our of projectiles fired front rifled ral has Iteen ms-ir possible by the rse Notes on Visual Training, Musketry 0 ffl n a $trJ%ht path, preventing tumbling barrels, M tny practical mt^rbeFevcd of bnl'ets wi-,h a hird enter skin which Guide to Army Signalling ... 1 (I Ilia.; the prejerti!" won; straight through prevents “s'rippirg" cr crozs'ng ihe Notes on Army Signalling ..