Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/299

Rh MILITARY RIFLES.] GUNMAKING 285 ordinary breech-loader, a fresh cartridge being inserted at every round, and the magazine kept constantly full. This is no doubt a great advantage under certain circumstances, but entails grave inconveniences. Thus the Vetterli gun, with magazine full, weighs just half as much again as the Martini-Henry, and gives less energy to its bullet at the muzzle in the proportion of 5 to 8, a proportion which increases to the disadvantage of the magazine gun as the range increases. Still, for a melee, and at short ranges, the Vetterli is no doubt a very formidable piece. These considerations have led the Government of the United States to make trials of a number of magazine guns, of which one, the Hotchkiss, has been selected for adoption. The working of it is shown in fig. 19. The magazine is contained in the stock, and holds five cartridges, a sixth bsing in the chamber ready for loading. These cartridges are the same as those used for Government Springfield rifles ; they are pushed successively into the loading position by a spiral spring till the magazine is empty, or a fresh cartridge FIG. 19. Hotdikiss Magazine Gun. can be inserted after each round as in an ordinary breech loader. The action of bringing the knob-handle upright and withdrawing the bolt extracts and throws out the emptied cartridge to the side ; the next cartridge is then pushed up into the loading position by the spring, and is forced into the barrel when the handle presses the bolt forward ; this action also cocks the piece, but the striker cannot reach the cartridge till the knob-handle is turned down, and the bolt thus locked in position. The weight of the piece fully loaded is 9-i lt&amp;gt;. Trials of this weapon are about to be made by the English Government. Of all the military rifles adopted by the various Govern ments, the Martini-Henry is the most powerful; the practical test it underwent in Turkey, where a cheap gun of this pattern was supplied on con-tract by an American firm during the war of 1877-78, was most satisfactory. Pistols. These handy little weapons were formerly made as single or double-barrelled smooth-bored muzzle-loaders, and their system involved no departure in principle from the ordinary firearm of the day. The introduction of the revolver as a practical weapon was a great step in advance ; the iclei is old, and roughly constructed weapons on the same plan have long existed in museums of old arms; Colonel Colt of the United States revived it, and is the father of the modern revolver. In his pistol a revolving muzzle-loading cylinder contains a number of chambers, usuilly five or six, bored from the front parallel to the axis ; the back of the cylinder is left solid, and forms the breech ; a nipple is screwed into each chamber. As the cylinder revolves, each chamber arrives at the top, and is then opposite to a barrel ; the pistol is cocked by the thumb, an action which locks the chamber against the barrel, so that the two form a continuous bore ; the trigger is pulled in the usual way, and the hammer brought clown on the upper nipple, exploding the charge in the top chamber. The action of recocking brings the next chamber into position. When on half-cock, the cylinder revolves freely. Since Colt s time great improvements have been made in these handy weapons ; the trigger was made to cock the hammer, turn the cylinder, and fire the charge by one continuous draw ; this arrangement enabled the shooter to fire all the shots very rapidly without lowering his hand : the strength of mainspring required, however, rendered it very difficult to shoot with any degree cf accuracy, especially as the exact moment when the hammer would fall was hard to estimate. A second improvement gave the shooter the choice of cocking the hammer and firing it in the usual way, if he preferred it. The next step was to make the chambers breech-loading, by boring them right through, and packing the powder and bullet in a strong based cartridge, carrying its own ignition. In pistols constructed on this plan the chamber arriving at the top is brought against a false breech through which the striker is driven by the hammer. In the latest pattern of this pistol, the cylinder and barrel open away from the false breech on a hinge underneath ; the action of opening throws out the empty cartridge-cases. If the user is on horseback, he thrusts the barrel muzzle downwards into his breast, belt, or holster, the hinge remaining open ; fresh cartridges are taken out of the pouch and placed in the chambers ; the breech is closed sharply on the hinge &quot;and is held by a snap-catch ; the pistol is then withdrawn ready for use. All this can be very quickly done with one hand at full gallop. MACHINE GUNS. This term comprehends all weapons made to fire a rapid succession of bullets from a stand or carriage, so that, while requiring but two or three men to work them, they may throw in a fire equal to that of a detachment of infantry. In the Franco-German war of 1870 a species of mitrailleur was largely employed, and when used under Mitrs favourable conditions attained fair success. It consisted leur - of a number of barrels (usually 25 or 37) secured in a frame round an axis, and parallel to it. The barrels were open at the breech, and were loaded by a disc pierced to correspond with them containing a cartridge in each chamber. This disc was placed against the breecli end of the barrels, the false breech containing the strikers was FIG. 20. Galling Gun. held firmly against it, and the whole of the charges were exploded at once. This arrangement had many defects. The recoil of so many charges fired simultaneously required strength and weight ; at short ranges the bullets all went to the same spot; the number of rounds could not be regulated at pleasure ; and only volleys could be fired. The Gatling machine gun, which first appeared in the United Gatlii States, was vastly superior to the mitrailleur, and speedily gun- obtained entrance into the armies of most of the civilized powers. Figs. 20 to 2 G show the general construction of the weapon. In fig. 20 the Gatling is reicly for firing. A block of ten barrels is secured round an axis, which is fixed in a frame a a. On turning the handle h (fig. 21), the