Page:Machine-gun tactics (IA machineguntactic00appl).pdf/21

 infantry in line extended to two paces. The following was the result:

Rounds                       Figures   Percentage fired. Hits. Percentage. hit. of loss. Rifles   408     62        15·1         27        54 Maxim    228     69        30·2         32        64

The small number of rounds fired by the Maxim was due to the necessity of picking up the range by firing small groups of five or ten shots and observing the strike of the bullets. What is most interesting is that although the rifles fired nearly twice as many shots as the machine gun, the latter made actually more hits, while the percentage of loss inflicted was 10 per cent. greater. The actual range was 1,000 yards. A similar experiment was carried out during the annual training for 1908 in the U.S.A. between 42 "sharpshooters" and a Maxim at the regulation "L" target. The ranges were 600, 800, 1,000 yards; the sharpshooters fired an average of 750 rounds at the three distances and made an average of 429 hits, which gave a collective figure of merit of 59·09. The machine gun also fired 750 rounds, made 601 hits, giving a collective figure of merit of 79·54, being 22·45 in favour of the machine gun. The troops were armed with new rifles, and fired the new "S" bullet, while the machine gun used the old pattern ammunition and a barrel that had fired at least 7,000 shots. The gun squad had no previous practice at this target, and the gun was fired by different men at the