Infantry Weapons of the Great War
With the onset of the Great War, the sudden and unexpected need for huge supplies of small-arms ammunition forced several countries to take what they could get, and other less progressive belligerents to change over to the more modern type of spitz bullet when it could be had. When the war broke out, Germany was by far the best equipped in rifles, though published data on the subject of military rifles had become inaccurate. The Germans had several million of the latest M.1898-1901, and plenty of ammunition. In addition they had a million or so more of the M.1888 in reserve, the German Commission rifle of Mannlicher type, and a large number of the old large caliber M.1884, a .43 caliber repeating rifle of presmokeless ballistics, issued to the Landsturm because most of its members had received training with this ancient arm.
With all this, the Germans did not have enough of the new type 1898 Mauser. Photographs of the first line troops in Belgium made in October showed the protruding magazine of the old M. 1888 rifle in the hands of these troops. Their new rifle, the M.1898, was the best of the rifles in use on the firing line. Its simple and quickly set sight, well protected from harm at all times, its half pistol grip to aid in its manipulation, its long bayonet, its modern bolt action, and its splendid ballistics make it the best of the world's military rifles. It was a charger loader or stripping loader, and the bolt was capable of sustaining the pressures of the most modern ammunition, not to be said of the British Lee. The cartridge gives the spitz 154 gr. bullet nearly 3000 ft. range, with the flat trajectory and the minimized errors of sight setting and distance judgment that such velocity gave.
The old M.1888 rifle was far stronger than the British Lee, but used the older type of charger loader in which the charges or clip goes into the magazine and drops out only when the last shot is fired, a type not at all to be compared with the modern type of stripping charger loader. Such a magazine cannot be kept full by the insertion of single cartridges and the clip weighs more than the German M.1898 charger. The newer type of spitzer ammunition will chamber in the old M. 1888 rifle, but the use of the pointed bullet in the old chamber is a very doubtful procedure, it being more likely that they are furnished with the old cartridge of 2000 ft.sec. type.
The Austrian rifle and cartridge were both very efficient. It is an example of the straight-pull type of rifle, used by several of the belligerents, in contra-distinction to the turnbolt rifles of the Mauser type. In the straight-pull rifle, the bolt is revolved and its lugs freed not by direct application of force to a bolt lever, but by the drive of spiral ribs on its surface engaged by the notch or corresponding grooves in a sliding sleeve, usually placed around the bolt proper. The handle is attached to the sleeve, and the soldier has only to draw it to the rear. As it moves back, its spiral-helicoid-grooves in which engage the ribs on the bolt compel the bolt to turn, freeing the lugs, giving primary extraction to the case by a slight rearward motion of the bolt in this process, and then drawing the bolt and fired case to the rear.
The advantage lies in its superior speed and in the fact that less exposure of the hand and arm is necessary in operating the rifle from a trench or from behind breast-works, while the disadvantages are the slightly increased fatigue of working it for a long series of shots, the lessened extracting power for sticking cases, and the slightly increased complication of mechanism. In this rifle there are two working parts, the bolt, a hollow spindle carrying the locking lugs, containing the firing pin and mainspring, and having helicoidal ribs on its surface; and the sleeve which slides over the bolt and which carries the handle and safety lock, and which has on its inner surface corresponding helicoidal grooves to receive the ribs on the bolt.
Powder pressure on the bolt proper did not affect the sleeve, it merely locks the bolt for the instant so firmly that nothing can unlock it while the pressure lasts. Pulling back on the bolt handle compels the bolt to revolve, as the sleeve cannot turn. The pitch of the lugs gives the bolt slight rearward movement, affording primary extraction. As the sleeve moves back about an inch, the bolt is revolved a quarter turn, and it moves back about one-thirty-secondth of an inch with the case. In the backward movement, the cocking piece is carried back with the sleeve, compressing the mainspring. Normally this pressure of the mainspring, trying to force the bolt forward, would tend to jam the bolthead against the receiver walls, as of course to move forward the bolt must also turn. This is prevented in the Ross rifle by a series of threads on the bolt at the end of the helicoidal ribs, engaging in corresponding broken threads on the sleeve, holding the bolt open against the pressure of the mainspring.
On the Mannlicher of Austria the tail of the extractor dips into a slot, holding the bolt from being revolved by the mainspring pressure. The Austrian rifle had a protruding magazine like the Belgian Mauser, and was loaded by an old-fashioned clip of cartridges of the Model 1888 type, the empty clip falling out of the rifle when the last bullet is fired. It had a suggested or half-pistol grip and weighed but 8-1/2 lbs. without the bayonet. The cartridge, a rim case like the Russian, was loaded with a 154-grain bullet of spitzer type, with the muzzle velocity of 2900 ft.-secs. In caliber, shape and velocity the bullet was therefore the same as that of the German rifle. Bulgaria used the same rifle, as did the second line Greek troops, the first line using the Mannlicher-Schonauer .256 caliber.
Servia used the 1899 Mauser, 8 mm. caliber, with a pointed bullet of 154 grains, and with a velocity of 2950 ft.-secs. The chamber pressure was 53,000 lbs.
The Turks, with a Mauser like that of the Boers, cocking on the closing motion of the bolt, had been furnished by the Germans with spitz ammunition of the latest type, .30 caliber, 154 gr. bullets with muzzle velocity of 2850 ft.-secs. The rifle was stripping charger loading and compared favorably in its ballistics and strength with any of those used by the belligerents.
The Swiss rifle was a straight-pull arm, the bolt revolving by an action rod, working in a tube in the body to the right of the bolt. When it is drawn to the rear the bolt proper revolves by a tongue working in a helicoidal groove. The magazine, slightly extending from the body of the rifle, holds six cartridges, which were loaded into it from a stripping charger of cardboard. The rifle complete weighs nearly nine pounds. It was one of the most accurate of the world's arms. The cartridge, rimless like the German, carried a bullet of 170 grains, pointed and with the stern tapered off like the balle D of the French. It has a velocity of 2660 ft.-secs. and 47,000 lbs. pressure per sq. inch, yet the ballistics of the rifle are far better than would appear from its muzzle velocity. It is claimed that the bullet rises less than 10 ft. in a range of 1000 yds., and but 22 inches in 550 yds.
The Belgian rifle was very much like the old M. 1888 German Commission rifle, using the same type of clip magazine, and with a poor cartridge. It was a 30 caliber, firing a 215 gr. bullet at about 2000 ft.-secs. The sight was very crude and not so good as the German late model, which, though by no means elaborate nor adequate to puncture paper targets on a rifle range at long distance, was easily set, self locking, more protected against blows than a tangent sight, and is easily read by the soldier or non-commissioned officers.
The French rifle was not designed along the accepted lines for military rifles, and its failure to comply with them was an evil point. The cartridge is good ballistically, but the rifle with its tubular magazine, loadable only with single cartridges, made its rate of sustained fire very low. While it is easily loaded as a single loader, and the magazine of eight cartridges held in reserve, yet occasions may arise when the magazine may be emptied, and still urgent necessity prescribe a continuance of the high rate of fire, with no way to quickly recharge it. It was quite easy to recharge a Mauser magazine and fire all five shots while the French rifle was being reloaded. The mechanism necessary to raise the cartridge from the line of the tubular magazine, and the magazine itself were open to all objections common to complicated mechanism on the military rifle.
The very long quadrangular bayonet gave the soldier a stabbing length of nearly six feet, which was more than the rifle of any other power. There was no handguard, and the rifle must be nearly unusable after a few rounds of rapid fire. The cartridge contained a bullet of 198 grs., pointed like the British Mark VII, and with the stern tapered off from .333 down to .280. Thus it is a boatshaped or bi-pointed bullet like the Swiss. Unlike the bullets of every other army, this was made of a copper-zinc composition and was solid, without core or jacket. The case, a rim, squatty affair, contains 47 grs. of a flat leaflet nitrocellulose, which gave it 2400 ft.secs. Because of its high ballistic coefficient, the bullet flew as flat over 1000 yds. as the U. S. bullet with 300 ft.-secs. higher velocity and it rises but one foot more than the bullet of the German rifle, although up to 500 yds., the German and the American bullet fly flatter than the slower-moving bullet of the French rifle. The bullet was shellacked where it entered the case, and the primer was likewise treated. The chamber pressure is 49,000 lbs. per sq. inch.
The Russian rifle, the "Three Line," and the "Mossin-Nagent", was always accompanied by its bayonet and no scabbard was provided for this long-stabbine, quadrangular bayonet. The gun itself was a modified Mauser, the modifications proving to be detriments. It had a projecting magazine like that of the Ross Mark III to handle the rim shells in single column. They were loaded into the magazine from a stripping charger like that of the British service, and the cartridge case was formerly loaded with a bullet of blunt point weighing 214 grains, and having a muzzle velocity of 2000 ft.-secs. Latterly they adopted a spitz bullet weighing 170 grains, and having a muzzle velocity of 2440 ft.-secs., nearly the duplicate of the British Mark VII. The chamber pressure was 50,000 lbs., and the ballistics of the cartridge would be practically those of the British cartridge, the bullet being .308 caliber. It was sighted by a crude arrangement of a notched ramp and then a vertical leaf for long range, making the extreme range, as far as sighting goes, 2000 yards.
The Montenegrins also use this same rifle. The stabbing length of the rifle with bayonet is two inches less than that of the French rifle and the same as that of the German Mauser. The always fixed bayonet seems to encourage the idea of the bayonet charge, judging by the reported fondness of the Russian infantry for the bayonet. It is also possible that this was the only way it was efficient in their hands.
The Italian troops were attempting to discover whether or not the .25 caliber rifle is large enough in bore. They used the modified Mannlicher, the Carcano, of 6.5 mm. or .256 caliber. The old cartridge had a bullet of 160 grains, the standard blunt nose 6.5 Mannlicher missile with a velocity of 2350 to 2400 ft.-secs. The latter ammunition used a bullet of 125 grains, with a velocity of 2850 ft.-secs. This rifle is the only one that uses the old "increased twist" of rifling, common in the days of black powder and lead bullets, but rarely seen with the jacket bullets. The twist commences with one turn in 23 inches and ends at the muzzle with one turn in 7.5 inches. The purpose is to increase the spin of the bullet to preserve its stability at long range. The magazine was the single column clip type holding six cartridges. The bolt is little changed from the Mannlicher turnbolt. The carbine has a folding bayonet that normally lies under the forestock in a cut-out recess and is so light — less than seven pounds — that it can be used in one hand. The light recoil of 6.5 mm. cartridge makes possible the light carbine. An arm of this weight with the French cartridge would prove very uncomfortable to shoot.
The Italian rifle was very crude in workmanship and finish. The same rifle is used by both Holland and Rumania, a Mannlicher of 6.5 mm. or .256 inch. The rifle was nearly the same, in bolt detail, as the German Commission rifle, M. 1888, and it uses the same fixed clip which goes into and forms part of the magazine.
The Japanese rifle, called the Year 38, is a .25 caliber with a rimless cartridge case, and a light bullet at 2900 ft.-secs. The older cartridge used against the Russians was the standard 6.5 mm., a bullet of 160 grains, and a velocity of 2400 ft.-secs., even then giving them a considerable advantage over the Russian cartridge in trajectory. It resembles thd Italian in appearance, from whom they had taken many of their ideas. The arm weighed nine lbs. with 31-inch barrel. It had the half pistol grip of the German rifle, and a handguard extending to the forward swivel. The bolt was practically that of the Mauser, but it had a safety device all its own. The rear sight was a vertical leaf with push-stud locking device for the slide, and graduations of 100 yards. A sword bayonet was used with it, giving it a stabbing length of about 5 feet. The carbine was an exact copy of the Italian, very light and easily handled by one hand, and with a folding bayonet that lies in a recess in the forestock when out of use. Pressure on a spring stud releases the bayonet, a modified sword in form. It is swung on a hinge at the upper band to position, and locked there by the spring stud engaging a lug on the upper band.
The Spanish used a rifle practically like that of the Boers, a Mauser, firing a 7 mm. cartridge. Lately it had been brought up to date by the use of a 140-gr. spitz bullet with a velocity of 2900 ft.-secs. The Swedes used a Mauser made in Sweden and firing a 6.5 cartridge with a 130-gr. spitz bullet and 2750 ft.secs. velocity. Norway was still using the old Krag-Jorgensen, a 6.5 mm. in caliber, the same in an older type being used by the Danes, but in 8 mm. or .32 caliber.
The United States used the short New Springfield, a modified Mauser, for which the U. S. Government paid a royalty of $1.15 per rifle on about one-half million rifles to the German holders of Mauser patents. It was a charger loading rifle with Mauser turnbolt, but with the bolt lever turned down like the carbines of some of the continental nations. The cartridge with 150-gr. spitz bullet gives 2700 ft.-secs. velocity. By the use of the Du Pont military progressive burning powder, a new powder which opens up new fields to rifle and cartridge designers, the velocity of this rifle is raised to 2925 ft.-secs. with no increase in chamber pressure, and this, too, with barrel of 24 inches, not 30 inches as used on continental military rifles. The rear-sight, a vertical leaf when in position for long range firing, was graduated into 25 yard divisions, and had a wind-gauge. An aperture was provided in the slide for use in target shooting. The weakness of the sight is that too many notches and apertures are in sight, and untrained men easily might be confused and use the wrong notch. The rifle and the ammunition were easily the best of the world's small arms from the standpoint of accuracy. American teams armed with the rifle won at Bisley, Stockholm, and have wrested the Palma trophy from the Canadians year after year.
The Canadian Ross rifle is a straight pull like the Austrian Mannlicher. The magazine, to handle the rim case Mark VII cartridge in single column, protrudes from the stock of the rifle like the M.1888 German rifle. The rifle being made in the War was the M. 1910, or Mark III, and differed from those of all other nations in having a pair of bolt locking lugs cut in the form of an interrupted screw, like the breech blocks of the field and naval guns. This form of bolt was first evolved by Mannlicher in the 1990s, and was taken up by the Ross Rifle Co. to withstand the pressures of their very large .280 sporting cartridge. Cutting the lugs into this form distributes the thrust through a larger area of the receiver than the solid form of lug, which merely butts against the two shoulders, and by the use of this greater thrust area, the rifle stands pressures that would jam the Mauser bolt, if nor shear off the lugs. There is no comparison between this bolt and the weak Lee-Enfield, though the Ross has yet to prove its merits in actual service. The front sight of the Ross was the only sensible sight in the collection of the world's military rifles — a broad, flat top, clear cut blade, that can be seen and laid accurately against any background. The rear was another improvement, being a generous sized aperture close to the eye, and so giving all the advantage of that type of sight. It is set on the receiver bridge, and on the whole this rifle was the strongest of any of the Powers and the fastest in operation.
The British rifle was more or less pathetic. Its ten-shot magazine gave it a high rate of fire for a rush, and it was quickly recharged. But the very weak locking mechanism, locking at the rear of the bolt, with a cut through the receiver into the bargain, forbade cartridges of modern pressures, and so of high velocity. They have done well to get but 2400 ft.-secs. From the practical standpoint, the chief difference between the old type cartridges and the newer ones like the German M. 1905, the Austrian of the same type, and other spitzer combinations, was that the trajectory height over fighting ranges was just about cut in half. The German rifle rises about 20 inches over 500 yards, not even enough to miss a prone man unless he lies very "prone."
The British War Office had adopted the short rifle, and in order to get a high velocity they must have a high pressure. If they attempted to use a low pressure the barrel was not long enough. With a slow-burning powder with that short barrel the powder would not all be consumed in the barrel, and even now they had a brilliant flash when firing the short rifle, a flash which at dusk revealed the position of the firing party. They would therefOre be driven to adopt a high pressure, but their bolt action would not stand more than from seventeen to twenty tons of pressure. With the German rifle the pressure ran up to twenty-three tons, which achieved a very high muzzle velocity of 2,800 feet per second, whereas our muzzle Velocity was only 2,060 feet per second.
The result was that the German Army could use a fixed sight up to nearly 900 yards. That was the case with all other continental armies eXcept Russia, while Britain could only use fixed sights up to 500 yards. Even Portugal was far ahead of Britain. The German rifle had also a much greater penetrating power against gun shields because the bullets were lighter. The Russians attributed the Japanese victories to the fact that the Japanese had the advantage of 300 feet of velocity in their rifles over the Russian rifles.
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