AN EVOLUTIONARY WEAPON.

Evening Star, Issue 11434, 29 December 1900, Page 6

AN EVOLUTIONARY WEAPON.

" The inevitable evolution of tie rifle is that of making it a sort of machine gun in the hands of the soldier." At the time of writing this comment, Bays the 'Express,' it was not known to the writer, or generally, that a rifle had been invented which actually realised this ideal; but by the courtesy of an official our military correspondent has been enabled to inspect a weapon which is at onco a rifle and a' machine gun. The inventor is Mr W. S. ■ Simpixm, and his " machine-rifle," as he describes it, has recently been seen by Mr Wyndham and other officials of the War Office. The invention iB a. new departure in tho construction of small arms, and )b calculated to secure accurate marksmanship by mechanical means. 1 am not permitted to describe the parts of the machine-rifle, but tho action of it is that of a rifle supported upon th* ground by a stand, and a saddle, upon which the soldier lies at full length. Miniature screws, like those upon a gun, regulate direction and elevation to finite decimal parts, and with average vision across the sights the " bull's-eye " is achieved with mathematical precision. The rifle is fed on tho right-hand side of tho chamber, -and takes twenty carlridges at a time, and it has been estimated that a single regiment armed with this rifle could deliver 250,000 shots in two and a-h»lf minutes, which is more than could be fired in tho same time by six regiments armed with the Lee-Metford or Mauser, assisted by their machine-gun detachments with augmented strength. Tho rifle is not, under ordinary circumstances, fired from the shoulder, and is held in position by the weight of the soldier's prone body along tho saddle. Vibration and recoil arc controlled. The weight of the arm is 31b more than tho weight of tho Lee-Metford, which, of course, is nothing in comparison to the results possible. The actual cost of the rifle is little more than that of the magazine rifle, and its construction makes it usable from the shoulder as well as a fixed machine-gun upon the ground. The stand mechanism is adjustable, and does not interfere with the carriage of the rifle in tho hand of the infantry soldier or cavalry man. " Every man his own machine-gun" is tho order, and in severe pressure it is claimed that a hundred shots can be " handed " out in a minute, but this, of course, is an emergency rate impossible to maintain. Under all conditions the aim, it is claimed, is accurate and the zone of fire impenetrable under rapid discharge. Tho mechanism is simple, and,the use of Buch a rifle would seem to carry Email-arm fire to a higher plane than any ordinary rifle attempts.