A NEW PROJECTILE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13202, 13 June 1906, Page 9

A NEW PROJECTILE.

' Some attention has been devoted to the 'new ammunition which is to' be ''introducedin the German army. The Kriegsteehnisehe Zeitschrift states that it will be known as the " S" ammunition, because of its pointed, character (Spifsengeschoss) The form is intended to enable it to overcome the resist-' ance of the atmosphere." and is ha? greater, initial velocity '-than! the present projectile. The . carrying power is increased, and the part of the bullet which takes the pressure is not changed The weight is only "10 grammes, as compared with -14.47 grammes in the '88 bullet, while the- French "D" bullet, which lias a copper mantel. i.« nearly double the length of the " S" bullet, anti weighs 13 grammes. The grooving ,of thenew projectile is not so deep, and it has a very flat trajectory. It is hoped that the introduction'of this bullet will make it unnecessary to bring in a new small-calibre rifle, and therefore that a large expenditure may bo prevented. At a distance of 25 metres from the muzzle the velocity is 860 metres, a.-: compared with 620 metres with the old form of ammunition, and the" new bullet can be used with the '88 and '98 rifles, as well as for machine guns. Danzer's Armee-Zr.itung, in some remarks upon the new projectile, declares that it is' not new. and that to some extent it may be described as marking a retrograde step.' In 1876 Carl Theodor Sauet proposed the employment of a pointed or Spitzengeschoss, •which* ; had been devised by Krnka.- some years before. 'The disadvantages were pointed cut, and more especially tile want of stability in flight and the resulting lack of precision in firing. It was found that the pointed bullet oscillated in its movement, and that, though it might have a longer, range, the uncertainty of its movements deprived it of the value that had been anticipated for it. It remains to Ik seen..-whether this will be the case with tht new German projectile.

/ A NEW WIND-GAUGE, ■: .The Council of the National Itifie Association, England, has (says the Field) receivedofficial, information that a slide containing a movable piece' for use as a wind-gauge and fitted with a scale, has been officially adopted by the War Office for use with the L.-M. and L.-E. (long) rifle. It will take the place of the match slide hitherto allowed officially for, use in match shooting, which, however, can still Ik; used if preferred. The manufacture of these slides will be at once commenced by the War Office. The match slide will-not be manufactured in future. In consequence of this intimation the definition "service rifle"' for N.R.A. purposes has been altered so as to admit of the use of this slide' as an alternative to tliej present slide, and also sc as to admit of the- use, of the short Lee-Enfield rifle in competitions open to- service rifles. . Full particulars of ! the slide will be announced at an early date. The N.R.A. is taking steps, to obtain a supplv from the War Office, a»d will be prepared to issue the slide before the next anual shooting gathering.

' THE GROWTH OF NAVIES. In the Iron Age recently there appeared some very interesting figures and comparisons of the sizo of warships, from which it, appears that cno effect of the abolition of the 'antiquated small craft by .'the scheme of 1304- has been to raise the average displacement of all British warships, (excluding torpedo i : raft) from 6293 tons in 1904- to 9075 tons in 1905. Taking the navies of the world. it is computed that in 1899 the avcij age displacement of such vessels was 388.3 ton ail d that in 1905-it had risen to 5739. tons. The number warships of 12.000 tons displacement and over building for the various-naval Powers on July 1, [1899, was 77, of which 46 belonged to the British navy. In 1900 the number was 94- (British 48), in 1902 there .were 101 (British o3), in 1903 ther-v were 139 (British 64), in 1904 there were 155 (British 70). and last- year the total fell by reason of the Russian losses in the war to 153. of which 70 were British. From this it, will be seen -that tho British percentage;' which ill-1899 was 60, Kas now fallen to 47, ami! that in 1904 (before the losses of the war hud been-counted) it was as low'as 45. • The most remarkable increase in the period shown by any navy is that; of the -United States. In 1899 there were nine vessels of 12,000 tons and over; in 1905 there were 28. v ' :<' ■ ■ / * - v '