New Army Rifle

New Army Rifle

Magazine arm weighs less and has shorter barrel

Although already armed with the Krag-Jorgensen rifle, thought to be as good an arm as is carried by the soldiers of any nation, the United States army is about to adopt a new magazine rifle, says a Washington special to the New York Herald. 

Secretary Root has not yet approved the new rifle, but it is strongly indorsed by a board of officers which put it through rigorous tests and by General Crozier, chief of ordnance. It weighs only eight and three-quarter pounds, two pounds less than the Krag, and the barrel is twenty-four inches long instead of thirty inches. 

The magazine of the new rifle carries five cartridges and can with a single movement of the hand be fully charged from a clip similar to that used with Mauser rifles. The muzzle velocity of the new arm is 2,300 feet a second, while that of the Krag is 2,000 feet. Ammunition for the new arm is heavier than for the Krag. 

The new rifle will be equipped with a rod bayonet ten inches in length. The accuracy of the new arm is said to be higher than the Krag, which was a decided improvement over the Springfield rifle. The rifling makes a complete turn in eight inches.