Carbine

“ It's a new-fangled tumpline, made out of our belts and a few things that every man can spare and still look like a soldier. And, what's more, since you'll be facing south, you'll carry your carbine across your knees and attend to anything there may be on that side of you, and I'll look after the rest. ”

“ The small carbine they carry weighs only six and a half pounds, but is wonderfully compact and efficient, with a six-shot magazine, and a graduated sight up to two thousand yards. No man in this station had ever had occasion to use his rifle, and they all said earnestly that they hoped they never would. ”

“ Each sailor had a carbine which loaded at the breech, and could be fired with great rapidity, and there was attached to it a steel bayonet, three feet long, that could be drawn out at will; and each one carried in his belt a pistol with a deadly bowie-knife attached. The officers had severally a carbine, a revolver pistol, and a sword, three of the last having pistol-barrels attached to the blade near the handle. ”

“ "Some of the pilgrims behind the stretcher carried his arms—two shot-guns, a heavy rifle, and a light revolver-carbine—the thunderbolts of that pitiful Jupiter. ”

“ And the muffled drum rolled on the air,
Warriors with stately step were there;
On every arm was the black crape bound,
Every carbine was turned to the ground:
Solemn the sound of their measured tread,
A silent and slow they followed the dead.
The riderless horse was led in the rear,
There were white plumes waving over the bier:
Helmet and sword were laid on the pall,
For it was a soldier's funeral. ”

“ In the early days officers often took a revolver, a carbine, or a rifle, into the air with them, but machines designed expressly for fighting, and armed with Lewis or Vickers guns, did not appear in force until it became necessary to counter the attacks made by the Fokker on our observation machines. ”

“ In a general sense, comprehend weapons both of an offensive and defensive character, but in the usual restricted sense they only embrace the former, and in modern warfare include the gun and bayonet, the rifle, the pistol, the carbine, the sword, the lance, cannon, etc., all of which are noticed under their respective heads. ”

“ The artillery arm of the service has been made as effective as possible, and the batteries consist of breech-loading cannon, from Krupp’s manufactory in Germany. The navy is not large, but the ships that compose it are of the most approved construction and their armament is of steel breech-loaders, like the land batteries. 500The infantry are equipped with improved rifles, and the cavalry has a revolving carbine, with a removable stock, so that the weapons may be changed at will into a pistol or a rifle. ”

“ The diameter of the bore of all the new muskets was less than that hitherto in use, Elongated bullets.all the bullets were elongated and had auxiliaries for expansion, being metallic, or in one case a horn plug, one pattern had cannelures Reversed cartridge.and the whole required the cartridge to be reversed in loading. Best shooting from short rifle.It is worthy of remark that the best shooting at these trials was from a short rifle made at Enfield, which was named the artillery carbine, but not the one now used by the Royal Artillery. ”

“ So far, we have talked only of the big guns, but in a modern battle the field-gun plays a very important part. This fires a shell that weighs between fourteen and eighteen pounds and is about three inches in diameter. The shell and the powder that fires it are contained in a cartridge that is just like the cartridge of a shoulder rifle. These field-pieces are built to be fired rapidly. The French 75-millimeter gun, which is considered one of the best, will fire at the rate of twenty shots per minute, and its effective range is considerably over three miles. ”

“ The bore is made of any rifle calibre for any small-arm ammunition, and is fitted with a safety-lock. For our own pieces we use the Lee-Metford cartridges. Four hundred shots per minute can be fired.
The gun consists altogether of ninety-four pieces, but the working-pieces, i.e. those only which need be separated for cleaning, &c., when in the hands of the artilleryman, are less than twenty. It can be handled in action by one man, the operation resembling that of firing a pistol.
The machine weighs 40 lbs., and for use by cavalry or infantry can be mounted on the Dundonald Galloping Carriage. ”

“ Sometimes cavalrymen fight on foot, much as infantry do.
Now let us learn something of the guns and the men who work them. The gunner's weapon is simply a big rifle, very thick as compared with its length, and so heavy that it has to be hauled along by horses or motors. Guns meant for use in the field are mounted on a two-wheeled carriage. When the gun is in action the end of the trail or steel beam at its rear rests on the ground. On the march this trail is lifted up and hooked on to another two-wheeled carriage, called the limber. ”

“ The short, brown-barrelled carbines gleamed at the level in the sunlight, and then belched forth their message of flame into the very faces of those reckless horsemen. It was not in flesh and blood to bear such a blow. With screams of rage, the red braves swerved to left and right, leaving many a dark, war-bedecked figure lying dead behind them, and many a riderless pony skurrying over the prairie. ”

“ When the pilot of an Aviatik launched himself to the rescue, all the ammunition of my carabine was exhausted. I had one cartridge left in my automatic revolver, and not a single bomb with which to return the compliments of the German's mitraille. My petrol-tank had been perforated. My single bullet missed him. The duel was too unequal, so I withdrew from the field, leaving him to cavalier the Flying Pig. We may meet again upon terms more equal, when French military aviators fight with machine-guns. And now to business. ”

“ As a machine gunner I was particularly interested in the construction of the machine-gun emplacements. The covered battle positions were very solidly built. The roofs were supported with immense logs or steel girders covered over with many layers of sandbags. There were two carefully concealed loopholes looking out to a flank, but none for frontal fire, as this dangerous little weapon best enjoys catching troops in enfilade owing to the rapidity and the narrow cone of its fire. Its own front is protected by the guns on its right and left. ”

“ It first must be understood that all modern guns on ships-of-war are breech-loading and rifled, and that the smooth bore exists only as a relic, or to be brought out in an emergency for coast defense, when modern guns are not available. From the thirteen-inch down to the four-inch, the guns are designated by their caliber, the diameter of their bore, and the shot they throw, while from that to the one-pounder they take their name from the weight of the shot. Everything below the one-pounder is in the machine-gun class. ”

“ The railway mounts, designed for this particular purpose, were built and covered with armor plate by the Navy according to plans and designs prepared by its Ordnance Bureau, while the locomotives and the twelve cars for the operating forces of each gun, including berth and kitchen cars, armored ammunition cars, machine shop cars containing everything from a forge and anvil to a handsaw, crane and wireless cars, were all built and equipped especially for the purposes of these land batteries of naval guns. ”

“ Is a machine gun, the 1 inch composed of six and the 1⁄2 inch of ten rifled barrels of steel, made to revolve around a central axis parallel to their bores, by means of a hand crank. As each barrel comes opposite to the hopper on the left side of the cylinder, a self-primed metal case cartridge falls into a groove of the cartridge-carrier, is pressed into the breech by a plunger, and held there until exploded by the firing-pin. ”

“ These portable and easily laid field railways twist and turn and coil like snakes among the gun positions, the miniature engines, with their strings of toy cars, puffing their way into the heart of the artillery zone, where the ammunition is unloaded, sorted, and classified in calibers, and then artfully hidden from the prying eyes of enemy aviators and from their bombs. ”

“ There lay a crumpled khaki overcoat beside a tangled heap of webbing equipment, with empty cartridge-cases scattered around. Heaps of empty shell-cases, ranging from the huge cylinder of the 4·7 gun to the natty little tube of the light field-gun, were piled up in the farmyards where deep wheel-ruts, empty fuse-boxes, and all the litter of batteries, showed where the gun emplacements had been. Here and there I caught sight of a cheerful English face in the little roadside houses. ”

“ Just to the rear of us, and therefore in full view as we are sitting, is a 112 battery of our own coming up into position at full gallop,—a grand sight indeed! The officers with swords flashing in the evening sunlight, the bugles clanging out the orders, the carriages unlimbered, and the guns run up into position; and now, that ever beautiful drill of the artillery in action, steady and regular as the stroke of machinery! ”

“ Machine gun batteries accomplish the principal objects which cavalry expects to attain by the assignment of infantry, [301] viz., relief from fighting on foot, great fire power, and mobility. Even in reconnaissance duty, machine guns will be employed to break down the resistance of the enemy in occupied localities and to augment the resistance of their own force in such places. During an advance, machine guns should go into position at an early moment in order to cover as effectively as possible the approach and the deployment for attack. ”

“ Infantrymen with automobile transport, plentiful machine guns, Tanks and such-like accessories; that is the first Arm in modern war. The factory hand and all the material of the shell route from the factory to the gun constitute the second Arm. Thirdly comes the artillery, the guns and the photographic aeroplanes working with the guns. Next I suppose we must count sappers and miners as a fourth Arm of greatly increased importance. The fifth and last combatant Arm is the modern substitute for cavalry; and that also is essentially a force of aeroplanes supported by automobiles. ”

“ When movements over the battlefield are contemplated, and the machine guns (unlimbered as soon as hostile fire is expected) are pulled or carried forward, they can utilise all cover which infantry is able to use. Cover that is barely sufficient for a section of infantry can protect an entire machine-gun detachment. The construction of the carriage on which guns, ammunition, and men can be conveyed, and the capabilities of the team, enable machine guns to keep up with mounted troops on the march. ”

“ Every member of the crew must know his duties so well as to make his motion automatic; the direction to turn the various handwheels, milled heads, and gears to obtain the desired result, and he must always do these things in the same way. The effect of small differences in laying may be graphically shown the gun crew by firing sub-caliber ammunition at a small arms steel target which rings a bell when a bull’s-eye is made. ”

“ It would also be well to bear in mind that we have, as a matter of fact, not even become accustomed to the numerous ammunition columns of our rapid fire artillery.
“In the cavalry, the necessity of dividing a machine gun battery for the purpose of assigning the parts thereof to brigades, and of assigning machine guns to reconnaissance and other independent detachments, must be reckoned with. When we bear in mind that single machine guns are to be used only in exceptional cases, the machine gun battery intended for the cavalry cannot well be made smaller than four guns.” ”

“ It is very light and very flexible and it is claimed that it is quite effectual in stopping rifle and machine-gun bullets.
Thus we see in what different ways inventions grow. Some are warlike from first to last, like the gun and the torpedo, but we find a vast range of peaceful things growing into implements of warfare, as the farmer's tractor has been developed into the tank, while not less interesting are the old ideas revived and adapted to modern needs, exemplified by the hand-grenade and the chain armour. ”

“ Para. 188.—The range and striking effect of the machine gun is identical with that of the infantry rifle. The rapid succession of shots and the narrow concentration of the cone of dispersion, together with the possibilities of uniting several guns on a limited front, render it feasible for machine guns to obtain rapidly a decisive success in certain positions, and even at long ranges to inflict heavy losses in a short [199] time on large and deep targets. Machine guns, however, are of small use to a commander fighting a protracted rifle-fire engagement. ”

“ Guns work in groups or batteries of six guns each, and three batteries form a brigade. If you see artillery on the march, you will notice that the guns and their wagons always follow each other, and never go two abreast. In battle the artillery form a line of guns, with about nineteen yards between gun and gun. Three men work each gun, and they are protected by a steel shield. The horses and drivers take cover some distance in the rear of the guns, but within easy reach of them. ”

“ In the “submachine” gun, as the new weapon is called, the barrel (or rather an extension of the barrel) and the receiver, in which the operating mechanism is contained, are locked together by a wedge. The wedge slides in slots set at an angle of 80 degrees with the axis of the barrel. When a cartridge [368] is fired the wedge remains fast while the bullet is traveling through the bore, but when it emerges and the pressure of the gases falls off the wedge slides, unlocking the breech mechanism. The gun is remarkable for its simplicity and the fewness of its parts. ”