THE NEW SHORT RIFLE.
[To THY EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
you grant me the favour of space in your valuable paper for the following P In the Spectator of February 11th, in the article on " The Opening of Parliament and the State of the Army," you have used the adoption of the new short rifle as a stick to beat the Government and War Office with. Nothing could indeed be more " fatuous " than the line of argu- ment to which you attribute its adoption. But one wonders that any one should think that it was on such grounds as you mention that the rifle was supplied to our troops. One would judge the case was simply this : that when the new rifle was devised the War Office discovered they had got an admirable weapon for use in the field, a weapon that combined with the necessary accuracy the balance which is one of the qualities most necessary in a good weapon, and sadly lacking in the long Lee-Metford ; and also it was lighter than the latter weapon, which, surely it is unnecessary to point out, is as great again to the man on foot as to the mounted man. The range of the rifle is long enough, in all conscience. In these days the mounted man requires as good a shooting weapon as the infantry, and fortunately it has been possible to provide him with it. Having turned its attention seriously to the shooting of the Army, the War Office appears to have learnt the qualities which a sportsman knows to be essential in a rifle. Let one who has used the rifle for many years, both at the target and in the field, commend to your notice, and to those uninitiated in its use, the admirable letter from "Captain" in the Times of the 14th inst.—I am, Sir, &c., [The best answer• to our correspondent is to be found in the letter in Monday's Times describing the exhaustive tests lately made by a body of distinguished rifle-shots at Bisley.— ED. Spectator.]
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