COMPETITIVE TEST OF BREECH-LOADING WEAPONS THE INVENTOR'S STATEMENT - REPORTS OF TWO BOARDS - DISHONORABLE PROPOSITION TO SECURE THE CONTRACT REJECTED PECUNIARY REVERSES RAILROAD SERVICE AT CHICAGO AND AT NEW YORK- THE THREATENING WAR-STORM RHODE ISLAND PREPARES FOR THE FRAY.

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HE long-talked of competitive test of fire-arms arrived at last. On the 17th of August, 1857, a

board of officers of the army assembled at West Point for the purpose of making trials of breech-loading rifles, with the view of ascertaining which arm of this description was best suited for the military service. The board was composed of six officers, representing different branches of the service, with Lieut.-Col. B. L. Beall, of the First Dragoons, as president.

Eighteen inventors submitted their arms, which were successively tested in the order named in a list from the War Department. Each rifle was fired twenty rounds at 100 yards, and twenty rounds at 600 yards, with ammunition furnished by the inventor. The first six shots were fired by him, or by some person designated by him, and the remainder by a member of the board, or some one designated by the board. The penetration was to be determined by firing three rounds at a pine-board target, with

powder furnished by the government. To test the comparative rapidity of fire, eighteen rounds were fired by the inventor, or some one designated by him, and one hundred rounds were then fired at the 100-yard target without cleaning the piece, to test the working of the machinery. Several of the inventors were not ready, but General Burnside was promptly on hand, and although his firearm stood No. 16 on the programme, his was the sixth tested. He fired the first six shots himself, and the carbine was then taken by his old room-mate, Captain Heth, who was a member of the board. The carbine weighed 6.6 pounds, the length of the barrel was 23.75 inches, and the diameter of the bore was .54 inches. The charge of 50 grains of powder was in a brass shell which weighed 173 grains, and the weight of the ball was 150 grains. A number of the shots were fired with the Maynard primer, and the remainder with percussion caps. There was no escape of gas at the joint, nor any interruption in the working of the machinery, while the use of a thick wad between the powder and the ball removed the dirt from the barrel very effectually on each discharge.

The board having requested the inventors of the arms tested to state in writing the advantages which they each claimed for their inventions, General Burnside filed the following paper:

WEST POINT, Sept. 30, 1857.

Having been requested by the board to present a statement of the advantages I claim for my arm over other "breech-loaders," I have the honor to submit the following:

My arm is simple in construction, there being no small complicated part in the breech-loading machinery.

It is strong, compact, and durable; the stock and barrel being firmly connected together, the barrel cannot become loosened in the stock by constant wear and jarring, as is the case with arms that lift up or throw down the entire barrel in the act of loading. The chamber works upon

the simplest hinge, and when locked in its place for firing is independent of that hinge. The open joints of the chamber cannot wear by firing, as they are at each fire perfectly packed by the cartridge itself, and not by metal disks or cups connected with the arm, which disks or cups would be liable to wear and break by heating, cooling, and rusting, causing the joints to open, the gas to escape, and the arm to foul in firing. The joints in my arm need not to be ground to fit; in fact, they can be the 1-32 of an inch or more open, and then be perfectly packed by the cartridge.

It is light and portable.

It can be fired with as much speed as is desirable.

It is not liable to foul in firing in either the barrel or chamber, owing to the peculiar construction of the cartridge.

The cartridge is water-tight, and can be taken from the chamber in perfect condition after loading, thereby making a great saving in the expenditure of cartridges, and securing the most necessary principle in warfare, and border-warfare particularly; that is, a full reliance upon the efficiency of the cartridge at all times and in all weather.

The arm can be fired with loose powder and ball or paper cartridges. The cartridge exactly fills the chamber, and the ball, as a consequence, starts from its bed with the axis corresponding with axis of the bore.

The cost of the cartridge is about double that of the paper ones, but the cases can be reloaded. The increase in cost, of course, is trifling, if they are more efficient.

I have studied to make my arm a purely military one.

Respectfully submitted,

(Signed),

A. E. BURNSIDE.

To the Board for Examining Breech-Loading Rifles, West Point.

The board, after careful investigation and due deliberation, made the following report, which awarded the palm to General Burnside:

After a full and careful consideration of all the arms tried, the board are of the unanimous opinion that the breech-loading rifle submitted by A. E. Burnside, of Rhode Island, is best suited for the military service.

As a breech-loading arm it is thought to be simple and strong in its parts, and therefore less liable to get out of order than any other. The cartridge is simple in its structure, strong, and perfectly protects the powder from moisture, and the gun from the clogging action of the gas. In expressing this opinion the board do not wish to be understood as

disparaging the merits of the other guns tried, for they consider that some of them possess much merit, and evince much ingenuity in their construction.

In submitting this opinion the board feel it their duty to state that they have seen nothing in these trials to lead them to think that a breechloading arm has yet been invented which is suited to replace the muzzleloading gun for foot troops. On the contrary, they have seen much to impress them with an opinion unfavorable to the use of a breech-loading arm for general military purposes.

General Burnside expected that on the receipt of this award, the Secretary of War would order his arms to the amount of $90,000, which was the unexpended balance of the appropriation. To his surprise, only three hundred carbines were ordered, and it was evident that the Secretary of War was, for some reason, - unknown to General Burnside, unwilling that he should receive the benefits of the appropriation.

After much delay the ordnance officer appointed a new board, composed of three ordnance officers, with Major Mordecair as chairman, to test breech-loading arms. Seven carbines were presented, and were subjected to a variety of severe tests, including immersion in water without subsequent cleaning.

The board made a report, in which all of the arms were criticised as having serious defects which prevented their giving any one of them an unqualified approval. The report then said:

"best

Being required, however, by the terms of the law, to select the model" of breech-loading arms, the board are of opinion that among the arms offered for their examination, the Burnside carbine is the least objectionable for use in the hands of mounted troops.

The construction of this arm seems to be sufficiently strong; it can be easily and safely loaded and handled on horseback; the movements are simple and easily understood; there is no escape of gas from the joints; the chamber and barrel are kept clean and not subject to be clogged

by fragments of the (metallic) cartridge-case; its range and accuracy of fire are very satisfactory, with a moderate charge of powder, and no inconvenient recoil.

General Burnside hoped that after this indorsement by the second board of the award, contracts to the amount of $90,000 would at once be entered into with the "Bristol Rifle Works." But on going to Washington, he was told that Secretary Floyd hesitated about directing the contract to be made, and he received from different quarters hints that he must share the profits if he desired to receive the appropriation.

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One of his classmates at West Point, a gentleman of high honor and respectability, says: "About a month after the board made its award, I visited Washington and found Burnside there. I asked him how he was getting on. He replied, Badly, there is something wrong, but I will know to-night.' We were occupying the same room. After midnight he came in, awoke me and said, 'I am a ruined man! I met a man to-night, by appointment, and he informed me that if I would pay $5,000 I could get the award, otherwise not. I at once indignantly refused,'— and after a moment he added, there is but one thing I regret, and that is, that I did not fell him to the ground!'"

Reverses are common to all the world, but few are prepared to meet them. General Burnside had for some months been aware that unless he obtained the government appropriation, the "Bristol Rifle Works" must go into bankruptcy, and he was the better prepared for the blow. Friends offered their aid, but while he thanked them for their sympathy, he declined accepting any further pecuniary assistance. Going to New York, he assigned everything which he possessed, even the letterspatent for his invention, to the creditors of the Bristol