FARROW ARMS.
During an extensive period of active service in the Northwest, while an officer in the United States Arniv, commanding Indian Scouts, and while Tactical In structor at the United States Military Academy at West l'cint, the author made a searching study of fire-arms hoping he nii.c,dit discover or invent an arm thor cmghly suited for military service in the field. During his association with the Umatilla Indians and when lie captured the tribe of hostile -Sheepeater- Indians, in the Salmon River Mountains of Idaho in 1879, he had a great variety of arms at his disposal for the purpose of making comparisons. No two Indians pos sessed arms of the same pattern and caliber ; and, yet with few exceptions each thought his arm possessed special features of merit. At that time the Springfield, caliber .45, was the Service arm. It had numerous features of merit, and with the possible exception of its large caliber, was in every way superior to the Krag Jorgensen rifle, the arm at present used by the United States Army. A g-,00d mili tary arm is a good sporting arm and for the purpose of selecting the best or most effective the two classes may be considered together. The author's models of rifle, carbine and revolver embrace the same features and differ only in calibers and minor features. In selecting or contriving the best arm, the following considera tions are of first and vital importance: i—For safety, it is important that the working parts of the gun be made strong; that the breech-bolt be well supported and completely locked before the firing-pin can reach the primer ; that the firing-pin be well backed, or supported, to prevent the same from being- blown out to the rear, by the escape of gases from defective shells or primers. The firing-pin should be retired from the front face of the breech-bolt in the first movement of the extracting mechanism, at each discharge of the rifle, and held back from the front face of the bolt, until the gun is loaded and the action completely closed; the action of the firing spring should be strong and quick.
2—The magazine mechanism should be arranged so that double loading, from the magazine be made impossible; the magazine feeding mechanism should be simple, and free from tendencies to jam when the gun is being operated; the feed ing mechanism should be such that jamming or clogging of the rifle when in use, is rendered impossible.
3—The extracting mechanism should be powerful; the extractor hook should be so arranged that the hook will not ride over the cartridge heads under a heavy pull; and the hook should have sufficient purchase on the shell to extract the same from the gun when it is heated. The extracting force should be multiplied at least one to ten; that is to say one pound exerted on the bolt, to exert a force on the empty shell, or cartridge, equal to ten pounds.
4—The ejecting mechanism Ehould be so arrang-ed as to positively expel the shell before the loaded cartridge can be fed up from the magazine; or before the loaded shell can be inserted in the breech opening. The mechanism of the gun should be so arrang,ed, that when the action is opened, and the cleaning rocl in serted in the barrel, the cleaning rod cannot produce any disorder in the operating mechanism of the gun.
gun should be so constructed as to be capable of beitg used alternately, as desired; either as a single loader, or as a magazine gun, at the will of the opera tor ; and should also be arranged so that the gun can be used as a single loader, while the full magazine is held in reserve. The magazine should be so constructed, that a single loaded shell, or a succession of single loaded shells can be inserted in the magazine at the will of the operator, without the necessity of completely filling the magazine with loaded shells. The gun should be capable of being in stantly used, at the will of the operator, as a magazine gun or as a single loader or as a single loader or magazine gun alternately.