UNIT WILL HAVE NEW RIFLES

Arrangements have been completed whereby the Reserve Officers' Training Corps will have for use in a very short time a thousand Springfield rifles in place of the Krag-Jorgensens in use at present. The Corps is very fortunate to be able to secure these new guns at the present time, for there is a heavy demand for them from military organizations throughout the country, and in addition every available weapon will be needed for the new army which the Government will raise. It is expected that the rifles will be delivered by the time the R. O. T. C. goes into intensive training for the summer.

This type of rifle is known officially as the United States magazine rifle, Model 1903. It differs in many features from the Krag-Jorgensens, the model of 1898, which were supplied by the Government for the use of the Regiment last year, and which the Corps is now using. The barrel is considerably shorter, a fact which changes to a certain extent the balance of the piece. The same bolt action is used in both types, but instead of the side feeding magazine of the Krag-Jorgensen, the clip used in the Springfield are shoved in from the top. The calibre of the new arms is 30-30, and the muzzle velocity is 27,000 feet a second. It has an effective range of over a mile.

Arrangements are being made for the use of the Wakefield range for the Corps. On this range there are facilities for men to shoot at 200, 300, 500, 600 and longer ranges at the same time. It is probable that after sufficient practice each man will shoot his "record," by the result of which he will be classed as a marksman, a sharpshooter, or an expert rifleman.