< Previous&.8 in the ;5rd r!lOdel submitted on the eth inatent. It was decided that tho butt trap should be an integral p ortion of th0 l"ifle but tht:~.t the mr.:..gazine The B.G.O. being proeent. In reply to General E ackinnon who represented the desirability of the War Office eup!Jlyinr, nnd is~uing tho r.A,p:proved rifle to Club :-: r..nd Gra.det con- e at a fixed J'(..te, the Secret u..ry of State otat<:!d th at he thought there >;ould be insuperablediffj. cul tiee in tho way of this b(~ing da ne. L , eue . The Nttt ional Rifle Association would merely ask that the: Government ehoul d as si et t hem by regi et l3ring the desirne of the rifle eo that it mi~ht be called ~ covernrn.en t de eir.:n and :rurthe r b y a.rr anr.ing to mark rifles made by o.pp roved tirmr.. not with a vie w to p:u ar ~;~.nt eeing thGir r)u c;.lit~· 'but in order t o vo u ch r cr th eir ha7 1ng been mad~ by a r e co gnised firm. Tl':.e n. of A. stated t ha.t he did not think the re wo uld b~ any difficulty in mee ting th e views vf . --· ------- ----· 11 tho National Riflu Aseoci a tion. 'l'he Recretery of St u.. te said he would be glad t o htj lp a.s r~.tr ~~a waf-3 in hi e r1o wer witho u t commi tt ing ·i.; ht.:: W.O. in un;y way finan c ir.d l y . Le 'NUB in n;ymJ.u.t h y :l'i th t LL. object the the y outrw of t ht:: cuu.nt1·y in t h e us u o f the rifle und p ut fonwc.rd b y t rc0 Associ&tion; the details could b e Aft t; r the intE:rvie v; the Commi ttoe decided to Eak e th~ follo ~~ng reco~n ~dations to the Secre t ary Of St u. te 1 ' ' r-t:._ -- l . I<ocorrmi''-!ndations of the Comm1 t tee a.ppoint~:Jd to o0asirl0r th0 pattern of miniature rifle best suited tor .. .u;G en mini&.ture ranr.~es ~.>nd f'vr drill :pun, osos in the The COr.'l1I! 1tt c::<~ racomrn0nd thE.. &doption of the r·1r1e subm1 ttc:d. by them, lfi11ich sh\Juld be knOl'il'l ae the W~ Oft1oe miniature rifle. ,• . ' The ma~azina should be an option~ feature. They recommend that the War Off~oe register the design of the rifle, which should then be handed over to th~ NationCi!.l Hifle Aeeociettion v1h0 would moke ~11 cu-run;~(.n~~ nts for the eupply and ieeue of the rifle to Clubs, Cndet Cor:pe, &c:. 'l'he War Offic e to arrange to m~rk with a special mark all rifles m~de by firme approved by them, thi&S mark to bo a guarantee only thut the rifle ha6 been mu.de by an authorieod f:irm. 'rhe lJaticn Ell. Rifle Association to eubmi t to t}:;.v W~:.~..r Of fice tht;: nwnes of those firms with whom they dcl!iro to vlf:;l.O(j contructe for riflee v~h ich they wiah to not tv l :c 1iorn c b~ t h~;; We.r Office b ut. t o be aJ~r anged tor by \ ; ·. b y t h e Nation ~l Rifle Aosociation. ;f.._.! ~ ili!~.!Jval~ . · .. 5A ''I· ~'/)~ (Sed:) Che ylesmore, r~1aj: Gen _: Chairr::<.tn, :Jation ~:W. Rifle Asaooiation. j!p C:-f: ~ . ihZd._ (Sgd:) John Hopton, c.r.s.A. ( Sgd:) T. P . :!.i'n-3man tle. . I ~·- ,:.},;\·;,.:~,~·~. ·_· .:~~[~:r~~~~ .·. . .. · ' .. ~ ,~ __ ,, ·.· ~ - -· ,, .14, . . -,, • . · . ·' I concur generally in the recommendations of the other members of this Committee, but submit for the decision of the Secretary of State for War the point referred to in the attached rider. C. Luard Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubsi ' I .--. ,.--- / ~ (/~/er /8_ ~~- ~~~~~~ ~ cM.f~~· ' I )'h.. 'f ~ /J7/~ ::/V'~ 02.( t.._ ~ ocA i "'-"'-- ~-, ~ ~ ~ cf wf~ a._,(_ r4-<t '"'-< t ·~ ~ /u~ ' ~I · ~ ,d~ rl~a- Jt ~ ~---x:;; ~ ~ (... /~""' . ',~~~ ,(~ .r~ ~1\ ~ /A;;.<;( ~ ~ ~~~~~~ J~ "~ ~ ~ hr.-a IA.iU ~ 1.---n..: ~ ~;, ~ ........ I"""' ... "': ~kr /A..-.., htnt ~ ~ ~ .!~ ;,.u:::_ /.~ ~A( L- .4-: li? A . /~ .if?~ U ~ :/r~ ~~ I ~ ~~ ~ ~t;.~U'~ ~ "" ~ .P~ ~- c&---7~ . .. Rider to the recommendations of the Army Council Committee on Miniature Rifles. _______________ In giving to the National Rifle Assn., an authority to make all arrangements for the supply and issue of these rifles to Clubs, Cadet Corps, etc., it would seem to be necessary in the public interest that it should be specifically reserved and ordered that the firms whose rifles would be marked as suggested should be perfectly free to sell these rifles to the general public at prices not higher than those at which they would supply them to or through the N.R.A. I venture to think that the Secretary of State would prefer that no restriction should be placed on their power to do this. C. Luard 19/2/06 r I - i.r-1 .. -.r t·:·..- Proceedings of the Miniature Rifle Committee 8th February, 1906. Present. Major General W.H.Mackinnon, C.V.0. 1 C.B.,) Director of Auxiliary Forces. ) Chairman. Maj o.r General Lord Cheyl•3smore. N.R.A. Major General C.E.Luard. Brigadier General C.F.Radden, C.B. D. of A. Colonel J.D.Hopton. c.r.s.A. Major Hon. T.F.Freemantle. N.R.A. ; " I '1 i1 l [J / l(..R.~. ~ - V , f\ • 1.,,;- ) -- Mr. R. Martin Holland. The Superintendent, Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, attended and submitted the three model miniature rifles referred to in c.s.o.F's minute of ? /2/06 in ?? /15/410?. He reported that the rifling with a twist of ljl6 gave better results than those with a twiet of 1/19 and submitted the targets made by each of the three models. He thought that even better results would be obtained with the ljl6 twist if the grooves were a little shallower and this would also facilitate manu- facture. The \ ·. \ ! I / / / jc The Committee decided to adopt a twist of ,. ljl6 with the depth of groove recommended by SUperinten- dent, Royal Small Arms Factory. The types of notch for backsight were fitted to the model rifles one of V and the other of U shape. A barley-corn foresight was fitted in conjunction with the V and a straight-edged foresight in conjunction with the U. The Committee decided that the same type of notch and foresight should be adopted as would be fitted to the Mark II short L.E.Rifle. Superintendent, R.s. A.F. was asked to submit at the next meeting a model rifle with the sights and horns protecting backsight rather lower than those on the models before the Committee. It was further decided upon the recommenda• tion of the Superintendent, R.S.A.F. that the travel of .,_, the bolt should be ljath of an inch longer than those shown. In all other respects the pattern of model \ &ubmitted was approved including the type of magazine. It was considered that the butt trap should be an optional feature of the rifle which could be supplied either as a single leader or as a magazine arm. As regards the question of supply and i~sue General Hadden stated that the Secretary of State wished this ·---· ·- 1 this to be entirel:l· &. matter for the Clubs &:c., and that the War Office should not do more than inspect and'· mark such arms as were submitted for inspection by the manufacturers as a guarantee that they were of the pattern and standard decided upon. Clubs and Cadet Corps &c. ehculd be warned that arms not so inspected ... were not in any v1ay guaranteed by the War Office and that they would purchase such arms at their own risk. General Mackinnon said that the understanding from the beginning had been that the Government would control the supply and would issue the rifle at a Vocabulary rate. Otherwise the country would be flcoded with cheap BelE,;ian and other imitations of the rifle which would be sold as the Government pattern of miniature rifle and would be largely bought on account of their cheapness. He thought a great deal of harm wottld be done both to the Clubs and to the reputation of the War Office. He thought it essential that the Government should control both the supply and the issue of the rifle as far as it was possible to do so. General Hadden considered that the Clubs would be amply protected if it was given out that no rifle was guaranteed unless it had been viewed and marked Next >