A Better Weapon

Tests given the new Garand (semiautomatic rifle) at the Aberdeen proving grounds in Maryland were so successful that there is prospect of developing a valuable new arm for the infantry. The new rifle approximates the 1903 Springfield in weight and size. It has an automatic ejector to discharge the empty shells and reload, but it is necessary to pull the trigger for every shot.

In the tests it developed a firing rate of 60 shots a minute as compared with the 25 shots a minute of the Springfield, which is considered one of the best army rifles in use.

The inventor of the new rifle is John C. Garand, for many years an employee of the Springfield Arsenal. A War Department memorandum spoke of Mr. Garand's weapon as one that had possibilities for " rapid, accurate and sustained firing from the shoulder, though being at the same time a light, portable gun which can be carried without fatigue by the individual soldier."