Mars Pistol Manual

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The

29/35, \Yhitehous.; StreetAston.

BIRMINGHAM,OCTOBER, 1902 .

' 'Mars" Pistol.

THis \ Pistol occupies a unique positiOn 10 that it IS the only Automatic Pistol whichcan fir e a heavy rrojectile at a high velocity.

The Revolver is essentially a short range weapon of low velocity, but possesses astopp ing power absolutely lacking in the Automatic Pistols at preseiit on the market. Th eproj ectiles of the latter attain fairly high velocities, bu t being of small size an d light weight,they are totally deficient in the stopping power essential to a defensive weapon.

Th e shock-p1oducing effect of a Pistol bullet depends upon the striking area, mass,weig ht, and velocity of the projectile. Thus the maximum useful effect can only be obtainedfrom a heavy bullet travelling at a high velocity, and in this respect no other approachesthe combination of shock-producing an d ranging powers found in the "Mars."

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To obtain such a combination has been the work of some years and constant experiments ; the special features now embodied in th e " Mars " being radically different from thoseof all other automat ic small arms .

In the "Mars" Firearms tlze entire effort of tlze powder gC!s has been expt:nded beforetlze breech commences to unlock, as only AFTER TH E TERMINATION OF TH E RECOILdoes tlzzs unlocking take place.

Th e recoil is o r b e d in compressing springs, which , by their reaction -(a) Unlock the breech;(b) Withdraw and eject the empty case ;(c ) Reload;(d ) Close and lock the breech.

Tlz e j}[agazine (which serves as butt or hand le) in the " Mars" Pistol, lies imm ediatelyunder tlze barrel an d the cartridges are . withdmwn rearwardly therefrom (see illustration page I2),thus the barrel can be made of greater lengt h than in any other Automatic Pistol within the samelimits of overall length, i in all others the breech en d of th e barrel must c ~ m m e n c e in fro nt of themagazine . Now, conditwns as to calibre, pitch of rifling, &c., being identical , the lengt h of th e barrelpr actically determines quantity of powder which can be burned, and this ag a in determinesthe velocity obtainable. Therefore, these fundamental principles ensure for the "Mars " Pistola marked s up eriority to any present or future competitor, as they are ~ ; s e to the attainmentof equal ballistic results . :J

When fired from a rest a t short ranges, there is little to choose in acc_llracy betweena first-class Revolver an d any good Automatic Pistol, bu t ow in g to it s much better ba lance (the(centre of gravity being in the hand) much better shoot ing can be made with a " Ma rs " Pistolby an ine xperienced shot than with a revolver. At te n paces it is no t difficult to group eightshots in as many seconds within a four inch circle.

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Description of "Mars " Military Pistols .

Length of BarrelLength of Pi sto lWeig ht of Pi stol with MagazineDi ameter of BulletCap acity of MagazineWeight of ProjectileMuzzle VelocityCha rges ...

9 sin. overall.I I s in. overall.48oz .o 335in. o 36oin. o4soir.Eight and ten ca r tridges .140 gr ain s , I6o gr ain s , 220 g rains.I,750 ft. sec. , I, 64o ft. sec. . I,250 ft . ec(acc ording to weight of bullet, charge and calibre).w to I 2Yz g ra ins of Smokeless Powder.

Th e following tab le shows the comparative energ ies deve lop ed in the Colt Re vo lver,Colt Automatic, Mauser Aut


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Fig. r.OPERATION. - To withdraw magazine out of the Pistol, press the button on the lefthand side of trigger guard, when it may be eas ily withdrawn . Th e magazine is charged bypushing the cartridge in, bullet first, t h ~ n holding duwn the previous cartridge, so as to leave

space for the next one to be pushed in on top. Th e magazine may be charged with ilnynumber of cartridges , from one to eight. Th e magazine is then inserted into the handle, an dpressed in as far as possible . Then, as in fig . r, take th e Pistol in the right hand, and with th eleft hand turn the Bolt Handl e as tar as it will rot a te from right to le ft .

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F ig. 2 .

Now pu ll back as far as poss ibl e , (see fig . 2) , a nd release shar ply . This movementwi thd raws the cartri dge from the magaz ine , and e levate s it , cocks the hamm er, and releasin gth e bolt, is pul led for war d by it s spring, pu shes th e live cartridge into th e ch amb er , and locksthe breech. Th e Pisto l is now ready for firing

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Fig . 3

To fire the Pistol, press the firmly. The l::arrel and bolt earner will nowrecoil together fully locked against the resistance of th eir sp rin g s, as shown in fig . 3

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F ig . 4-

Then , as soon as the powder gases have been expended, the barrel and bolt begin tobe pulled forward by their springs, the breech being unlocked during the first part of the. for1vrtrd movement. Th e barrel is now pulled forward by its spr in g into its norma l pos ition,the empty case being held by the retracted bolt until ejected by the elevat ion of th e freshcartridge. See fig. 4

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Fig. 5As soon as t he trigger IS re leased and returns to it s forward position, it will disengag e

t he bolt and a llow it to mo ve forward (see fig .=;), pushing th e fr es h cartridge in to the chamber,an d locking the breech , thus making the Pistol ready for anoth er shot, an d on pr essing th etrigger the opera t ion will be repeated until the magazine exh a us ted.

Th e Pist o l sh oul d be kept oiled wi th a Lh in o il Lha l wi ll not congeal , and all scr ewskept ti gh t. After firing , clean ou t the barrel w ith Ni troclean, and after wiping dry , coat withRi filin e .

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR STRIPPING.

Take ou t the Magazi ne by pressing the button (G), and withdrawing by means of theloop on the bottom of tbe Ma gaz ine .

Unscrew th e two Bolt Ca rr ier Nuts (H), and withdraw the Springs; then cock theHammer, and unlock the Bolt by turning th e H andle (I) from Right to Left, and withdraw theBolt Carrier (C) from t he Body (B).Then turn the Gib (] ) until the Sa w Slot is horizontal, then press ou t from the opposite

side . No w the Ba rr el (A), toge ther with its Spring (K), Buffer Bush (L), and Buffer Spring (M) ma ybe drawn ou t backwa rd from the body of the Pistol.

To take ou t the Lockwork, unscrew the Hammer Bolt Pin (N), then pre ss ou t theHammer Bolt (0}, when the Hammer, together with its Spring, may be taken ou t of the Body ofthe Pistol. Then unscrew the Trigger Pin (P), an d take off the Lock Pl a te (Q).Th e Detent '(R) is then turned round from Right to Left as far as possible, when it ma ybe lifted out of th e Body. Th en lift ou t the Connec ting Rod (S) from the Trigger (T); next pressou t the Trigger Pin (P), and withdraw the Trigger (T) from the top of the Body.To take ou t th e Sear ( U), unscrew the Sea r Pin (Y), when it will com e away free ly.Now the Cam Pie ce (W) in the centre of the Body can be pulled ou t backwa rd s , a ndthen th e Sear Spring (X ) pre sse d ou t from behind.To take ou t Maga zine Catch (G) g iv e a smart tap from behi.nd, when it will spring ou t .To strip the Bolt Ca rrier (C) ta ke hold of the Sliding B6lt ,(l/1 ( n o ~ shown in drawing},

and turn upwards, wh en it will come away.Th en take ou t th e Elevator Pin (Y), by turning the head downward and press ou t

from opposite !;ide when th e Elevator will drop out.Next lift the Spring (Z) on th e scr ew out of its catch, . and unscrew and t


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Then turn the Handle (I} from Right to Left, as far as possible, wheu the Bolt (D) ca nbe pull

. To take out the Extractor (b) from the Bolt (D) lift up the front until it can be turnedoppos1te Slot in Bolt, when it can be lifted out from the Bolt. ,To put together, reverse th e operation, taking care to put back each part in the same

order as taken to pieces.

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'FRESS OPINIONS."THE SPORTING GOODS REVIEW,''. December 16th, 1901.THE "MARS" AUTOMATIC PISTOL.

In February. 1899, not very mt;cl1 less thanthree years ago; "n e of the London daily paperspublished an article on the subjecl: of autqmaticpistols, wherein the supineness of British manufacturers was strongly reprobated. The monthfollowing . we were able to show that the Britinhmanufacturers were not, as a matter of fact,laggi'ng so hopelessly behind. After speaking ofthe _Webley-Fosbery revolver - which in its finalform we were only enab led to describe and illustrate in ou r issue of August rsth la st - we went onto ')pstance an English au tomatic pistol, called the" Mars," which had -been invented by Mr. H. W.Gabbett-Fairfax . "Th e pre sen t model," we wrote on Mar ch I sth, 1899. " i s of '400 calibre, and thebullet weighs 175 grains, the ca.;e being a straighttaper, bu t in its final form it is quite possible thecalibre of the ' Mars ' automatic pistol will bereduced to 360, with a boUl e-neck case. Until

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'i'these _' details have been thoroughly worked out,furthe( speculative discussion can serve no goodpurpose. \Ve hope, however, to return to thes u b j ~ c t as soon as th e ar m is perfected."

Fo r some considerable time nothing more wa shP-arc:l, of the new we.apon, bu t it happened a fewmon.th s ago that ali:nost by accideFJt an automat icpistol of an unfamiliar type found its way into ou r-hands. We thought, at first sight, that it was,perhaps, some new kind of Borchardt, a pistol firstdescribed in this journal so long ago as January,1894 But a very cursory examination satisfiedus that it was not, and ultimately we found it tobe the.Jong-talked of ' 'Mars." Even then, however, the hope ex pressed in 1899 had to remainunfulfilled, and in May last we contented ourselveswith merely recording the fact that the pistol ha dbeen exhaustively tested by the Small Arms Committee. After a lapse of yet more time the weaponha s 'be .en publicly exhibited, and we a rc now atliberty to give details concerning this, the first allBritish automatic. pistol that has been pro'duced.


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As will be seen from the illustration, the resemblance to the Borchardt consists chiefly in the factthat the handle of the pisto l is util ised as amagazine It s_ most important peculiarity is thecomp


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cartridge into the chamber. In the illustration itwill be observed that two small projections ar efixed at th e back of the breec h . With their aid ahalf turn is given to th e blo ck wh en it ca n be seenthat th e closure is effec ted by mea ns of three lugsof taper shape, so arrange d th a t while in oneposition the block is lo ked with absolute security,in the other it is not locked a t all. Having withth e fingers impart ed thi s turning movement, th ebolt can be .withdra wn a nd th e hammer c o ~ k e d .In most automatic pi s tol such a movementuncovers the to p of th e ma ga z ine, bu t in th e' 'Mars' this is not: so. Th e withdrawal of theblock is therefore ar ra nge d th a t in combinationwith an elevating devi ce it draws th e top ca rtridgeout of the magaz in e a nd tilt s it up in such a wa y .that th e return of th e bloc k ca rri es the cartridgeinto the chamber. Arte r th a t, t he first shot maybe discharged, and th e a utom a tic action alreadydescribed will continue to pl ace, as th etrigger is pressed and released, un t il th e magazinehas been emptied, whi ch it is sa id can be accomplished in about three second ;; . To secure theautomatic relea e of t he blo ck wh en the pistol isworking tinder th e influence of recoil, a spring isprovided to impa rt th e necessary turning movement. Th e barrel and bloc k being locked together

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while in their extreme rearward position, continueso locked at the beginning of the return travel. Infirst quarter of an inch or so the turning springis brought into operation, an d the block, immediately revolving, is left behind on its carriagewith the spent cartridge case held in the jaws ofthe extractor, r.eady to be ejected as the nextcartridge rises.

In the 360 model, th e case used as we conjectured it would be, of bottle-neck shape, whilethe 450 is a straight taper. We take it , therefore, that the first pistol, th e 4oo bore, has beendeveloped into th e 450, while the 360 ha s beenperfected, and an additional model of 8 5 mm .( 3246) ha s been introduced, so that a weapon ofye t smaller calibre is available if required . Th e450. as we have said, takes eight cartridges, thesmaller bores taking ten and eleven. Th e bulletsused are nickel-cased . Th e 450 ha s a charge ofI 2} grains cf Cordite, an d th e . 360, I 2 graint:..Th e cartridg-es are not held in a clip, th e magazinein the handle ;;erving th e same purpose. With th e450, the velocity developed is 1,250 ft . sec. , an dthe velocity energy 760 ft. pounds, while the 360gives velocity r ,640 ft. sec., an d develops aboutg6o ft. pounds of energy.


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"ARMS AND EXPLOSIVES," December, 1901.THE "MARS" AUTOMATIC PISTOL.

On the 23rd ult. representatives of th e Presswere invited to witness an interesting display ofthe performance of the " Mars " automatic pistolby its inventor, Mr . Hugh W. Gabbett-Fairfax .Not the least striking ofthe claims to nov elty pu tforward on behalf of this weapon is the fac t thatit is of English design and manuf acture throughout, an d shoots El'lglish-made ammunition. Mr.Gabbett-Fairfax has been at work on the variousdetails of the pistol for several years pas t , and hasdoubtless experienced most of the vic iss itudes ofalternate hope and anxiety incidenta l to the shapingof a perfected article from the fir st crude imag inin gs ,but it must be admitted that the succes.> attendingthe recent demonstration will go far to compensatethe inventor for the stress and strain which alonecould have brought about so satisfactory a con-summation .

Apart from the fact of it s British origin, the" Mars " has variG)lS 'other fea tures entitling it tofavourable criticism. Hitherto there ba s bee n asomewhat distinct Aividing liq e betwee.n the auto -matic pistol and th 'e t'evol'ver in respl!i:t to : calibre,the ammunition of the former being, with oneexception, of relatively small calibre, an d in noway comparable in actually shock-producing effectswith the larger, heavier, and slower-moving bulletof the revolver. Re as ons for "this difference ar eno t far to seek. Th e tendency of the day towardshigh velocities an d long ranges needs no elaboration of explanation. Therefore, the fact stands

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that in the leading and successful types of automatic pistol now in use the ca libre ra rely exceeds3oo in., or the weight of bullet 100 grains, whilethe muzz-le velocity ranges between r ,ooo and1,400 ft : pe r second, ac; against the 455 calil?re,265 grain bullet, an d 700ft. per second velocity,which are adopted in th e Service revolver. Thereis no need in this place to go into a considerationof the relative merits or demerits of the two formsof arrri, or of the obvious difficulties to be encounter"d in providing satisfactory ammunition for therevolver. Th at is an aspect of the case whichmay be dea lt with elsewhere. Suffice it to saythat, for certain purposes, especially for practicalclose-range fighting, the revolver has always re-

tained it s full me as ure of adherents as a man-stopper, no matter what it s alleged infer iority maybe in ease of handling and working, range, a ndgeneral efficiency.H av ing th ese guiding marks in view, the invento r of th e '' Mars" pistol has turned his energiesin the direction of producing a weap on whichshould combine the s h o c k ~ p r o d u c qu a lities ofthe Service arm with the superior ballistics andthe more rapid manipulation of the automatic

pistol, .a,nd it. is .,intt:resting to n'Otice lHJw thedevelopment ha s been broug ht about; an d how fa.'rsuccessfully accomplished . At the present timethere are three cal ibr es of the "M a rs" in existenc, advancing by steady degrees from a mini-mum of 8s mm , or 3346 in.. to 360 in. and ~ 4 5 0in. I t will be noted that even the smallest calibreis la rg er than t he average of the oth er automaticpis tol s , whilst the second size equals that of th e


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largest of those arms, th e nominal 380 Colt orBrowning-. Th e la rgest ca libre is approx imate lythat of the British Service revo lver, bu t the ballisticqualities of the two arm s ar e of a very widelyremoved character. Th e Servi ce ca rtridge issufficiently well known to require no descriptionhere. I t consists of a bullet weig hin g- 265 g ra ins,which is propelled by 18 g ra in s of black powder,which give a mu zzle veloc ity of 700 ft. per second,th e muzzle energy therefore being 287ft. lbs. Thiscartridge is obvious ly an a nac hroni sm, retain edsolely because it see ms we ll-nigh imposs ible todevise anything better in conjunction with theprinciple of revolv in g chamb ers. On the otherhand, the car tridge for th e 450 ca libre "Mars"pistol is of distinctly up -to-da te des ign , weigh ingapproximately 363 g rs.. of which the empty shellcontributes I30 grs. Th e ni ckel-coated bullet isof 220 grs. weight, a nd is propell ed by from I 2to 14 grs. of Cordite, th e la tter am oun t onlyhaving . been quit e rece ntly adopted. This cartridge gives a muzzle velocity ot ahout I,zso ft.per second, corresponding to an energy 0f about76o ft. lbs. In oth er words , it gives a muzzleenergy practicallv 27'3 greater than that obtained with the Serv ice :1 mmunition. Superiorrelative results arc a lso obtai ned fro m th e smallercalibres, the 8! 111111. pis tol, . with its 140 grs.bullet an d 1,750 ft. per sec ond ve locity, showing amuzzle energy of 950 ft. Ibs., and the 360 calibre,with a bullet weighing 160 g rs., and a muzzlevelocity of about I, 64o ft. per second, deve lopingabo ut 960 ft. lbs. of energy . Th e a mmunition forth e th r e ca libres of "M a rs " pis tol is supplied by:rvJ essrs. E lcy Bros., Ltd .

Turning to th e weapon it se lf, on pa ges 9 & 10, wegive herew it h tw o illus tr at ions show ing the "Mars"automatic pi s tol ; th e on e showing the pistol prior17

to the firing of a shot, and the other the we ap onin a transition stage, having ejected a fired case,while another cartridge is just visible emerging onits wa y into the chamber of the pistol. I t will benoted that the magazine is contained within thestock, being in the form of a slide inserted frombelow, much in the same manner as in th e Colt,Luger, and Borchardt automatic arms ; an d in th e360 calibre, which is th e one here shown, th emagazine is constructed to hold ten cartridges.By the way, th e 8t mm. an d 360 cartridges ar e ofthe bottle-neck pattern, while that of th e 450calibre is straight-tapered, all being provided witha rim groove. Each calibre of bullet has twocannelu.res, an d the inventor of th e "Mars" pistolma y take some credit to himself for the neat an dpractical design of his ammunition. There is noprojecting shoulder where the cartridge case ends,but the metal is bevelled off an d then compressedall round into the top cannelure of the bullet, thusmaking a very efficient junction of the tw o c o m ~ponents of th e complete cartridge. Reverting to the pistol, th e 360 calibre, as here shown, ha s alength of barrel, measured from the muzzle to thebreech-block, of 8 7 in., or over all to the back ofthe latter of 9 "5 in Th e extreme length of th epistol is I I 5 in., and it s weight zlb. ro oz. Th eactual bore is 354 in , the bullet itself being360 in. in diameter, and weighing I6o grs., asalready mentioned. It s powder charge is 12 gr s .of Cordite, giving the muzzle velocity and energyabove stated .

Th e actual working of th e pistol reveals somefeatures not to be found in other automat ic armsno w in existence, on e especial point in relation tothe " Mars " being that the breech-block an dbarrel recoil together through the whole length ofbackward travel, an d do no t separate until th e


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motion of recoil is completed and the barrel movesforward to its normal position. This importantco-relation of the parts is effected in a very ingenious manner, the breech-block being held tothe barrel by a method which ca n only properly becompared with the system of breech-closing bymeans of an interrupted screw that is invariablyadopted in larger ordnance, a resemblance that isa ll th e more fitting since the opening of the breechis effected by hand through the aget1cy of twosmall handles, shown at the back of the breechblock, which are miniature reproductions of thoseoriginally introduced, we believe, in Armstrong'searly breech-loading guns of the 'so's and '6o's,and retained in a mo,re or less modified form tothe present day. To follow the working of thepistol during the firing of one shot and th e pr eparation for another, we will assume that th e cha rge dmagazine is duly inserted into the stock or h and leof th e pistol, where it is firmly held by a sp rin gca tch. Th e chamber is still empty, so to load itthe handles at th e back of the breec h-block a rcgiven a half-turn to the left, and the block beingthus released from its locking to the barre l, iswithdrawn backwards to a certain distance anclthen release d. This action draws a cartridge fromth e magazine, which, it will be noted, is below thebarrel of the pistol, an d no t be low the back of thechamber, as in most a utom atic arms, and depositsit in the chamber of the barrel, and at the sametime cocks the hammer. On pulling the triggerth e cartridge is fired in the usual cGurse. 1 herecoil drives back both barrel and hreech-block,firmly held together, to the distance uf about 2 in.against the pressure of powerful springs containedin the body of the pistol below the barrel. Assoon as the pressure of recoil is over, these springspull th e barrel forward ag a in, bu t in the meantime a bell-crank lever, actuated by a detent

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through a medium of a sliding bar, d i s e n ~ a g e s th ebreech-block, which is left behind with the emptycartridge case still held in th e jaws of the extractor.Th e backward movement of recoil has drawnanother cartridg-e from the magazine into an elevating device, which, on th e return of the barrel,tilts up so as to place th e nose of the bullet in linefor entering the chamber. I t can be seen in thispos ition in th e second illustration, on Page g, whichshows the operation of the pistol at this particularjuncture. Th e tilting of this elevating device atthe same time throws the empty case upwards ah d

o u t w a r d ~ . No w it only remains to release the trigge r, wh ich unlooses the breech-block from it sengagement, and allows it to travel forward underthe impulse of strong springs. As it moves itthe waiting cartridge into the chamber, andstill follo11ing on. is securely locked in rla ce, thebreec h-lugs swinging over automatically by springaction th e moment the block is home. Th e initialrec01 l has already cocked the hammer ag ain, an d th epistol is , as shown in the first illustration, readyfor the discharge of a second shot. I t ma y bementioned th at the above operations. wh ich havetaken so long to des cribe, ar e accomplished sorapidly that it is possible to fire from eight to tenshots in three se conds.

Unfortunately, Mr. Gabbett,Fairlax was no t ableto give extended displays of the rapidiiy ' of firepossible with his pistol, owing to the fact that hehad not received the expected supply of ammunition. an d had very few cartridges available. Bu the wa s able to demonstrate the ease an d rapidityof working- of al l calibres of the '' Mars "up to thefull ex ten t to which speed of fire would be desirable,in so far as it would be ooss1ble to take aim inshooting . And, beyond that, he wa s able to givea very practical trial of the ballistic qualities of his


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pistol, as compared with oth ers , by means of aseries ,of tests for penetration .To indicate the capacities of th e pi stol for longra nge shooting, the inv ent or showed one of 360calibre. fitted with a 1 2 in . ba rr I and a neatdetachable stock, for firin g rrom Lhe s hould er, bu tit was impossible at th a t Lim e , ;utd under the cir-cumstances, to make a de tail I tn ;ll. Even underdisadvantages, how ever, it wa seen th a t thepistol could make fa ir pra c li til o ver 100 ya rds,

and possibly at some future time we may have anopportunity of making a personal test. Fo r thepresent it is enough to sa y that Mr. GabbettFairfax is to be congratulated on the productionof a British-made weapon which,judging by presentappearances, is in no way inferior to those alreadya s ~ o c i a t e d with foreign inventors and manufac-turers, and which bids fair to establish, by sheermerit, a conspicuous position among automaticpistols.

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"LAND AND WATER"'SHOOTING.A trial of the latest automatic pistol, the" Mars,"

wa s made on Wednesday, at the London SportingPark at Hendon. This pistol differs materially inprinciple from all the automatic pistols no w on themarket. Th e only real point of similarity is thesliding barrel. Th e three models tried were a 450,a 36o, and a '335 Th e 450 is specially designedfor the British Gove-rnment, and carries a bulletapproved by th e authorities.Th e tw o illustrations will give a fair ide a of theappearance of the pistol. Fig. 5 as it app earswhen ready to fire, and Fig. 4 as it ap pea rs after ashot has been fired an d before the trigger isreleased. These illustrations, however , do no tshow wh at I consider is the mo st i m p o r pointabout the new pistol, which is that the bteec h-blockis firmly locked to the breec h of the bar rel whilethe barrel is be ing- moved back by the force of t herecoil, and is no t release d until after th e disc hargeha s taken place.It is most importan t to realise that the force ofthe ga s generated by the powder is completelyexpended before the breech begins to unlock, asthis is quite a ne\v depa rture in automatic firearms .By this means the pressure sustained by th e cartridge case is minimised, and so there should bebu t little risk of cartridges splitting or ja mming-,an d all escape of ga s backward is stopped. Th ebreech-block, by the way, is secured into the br eec hend of the barre l by an interrupted screw, which isa very sa fe method.When the energy of the reco il is expended, thebarrel springs forward, an d the pistol appears asshown in Fig. 4 as long as th e 't rigger is pressed.Th e empty case is ejected by the incoming cartridge, except in the case of t he last shot, when it

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November 30th, 1901.is ejected by a connection with th e hammer spring.When the trigger is released th e br eec h mechanismsprings forward, ta king w ith it th e fresh cartridgean d lodging it in the ch a mber of the barre l.Th e three pistols shown at the trials all weighabout th e same- 2 lbs. 10 oz. Th e length of thebarrel and of th e who le weapon is th e same in allth ree calibres. ' Barrel 9 5 in., pistol I I 5 in. Th ecapaci ty of the magazine in th e case of the twosmaller calibres is 10 , an d in th e .450 8 cartridges.Th e mag azine is contained in the handle of th epist ol. Th e 450 bullet interested me particularly,as it is, though completely nickel cased, speciallydes ig ned to convey a great shock to the objectstruc k, being of a very round-nosed character.Th e a mmunition is manufactured by Eley Brothers,and t he pistol itself wa s invented an d is en t irelyman u fac tur ed in this country.

Mr. Ga bbett"F air fax , the inventor, is to be congratu lated on having introduc ed an e ntirely new,an d app arently very sound, principle in automaticfirearms. Th e practical firing tests were eminentlysa t isfactor y, an d the pist ol gave very great penetration. I was glad to see that th e inventor wouldno t be induced to make any experiments as toex tr eme rapidity of fire , though I have no doubtt ha t th e pist o l wo u ld fire much more rapidly thancould possibly be required fo r pr actica l purposes.All that is wa nt ed is a we apon which will fire asquickly as the shooter can take aim, an d th e"M ars " pistol will do more than this.

I will no t at present go into the question ofmu zz le velocities , but hope to do so in the nearfuture. I will si mply men tion fact that th e450 bull et weig hs 22 0 grs. Cordtte is the powderused in loading th e cartr idges. an d for the purposein qu est ion cordite is as g ood as , if not better,than any of the ot her powders on th e market.

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Mars Pistol Manual