Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Crozier
President Roosevelt would like the new rifle’s trigger to have the same pull as the rifle he sent.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1903-11-23
Your TR Source
Rifles--Testing
Short barrel military rifles
Mr. Gingal relates the success he and his unit’s regimental gunmaker, Mr. Kaeseberg, had with a modified French Chassepot rifle. Gingal and Kaeseberg were in the Prussian Army at the time and the rifle had been captured during the Franco-Prussian War. They modified the rifle to make it shorter and fire cartridges, which made it much more accurate. Gingal had considerable success with the rifle and believes that modern military rifles are missing what he calls “handiness.” He suggests that the Rough Riders’ success with a “short handy rifle” is the future of military rifles.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1903-07-24