MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the statement in the Report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the disturbances at Featherstone, made after taking the evidence of Sir Redvers Buller, Adjutant General, to the effect that the rifles of the troops there employed would carry considerably over three miles; whether these rifles were Lee-Metford rifles; whether any actual experiments have been made with the Lee-Metford rifle to ascertain its extreme range; whether he can state the exact results of any such experiments; and whether it has been found from these experiments that its extreme range is considerably over three miles; and, if so, whether that circumstance will be taken into due account in arranging for the acquisition of ground for rifle ranges?
§ MR. WOODALLThe Committee do make the statement referred to, but they do so under some misapprehension. The range of the Lee-Metford rifle with which the troops were armed has been found by experiments to average 3,500 yards (or less than two miles), while the extreme ranges obtained did not exceed 3,700 yards. Its range is, of course, taken into consideration in acquiring ground for rifle ranges.
MR. GIBSON BOWLESBut that is not the exact range obtained by actual experiments. The figures are given in round numbers.
§ MR. WOODALLI think the answer is sufficiently accurate for the purpose.