November 21, 1857
1 min read
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The Secretary of War has decided that the report of the Board for the trial of breech-loading rifles at West Point is not conclusive in favor of any one of them as a standard government gun ; nevertheless he proposed to give Geneml Burnside a contract for 1,000 of his rifles at the liberal price of $40 each. This would cover one half of the " Breech-loading Rifle Fund," the remainder to be distributed among the other competitors in the order of merit reported by the Official Board. General Burnside declines the contract, and the whole sum, between $70,000 ond $80,000, will now be equitably divided in contracts among those of the competing inventors whose rifles seem best adapted to government service. Our readers will find the report referred to in No. 7 of our present volume.
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