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Julian Hatcher | |
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| Birth name | Julian Sommerville Hatcher |
| Born | June 26, 1888 Hayfield, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | December 4, 1963(1963-12-04) (aged 75) Falls Church, Virginia, U.S. |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1909–1946 |
| Rank |  Major General |
| Service number | 0-2908 |
| Commands | Chief of Ordnance Field Service |
| Known for | Hatcher's Notebook Book of the Garand |
| Battles / wars | World War I, World War II |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit |
Julian Sommerville Hatcher (June 26, 1888 – December 4, 1963) was amajor general in theUnited States Army. As a firearms expert, he wrote technical books and articles relating to military firearms,ballistics, andautoloading weapons. He also pioneered the forensic identification of firearms and ammunition.
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Hatcher was born inHayfield, Virginia,[1] and graduated with honors from theUnited States Naval Academy in 1909. He transferred out of the Navy, due to chronicsea sickness, and was assigned to theArmy Coast Artillery Corps.[2] Hatcher married Eleanor Dashiell, daughter of naval ordnance expertRobert B. Dashiell, in October 1910.[3] The couple had three children.
In 1916, theHotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun was in general use with the U.S. Army and was seeing action during thePunitive Expedition against the banditPancho Villa. Reports of its use in Mexico indicated the gun was not functioning properly. Investigation revealed that the chief problems were the 30-round metallicfeed strips used in the gun, and inexperienced gunners. It was Hatcher, then a lieutenant, who was sent to the border to solve the problems. He found that none of the soldiers had been taught the proper use of the weapon. He set up the Army's first machine gun school and was soon turning out trained crews. Soon, the Benét–Mercié proved to be an effective weapon.
In 1919, at age 31 and holding theacting rank of lieutenant colonel, Hatcher was named commanding officer ofSpringfield Armory in Massachusetts.[4] He was instrumental in developing a solution to the vexing problem of brittle metal in earlyreceivers ofM1903 Springfield rifles, built by Springfield Armory andRock Island Arsenal. His solution to the "grenading" of receivers (damage caused whenshell casings failed catastrophically) was to drill a gas vent hole in the left side of the receiver, adjacent to thebreech. The hole allowed gases escaping from a ruptured case to be exhausted safely and away from the face of the shooter. Dubbed the "Hatcher Hole", the modification was typically added to receivers at overhaul.
As Chief of the Small Arms Division in theUnited States Army Ordnance Department and the Assistant Commandant of the Ordnance School before and at the beginning of World War II, Hatcher worked closely with Springfield Armory as an engineering trouble-shooter in resolving early production issues associated with the early iterations of theM1 Garand rifle.
Hatcher's premier works areHatcher's Notebook andBook of the Garand, both published shortly after World War II. Prior to the war, he wrotePistols and Revolvers and Their Use andTextbook of Pistols and Revolvers. In the latter work, he introduced the Hatcher Scale, probably the first attempt to determine thestopping power of a handgun round by a formula.
After retiring from the military in 1946, Hatcher served as technical editor ofAmerican Rifleman magazine. He died at his home inFalls Church, Virginia, on December 4, 1963.[5]
Hatcher author or co-authored the following books:[6][7]
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