The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-29 00:00:00

MORE ABOtiT GUNS.

The Ordnance investiration, hitherto prose-
cuted before a Joint Committee of Congress, has
developed the following, among other interesting
facts:—

SUMMARY OF BURST GUNS.
Parrott 100-pounders (rifles)
Parma 150-pounders (8 inch rifles)
Parrott 10-inch rifles
Parrott 30-pounders
Rodman 12-inch rifles
Podinan 8-inch rifles
Rodman 15-inch smooth-bore (navy) l7
Rodman IF-inch smooth-bore (army) 1
Ilablgren 150-pounders (rifles) 3
Dahlgren 140-pounders (rifles) 2
Dahlgren 50-pounders (rifles)
Dahlgren 30-pounders (rifles)
Dahlgren 80-pounders (condemned)
Dahlgren 50-pounders (cond. coned)
Dal.l.:ren 150-pounders I condemned) 6
Dahlgren 13-inch smooth-bore 1
Dahlgren 11-inch smoeoth-bore 1
Miscellaneous wrought and cast-iron ... 9
•
Burst. spor:tanennsly 10
Cracked, fissured, ur ruptured bofure proof

Total.

258

Eighteen Parrott 100-pounders, in addition to the

above, are unaccounted for, supposed to be burst.
Twenty-seven P.-irrott 150-pounders were coa-
ct coned by the navy. Of 43 Rodman 15-inch guns,
cast for the navy, which was the greatest number
in service at any one time, 17 have burst or been
disabled. Of three 12-inch Rodman rifles, cast for
the navy, one was rifled on the plan of Mr. Parrott
ace' burst at the 27th fire ; one on the plan of At-
water, burst at the 30th fire; one on the plan of
Rodman, burst at the 16th fire. Of four Dahlgren
150-pounder rifles, one burst at the 27th fire, one
at the 20th fire, one at the 75th fire, and one at the
60th fire. One 13-inch gun, cast solid, at Provi-
dence, endnred 178 fires. One 13-inch gun, cast
hollow, at Pittsburgh, endured 108 fires. The navy
15-inch guns, cast on Rodman's plan, are divided
by Admiral Dahlgretr in his testimony into three
classes :-1. The original Dahlgren model. 2. The
new mo•lel by Captain Wise. 3. The new model
by Captain Wise. Of the first class, 31 were cast,
17 were altered to the second clam. Of these, eight
were disabled—nearly half—after enduring but an
average of 135 fires for each. One-fifth of the un-
altered guns were disabled after an average of 175
fires for each gun. Sixty-six guns were cast of the
third class. The trial gun endured but 131 fires,
when it was disabled. Of the remaining 65, 40
have been mounted in iron-dads, and have
been altog-ther fired 1,333 times ; one burst,
three condemned, two of them sold as old iron.
One-fifth of these failed, being subjected to an
average of 53 fires each. The guns above enume-
rated are all the 15-inch Rodman guns which have
been fired in service, none of the army guns having
been so fired. The Rodman gun was first officially
adopted in 1862 by the Ordnance Board, of which
the inventor and patentee was a member. When
Gen. Dyer became Chief of Ordnance, in the fall of
1864, one of his first acts was to appoint Gen. Rod-
man Constructor of Ordnance. He raised the price '
of the 15-inch gun to $7,000, which was previously
$6,500, and issued an order to receive the guns
made under the supervision of the constructor
without subjecting them to the powder-proof. Thus
it can be seen that General Rodman has held in
succession three important positions in relation to
the reception of his guns, one-twelfth of the whole
price of which he has received as royalty, viz. :-
Ist. Inventor and patentee while an officer of the
United States army, and of the Ordnance Board—
the power behind the throne—which adopted his
invention officially for the service of the United
States. 3d. Constructor of ordnance, charged with
the inspection and reception of the guns in which he
is interested as patentee, receiving a royalty. Two
hundred and ninety-six 15-inch guns have been re-
ceived by the army ordnance. department under
this organization :-1,233 10-inch Rodman guns,
and one hundred and fifty-five 8-inch, for which car-
riages and a large supply of projectiles have been pur-
chased. There are no data upon which to found
an opinion that the Rodman gun, if subjected to
service test, would have any special rate of endur-
ance. None of them, except those referred to
ove as used in the navy, have been fired in battle
or service. A large proportion of them have been
mounted without having been fired at all. The
siege and sea-coast guns purchased by the Army
osfmtehibss4lu2nooll,lvuats
Ordnance Office from the Ist of July, 1861, to
was paid
foraid Parrott
principallyg t guns. June 30, 1866, cost $5,35,1,365 51' ; of this amount,
guns. $3,230,526 52 was paid for Parrott
for Rodmanh e rest
projec-
tiles. $259,105 80 was paid to Alr. Parrott for
carriagesi for his 100-pounders, 200-pounders; and
300'pounders. The navy purchases from the Fort
Pitt foundery, -where the Rodman guns were prin-
cipally made, amounted to $2,116,052 62. The
navy purchases from Mr. Parrott have not been
ascertained. It is believed that more than 175 I
100-pounder guns were obtained. The number of
the Dahlgren shell guns which have been cracked
or fissured inside previous to proof, or during ex-.
periments or service, could not be learned. The
Chief of the But eau evaded the questions relating
to the bad qualities of his own invention, while be
was elaborate in his answers as to the bad qualities
of the guns of other inventors.—New Fork Tribune.