The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-25 00:00:00

THE NEW AMERICAN RIFLED

CANNON.

The Americans are not disposed to fall far behind
the more belligerent nations of the old world in
their implements of war- At Chicopee, Massa-
chusetts, experiments have lately been made with
a new rifled cannon, the invention of General
James, which promises extraordinary results.
From a synopsis of the official report of the Board
who superintended these trials, which has just
reached us, we learn that the guns examined were
a 6 pound bronze cannon, with 3.80 inch calibre,
and rifled in 15 grooves ; a 12-pounder, 4-inch cali-
bre and the same number of grooves. In both in-
stances the twist in rifling was equivalent to
one turn in 60 feet at the beginning, and ending
in one in 20. The projectile designed by General
James for these guns is a cast-iron cylinder, pointed
by a solid conoidal head, the diameter being only
.02 of an inch less than the bore of the gun,
and the length twice the diameter of the calibre.
The cylinder retains its full diameter for a quarter
of an inch of its length at each end. For the inter-
mediate length its diameter is reduced half an inch,
forming a recess in its body, which is filled by a
compound of canvas, sheet tin, and lead. The base
of the cylinder has a central cavity or opening of
1.95 inch in diameter, and 1.5 inch deep. When
the charge is fired the gas evolved by the burning
of powder, in its efforts to eject the projectile
and to escape from the gun, is forced into the
cavity against the compound filling, which is
thereby pressed into the grooves of the bore, and
by its firm hold in them the rotary motion is
imparted to the projectile. The, Board having
examined the guns and projectiles proceeded to test
their efficiency, the results obtained being very
satisfactory. The report says, respecting the guns,
their merit is due to the rifling, which can be readily
applied, at little cost, to all bronze cannon of the
United States, and so render them as far superior
to the present smooth bore guns as, in small arms,
the most improved rifle surpasses the musket. The
depth of grooving is so shallow as in no wise mate-
rially to impair the strength of the gun, while it is
sufficient, to compel the projectile to take the rifle
flight. The effect of these contrivances was exhi-
bited in an extraordinary manner, by the increased
range obtained while using the same charge of
powder and elevation in projecting masses of double
the weight of the usual spherical balls. The merits
of the projectile are represented to consist in
their answering fully the expectations desired
of them ; their ready fabrication and adaptation to
guns ; their ease in loading ; the certainty of the
expansion of the filling, and its firm hold in the
grooves of the guns. The greased canvas wipes the
rifling clean, and leaves the bore in condition readily
to receive the next charge,-and which is also a sure
protection to the bore from injury. For these
reasons the gun and projectiles are commended to
the favourable consideration of the Government ;
and, as the experimental firing was subject to
several disadvantages which may hereafter be
avoided, the Board recommend that some guns of the
service calibre ba granted to General James for
rifling according to his principle, We learn that
another series of experiments is in contemplation,
in which will be compared, side by side, the per-
formances of this new gun with those now in
use. Cif course the remarkable precision and power
of the new rifled ordnance constitute its chief value,
but the great saving of ammunition effected is a
matter of no small importance. The results of the
experiments above referred to are expressed in
tabular form, at much length. As an example, it
is shown that in one instance 18 shots were fired a
mean distance of 674 yards, at'an: elevation of one
degree—the powder weighing 11,1 b., the projectile
12;11b., the deviation being only four inches to the
right of centre, and half an inch above it. On
reaching ground the missile was buried five feet
in compact sand. In another instance a shot was
fired 2,050 yards, at an elevation of five degrees,
and passed about 25 feet above the top of the hill
towards which it was directed. The board believed
from the testimony of several witnesses who were
near the range, that the projectile " continued its
flight many hundred yards beyond the hill," the
summit of which was nearly on the same level as
that upon which the gun was placed in battery.
According to the statement of Mr. Ames, the manu-
facturer of the gun, who carefully examined the
ground, " it is almost certain the ball went four
miles." After what is already known it is safe to
say that any object within the reach of an
ordinary spy-glass is a fair mark for this terri-
ble weapon. In one other respect the exploits
of General James's gun demand attention. " Ac-
cording to the laws of projectiles laid down
in the Ordnance Manual, and which have long
been established, as was supposed, beyond power
of refutation, the range of a 71b. shot at five
degrees elevation and 11d. powder is," says the
New York Journal of Commerce, to which we
are indebted for this information, "1,523 yards •
but in the example now afforded, a ball 1211 b.,
with the specified quantity of powder, has gone
between three and four miles. As compared with
the celebrated Armstrong gun the results are not
less wiz ions. Mr. Armstrong claims to have
thrown a ball 51 miles with six pounds of powder,
employing an area or calibre of 31 inches—which
is a result of 05-100ths less favourable than that
obtained by the experiments at Chicopee. Ac-
cording to the latter, any gu.i of a calibre e lual to
Armstrong's will throw a ball, with less than half
the powder, the full distance attained in his
practice."

MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE TO AN ENGLISH
TOURIST.—We have heard of a melancholy occurrence to
an English tourist on Goatfell ; the following scanty par-
ticulars in connexion with it have only reached us : —lt
appears that on Sabbath two gentlemen, one named Dr.
Smith, made a tour of inspection to the above-named peak,
which, as all our readers know, is situated in the Island of
Arran. In their wanderings they went to the most preci-
pitous side of the peak, and his companion was astonished
to find Dr. Smith suddenly drop from his side into a crevice.
All his efforts to get him out were unavailing, and he had
nothing left but to get assistance. Unfortunately, on his
return with assistance, he forgot the spot where the occur-
rence took place, and no amount of examination could guide
him to it. Yesterday morning the inhabitants were sum-
moned for a search, but, so far as our information goes,
their best efforts have gone unrewarded.—Glasgoto Bulletin.