The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-13 00:00:00

!RICAN EXPERIMENTS WI7H RIFLED
SMALL A RJIS A v D ORDNANCE.

The following account of experiments made in
eilmerica with rifled small-arms and ordnance has
been communicated by an American gentleman to
the Mechanics' AI agazine :
Having superintended the erection of steam ma-
chinery for producingthe rifle used with the hollow
-elongated bail, and a series of experiments on the
form of projectiles ; and having had my attention
turned, during a number of years, to all the mo-
dern improvements, made and attempted, having
-reference to rifled arms and ordnance, I am led to
the conclusion that where range and accuracy are
desirable, the rifled cannon will eventually, and at
no distant date, supersede the use of the smooth
bored gun, both for field service and in batteries,
and is therefore worthy the attention of artillerist s,
both theoretical and practical—the suggestions of
the one being verified or condemned by the expe-
riments of the other.
The elongated projectile first suggested by
Hutton as a desideratani has but recently attracted
the attention of scientific men, although long in
use by the Swim' and in the United States, and it
has been subjected to various modifications of form,
in the hands of De Lavigne, Minie, Pritchett,
Greener, and others. By comparison of these balls
and their appropriate rifles with the Swiss, I was
satisfied that, at and under 800 yards, the latter
had the advantage in accuracy, and required
lees elevation. The objection to it, how-
ever, was the difficulty of loading as the ball
required driving down ; and after a few dis-
charges the difficulty increases as in the rifle in
ordinary use. I found, however, that by dimi-
nishing the calibre and increasing the length of the
ball, that the ball, although as loose as the Prit-
chett and without any hollow in the rear, took the
grooves perfectly, and from being enabled to use a
greater charge of powder, and the ball offering less
resistance than one of larger calibre and equal
weight, the twist required was larger. The curve
of flight was parabolic, and a much less accurate
knowledge of distance would suffice to insure its
hitting such objects as men, cavalry, &c. The fact
is, that the first impact of the gases from the ignited
charge upsets the lead at the rear of the ball before
the inertia of the forward end is overcome and it
is forced into the grooves. By diminishing the
calibre and increasing the length of the projectiles
I 'found that larger charges of powder were of
course required, but the ball was of simpler con-
struction than the Minie ball ; it offered less re-
sistance to the air, its flight more nearly resembled
that of the arrow, its initial and mean velocities
were greater, and its ricochet more serviceable.
By cutting channels around its periphery, the
swedging or upsetting can be carried well forward
in the substance of the ball, and the ball leaves the
muzzle of the rifle a perfectly compact mass, show-
ing only the grooves, the channels being obliterat-
ed. It may be objected that this ball would not
make ao bad a wound as the Minie ball. It is
true that it would be more like a punctured wound,
but it would go through two instead of one, and
when it met with a positive check, such as a large
bone would offer, it would turn over and do equal
mischief.
The Government of the United States made ex-
periments with rifled cannon and oblong balls a few
years since, which were totally unsucce-sful. Since
that time, however, practical men in that country
have constructed rifled ordnance, and have lately
succeeded in obtaining unparalleled ranges in their
experiments with guns loading at the breech. I
have witnessed some of these experiments, and have
seen their guns and projectiles. One of these guns,
constructed at the Novelty Works, New York, was
over 20 feet long, 12 or 14 inches diameter at the
breech, and its bore about the calibre of a 6-poun-
der. It was made in two pieces, bolted together by
flanges in its centre, for convenience of boring and
carriage. The projectile used was about five calibres
in length, conical at both ends, made of iron, and
surrounded by a leaden ring, of one-fourth of its
length, cast around its centre, and cast with fur-
rows and bands fitting to those of the bore, and at
the same angle of twist. The shot and service
charge were inserted at the breech, which was
closed in their roar by a tapered key, driven down
from above by a mallet, through slots in the body
of the gun, and having a projecting head extending
backwards. The key is raised by means of a short
curved crowbar, when a fresh charge is to he intro-
duced. Forward of the breech charge (which is
comparatively light) and shot are four chambers
screwed into it, called by the inventors accelerators.
They enter the barrel or bore at an angle of per-
haps 45 degrees, to its lineof metal. These cham-
bers are loaded separately, with a small wad 'of
gun-cotton and charge of powder, and closed by
keys similar to the one already described. They
are placed two *n each side, one pair a few inches
in advance of the ball, the second pair perhaps a
foot or more in advance of the first pair. The first
charge, on ignition, overcomes the inertia of the
projectile, and its flame ignites the four anterior
charges as the ball passes out. The report is a
singl one, and the initial velocity, penetration,
and point-blank range obtained by these somewhat
complicated appliances, both on the small and large
scale, are incredible. With the gun just described,
in the first experiments they obtained a range of
nearly 5,000 yards, and expected a greater range
with increased charges; and I have seen a small
shot of about 50-100ths of an inch in calibre driven
(by three drachms of powder arranged in like man-
ner) from a rifle barrel through 36 inches of board
and 8 inches of brick wall behind it.
From the results before stated, and many others
which it is needless to recapitulate, I am led to be-
lieve that imp )rtant results may be attained from
rifled cannon, and that the present system of ignit-
ing, the charge is incorrect in principle. The method
described isdefec,ive on account of its complication
of parts, the imperfection and weakness of a breech
formed by the key and slot, and the difficulty
which would occur in removing the keys after a
number of discharges. I believe, however, that a
gun loading at the muzzle may be constructed in a
much simple manner to attain the same object, by
making it of comparatively great length and small
calibre, and igniting the charge of powder at its
forward end nearest the shot, either by placing the
vent in that position, or by inserting wires into
the body of the gun, and using the electric, spark
when the use of that means is rendered certain