Western Reserve chronicle and weekly transcript of the times. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1854-1855, 1855-01-10
A LANCASTER GUN.

among our extracts from EngliSn pa
pers in recent issue, our readers may
have observed paragraph upon the
subject of this new and as a public wri-
ter has shown so much ignorance while
protesting to instruct others, it has oc-
cured to us that a brief description of
this powerful instrument of death and
the principle of its construction would be
acceptable to many.
The writer in question commences by
saying, ''The object of boring the Lam
caster gun into an ellipsis is to prevent
the ball from taking rotary motion,
and thereupon he raises the question
whether the elliptical ball, in passing
through an elliptical bore, has not dan
gerous tendency to burst the gun. So
far from his premises being correct, the
very reverse is the true state of the case.
The elliptical bore is intended to give the
ball rotary motion, for in this motion
of the ball upon its axes consist superior.
ity of this gun over the ordinary cannon
1t is well known fact, that it is impos-
sible to cast balls or bullets in such
a way that one side will not be heavier
than the other, and it is also well known
that this circumstance defect the projec-
tile its right line.
With small arms this difficulty is over
come by the groove in the rifle barrel,
which being spiral, acts upon the sub
stance of the leaden bullet, and gives it
a rotary motion before leaving the muz
zle of the rife, which continue until the
ball stops. By this means the heavy
side is turned in all directions, so that
any tendency in one direction is immedi-
ately counterbalanced by revolution of
the bullet which changes the position Of
the heavy side, and the result is that the
ball flies in a direct line. Now, howev-
er well this plan may answer for small
arms and leaden balls, and it has long
been problem to discover some means
of making rifed cannon. @
The Lancaster gun processes to have
accomplished this by means of an ellipti-
cal bore, out of which is to be thrown an
tlliptical projectile, either shot or shell.
Without plates We may not be able to
make all our readers understand our ex-
plantations, but we hope most of them
will do so. The gun is large, because it
is at long range that its great precision
of aim tells best over a common gun, and
its appearance is that of an ordinary
large cannon, excep; that the mouth. in
stead of being circular, is elongated like
an egg, having one axis longer than an
other. We will suppose that the mouth
is largest up and down-that is, that the
longer axis is vertical, so that the fatten-
ed ball fitting it would stand on its edge;
but the bore winds gradually from the
mouth to the breach of the gun, so that
when the ball is driven home to the prop
er position when the gun is loaded, it
will have turned one-fourth around, and
will lie horizcntally-that is, at right an
giles to the longer axis Of the mouth of
the gun, and on its side. When the
gun is fred, the ball must make one rev.
olution at every four lengths of the gun,
and thereby counterbalance any imper-
fection in its shape which would other
wise defect it. Several of these guns
have burst. This is perhaps attributable
to the fact that they are used at very
long ranges and were probably overload
ed, although it is quite possible, and in
fact probable, that forcing a ball to take
rotary motion would increase the res
istance offered, so much as to increase
the risk of bursting. Experience will
soon test the question. We may remark
that the same principle has been applied
to small arms. and decided advantage
is claimed for the Lancaster over the
common rife.-AontredL Gazette.