New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-04-21

weight az when MED WIN powoer. Inc length OF
bore Of the quo is 1895 NM, or l6 times its diam
et4r: the weight Of the brass gun is but 237 kilo-
era pmes (5l9 pouods). To regulate tho lise Of
aim BY tho deviation Qasersl deAection) Of tao
shot IN the direction OF the pitch OF the riaiag
"A deviation common TO all projectiles lssnchod
from riled barrels-ibe right truDniOn carries what
is called a horizontal taogent.scals. The quo, as
wen as it's carriage, is reported to DO OF very ele-
CANT worku ausbip, AID, from its small size and
neatn.ss to look more ike model than q real en-
CINE Of war.
Armed with this gup, The French artillery entered
upon the Italian campaign where it indeed aston
ished the Ausians by its great raoge, but certainly
rot by its accuracy Of FIRE. The guns very often,
indeed generally, overshot the mark, and were
more dangerous to reserves than to first lues-in
other words, where they bit better than the som
mon euDs, they bic people at wnOm they were not
aimed at all. This 10 certainly very questionable
ADVANTAGE as in pne cases ont Of ten il implies that
The objects at which the guns were aimed were not
bit. The Austrian artillery, with as clumsy rA-
terial as any in Europe, made yey dscentsppeAr
apce when oppOsed 10 them, and came up to close
quarters Chat is, 500 900 yards) with these for
liable opponents, uDlimbering under their mcss
Effective fire. There is no doubt that great % tho
superiority of the new French guns is over theiI old
smooth. bored ones, they did not perform anything
Ike what was expected from them. Their eItrems
practicable range was 1900 metres "a 400 yardsh
and undoubtedly it was but an impudent Bonapart-
is. exsgeera len when it wss said that they could
l. L.. - 000 uar<s
The reasons for these unsatisfactory perform
aDces, in actual war, are very simple. The coz
struction OF these guns is utterly imperfect and
The French adhere to it, 10 two or three yenfs tseif
artillery will possess the worst materiel in Earope.
The first principle in rifed arms is that there muSs
be no uiadoge; Otherwise The shot, loosely rolling
about in the barrel and grooves, vii not rotate
round its own lor Gtudinal axis, but rotate, ia q
spiral line of fight, round an imaginary line, tha
direction of which is determined by the accidental
position of the shot when leaving the muzzle, and
the spiral rounds will increase 10 diameter with he
distance Now, the French guns have considerable
windase, and csDnot do without it so long as the
explosion Of the charge is relied upon TO light
fuse of the shell. This, then, ID one circumsta .
which explains the want Of accuracy. TIE secs I
is the rregulaIity of the propeliiDg force created
the greater or lets escape of gas through winds,
during the explosion of the charge. The third y
the greater elevation with the same charge, necss-
STATED through this windsge; it stands to reason
that where 10 gas at all can escape between shot
ar bore tie charge propels further thanwhers
part of the gas escapes. Now, the French gHns
appear to require not only very great charge for
rined guns (oDe-6fth of the weight of the shOt bas
also pretty heb elevation. TIE greater range OBJ
tanned by fed bOres over smooth ones, even with
emaller charges ia chiefly obtained by the absence
of wndage, and the certainty Of having the who's
explosive force Of the charge applied to the eIpul.
sion of the shot. BY admitting windage, ,u,,
French sacrifice part of the propslliug force, -
have to replace it by increased charges to limsed
degree, and by greater elevation beyond thai,
Now there is nothing so contrary to accuracy ae
any distar ces as great elevation. So long az ths
line Of fight Of the shot does not, at its highest
point much exceed the hight Of the object aimed st,
20 long mi,tske in estimating the distance is Of
little imporance but at long range, the shot tsses
very high fiji hit, and comes down at an angle OMAN
average twice as great as that under which il began
its fight (tbis, Of course, is confined to elevatsi
up to about Is deapes). Thus, the higher the elt
alton the mOre the line IN which the shot strikes
the ground approaches the vertical; and an errOr
in estimating the distance of not more than ten OF
twenty yards may preclude the possibility Of hitting
at all. At ranges beyond even 400 or 500 yEds..
such errors unavoidable, and the cone
querce is the astonishing difference between tbs
capital shooting on the practice ground with meas.
ured distances, and the execrable practice on q
battlefield, where the distances are unknown, %
objects mOSiug, and the moments for reflection very
short thus, with the new rifles, the chance OF
hitting beyond three hundred yards on the battle
field is very small, while under threehundred yards
from the low fight of the ball, il is very great; in
consequence Of which, the charge with the bayonet
becomes the most effective means Of dislodsing ar
enemy, as soCn as the attacking body has come up
TO that stance. Suppose one army to carry riies
which at 400 yards give 10 higher trajectory than
tie rifles of their opponents give at 800 ysrda,.
the former will have the advantage of beginning an
effective fire at 100 yards greater distance, and az
but three or four minutes are required TO charge.
through 400 yards, this advantage is not mean
ole in the decisive moment of battle. It is simi-
Jar with cannon. Sir Howard Douglas, ten years
sgo, declared that gan far the best which gives tho
greatest range with the least elevation With rhed
cannon the importance of Tbs point is still greater,
as the chance of error in estimating distance In
cIeoses with the longer range, and az tbs rcOches
of any other than spherical shot cannot be relied
upon This ia one of the aisadvant of riied