The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1861-09-06
Trial OF a Large Dahigren Gun.

From the Pi.sburg Despatch, August 81.
On Friday morning the test OF the new
nine inch Dahlgren gun was finished, DEM
onstrating to the entire satisfaction of those
concerned that the construction and mate
rial used were all that could be desired. AL
though solid cast guns have frequently been
severely tested, but one, we believe, ever
withstOOd the firing of the same number of
rounds. ,
The gun made for the test, in the success
of which depended the contract for the man.
ufacture OF heavy order, was cast of
Bloomfield metal-the same used for some
years in the manufacture of columbiads.
Though the interior was finished with the
usual care, the outside was merely tn ned
to the prescribed dimensions and coarsely
clipped of, giving it decidedly rough ap.
pearance. The gun weighs 1878 pounds,
and in dragging this enormous weight over
Doggy ground and creek crossings, the
wheels were frequently sunk until the load
rested upon the surface. 1t was work of
two days and nights to reach the ground,
when the gun was dropped by the wagon
and dragged across the field by pulleys, q
distance of several hundred yards, to the
triangle on which it was proved. n, -.t,.
The firing was carried on with, eXtraOrdi-
nary rapidity, the only full days work, on
Friday, giving two hundred and two
rounds. The labor of firing is very severe
on the gunners, requiring them to retreat
nearly one hundred feet at each discharge.
A supply of cartridges, in bags of glazed
muslin, was kept in the bomb proof Be-
fore loading the gun was carefully swabbed
out, and at every twentieth round washed
out and measured. Twenty shells were
strapped and placed in readiness in the in-
| tervals of measuring and no delay was nec.'
essary ia firing except when shell, buried
| 10 the hill at some earlier discharge, was
unsheathed by succeeding shots, when it
was at once secured. The measurement at
query twentieth round were made with ex-
treme care, the star gage used reading to
thousandths of an inch, and showing the
slightest enlargement of the bore. An i'm
preston of the inner extremity of the vent
was taken at the same time, and alter the
six hundredth round, the first vent was
closed and the second drilled. The fifty im-
pressions thus taken of the vents are a Gu
riosity in themselves, as showing the gradual
enlargement of the opening in certain di>
rectiohs from first to last.
In finishing the bore of the gun, the fin.
ishing tool accidentally split, enlarging the
bore behind the seat of the ball, .O26 inch
and scoring up the surface considerably.
At the close of the proof one thousand
balls having been fred, the greatest enlarge
ment of the bore was found to be but 1852
inch Or .026 by iring-but little more than
One-ffth of an inch. The result proves
that the materials used in the casting of
the gun have never been equalled.
The firing was conducted under the su
pervision of Commander r. B. Hitchcock,
a gentleman who has been in service over
forty years, and MIR. William Metcalf of
the Fort Pitt works, by whom record Of
all the measurements was kept
The proof charge Of powder is ten pounds,
and in the test therefore ten thousand pounds,
or Eve tons, of powder were expended
Many OF the balls were recovered and fired
repeatedly, and but about FIVE hundred were
expended in the proof. The shells weigh
seventy-two pounds, making an aggregate
of thirty six thousand pounds or eighteen
tons of iron fired. A large portion of it
will be recovered by digging. ..
The result of the test has been to prove
concusively that Dahlgren gun can be
made to stand the severest of tests, without
material damage or danger to those engaged
in handling them--no small matter in the
eyes OF ships crew.