The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-07-21

IDS arm lb not SO well kuOWu IL Will uOS OO Ou'
of place to enter into somewhat detailed de-
scription of IT,
The principle of the needle-gun, viz, to in
sert the charge at the breech, with view to
ease and facility of loading, is by no means
novel. it having been employed in the amusette
of Marshal SAKE, the arms of Montalemoert, OF
Robert, and OF Letaucheux, as well as in the
wall pieces of the French, and in the chamber
loading gun of the Norwcgans.
(fhere are in the Dresden gallery OF small
asms several of this Sort one OF which surpri-
singly resembles the needle-gun in the method
of closing the breecb, with the difference that,
in place of the chamber being drawn back to
load, the barrel is advanced, and that the conf
cal termination of the barrel engages over that
of the chamber, both examinations being pro-
yided with the half turn of a screw. The charge
lies in the fixed chamber, and is ignited by a
matchbox. lever attached to the barrel
serves to turn and to move il back and forth.)
The inventor of the present Prussian needle
gun is Mr.. Dreyse, manufacturer of arms at Som.
merida. AS early as 1885 he sought to attain the
advantage of ease and facility of loading by
closing the breech with two screws behind each
other, having a space between them In this
space there was spiral spring, which carried a
needle, working through the middle OF the inner
screw. simple mechanism enabled this spring
to be drawn back, and when let loose the pene.
tration of the needle into the illuminate caused
the ignition of the charge.
The cartridges with spherical balls used with
this arm we're at first inserted at the muzzle
and had priming of illuminate at the bottom
which frequently exploded prematurely when
rammed too hard, or when the needle projected
beyond the inner screw. The windage, too, had to
be increased to secure sufficient ease Of loading
which prevented the ball from taking sufficient
hold on the sides of the bore.
These objections induced the protector to
insert the cartridge at the breach, and was
done in Norway, and hence the new Prussian
needle-gun. In reference to the Norwegian
breech-loadmg gun, it may be briefly remarked
now, that the barrel is open at the rear, and
there is a separate chamber for the charge,
with calibre somewhat larger than that of
the barrel The ball is cylindro-conical.
In the Prusslan neede-gun the cartridge is in
serted at the rear; the ignition is produced by the
intrusion of needle into the illuminate
attached TO the cartridge, and the closing of
the open barrel is effected by the fitting
of the front end of the chamber to the rear of
the barrel.
The barrel, the rihed part Of which is 96'O6
inches long, has calibre of 0'606 inches, with
four grooves, having twist of fve.elevenths in
the length OF the barrel, or an inclination OF SO
degrees, minutes, and II seconds. The
breadth of these is 0'243 inches, and their depth
OO3 inches. The unrifed portion at the rear
makes a kind Of chamber, or bed of the car
fridge, the diameter of which is O'59 inches, or
several hundredths greater than the bore, and
the length nearly the same as that of the car
fridge. The bed of the carriage enlarges slightly
to the rear so as to admit the cartridge easily
after reneated discharges; the enlargement
must, however be limited, otherwise it would
interfere with the central position OF the car
fridge. Where the bed of the cartridge unites
with the grooves and bands, which latter pro-
iect on account OF the smaller calibre OF the
bore, there is gradual slope to prevent too
sueden compression ofthe ball into the bore, and
to facilitate its passage. To the same end there
is a slight enlargement of the lower part of the
bore for the distance of 6'l7 inches. The rear
OF the barrel terminates externally conically,
and is called the mouth.plece of The barrel.
Over these parts the cylinder, with its siX-sided
head, is screwed This is cut out to such
length and breadth on its right side as to admit
OF easy entrance to the cartridge, whilst to the
rear the cut is continued in zlgzag, so that the
hind part lies exactly in the middle. Upon the
right upper side of the cylinder, at the edge of
the broad cut, reinforce is left sloping towards
| the head, called the stoll-oed, and serves as
point d'dppuifo the stoll or stap OF the chamber
hereafter to be described. The end projecting
| at forms the tang by which the cylinder is
| fastened to 1.-THE stock, by means of a screw
| passing through the trigger-plate. To the same
end there is over the trigger-plate a second
| screw, the thread of which enters the barrel.
| And, finally, there is the trigger-hole in the
under side of the cylinder. The object of the
| cylinder is to hold all the other mechanism of
| the piece.
The chamber which lies next to the cylinder
is reamed out conically at its front end, and
thence cylindrically to the depth of l'3s inch
and O'92 inch in diameter. The part reamed out
conicaly is called the chamber mouth-piece,
and fits against the rear end of the barrel,
with the Offset at the top of the cylindrical part
or air'chamber. The air-chamber has the
needle-pipe screwed into its breech which is
046 inch thick. The needle-pipe is conical ms
far as it projects into the air.chamber and the
screw-hread is GAG inch long, terminated by ii
washer; below the washer there is the six
sided prism and short cylinder The stop on
the outside of the chamber is like the air
chamber breech, of one piece with the chamber,
and has the breadth OF the zg-zag of the cylin.
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