The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-11-13
A BIG Gun ON IRIS METTLE.
The Artillery Experiments Mt spczia-Verv
Badly DemcrnIized Targets.

The target WIS n powerful stcei 22-inch

The target was powerful steel 22-inch
schneider plate u situated below the
other schneider plate, which was so much
damaged by the two Armstrong guns. Some
delay occurred In getting the chilled proicctiie
out OF It's packing case on to It's trolley, and an
unfortunate accident occurred. A the shot
was being raised by n thrce-lcgged pulley one Of
the legs snapped on close to the top, and tho
s sot came with a run to the ground. the pulley
knWcklng down several persons IA II fell and
railing on the head Of a petty officer who was
snperntendinR the men. At first II appeared
lnau tne poor Fellow must be killed, but ON his
nclilB eNtncated from beneath IL was found
tnat ne could stand with assistance
hut, am afraid that he was badly
hurt. When at last the gun was loaded. IL was
close upon six O'Clock. and almost dark. There
was lust sufficient light to see the target from
the deck Of the steamer. A fresh DELAY ,rcurred
~ the fuse did not act. Another being suhsti-
tuted the gun was fired, and every one rushed
forward to see the result The chnrge used wns
the biggest yet tried with the GUN M lhs Of
powder with n 2.VOlbs. chilled proiectile The
proJectile had struck the shield full i'm the CEN
and afterwards apparently buried itself in
the foundations of the nve feet OF wooden
backing IL was too dark to see much hut
huge masses Of steel lay about I'm front Of the
target ana gaping hole of some four
feet across was seen at the lower part. Most Of
the right hand corner was gone to pieces and
wide cracks ran across the rest Of the shield
The steel round the edges where the proicctie
bad struck had been fused 10y the Tremendous
force Of the blow. Behind the target the iron
grders supporting II did not seem much dam
aged by the great strain. for the bolt heads and
iron plates they were fastened on to were only
cracked. The effect Of the discharge Of the big
gun AT night was very grand Large sparks of
IRE seemed to radiate from the target ~ IL was
struck. The elect " the shot fired by the big
gun In comparison with those of the two guns
hrcd together IL startling as regards the COM
pletcness of the smash.
The gun was fred 1T the Marel plate with the
same charge. Tho Minister'S and some gentle
men stood under the clin on the opposite side to
the casematcs, and when the gun was fired
large piece Of metal fell into the sea two
hundred yards behind them. The plate was en-
tirely knocked in pieces, large masses had been
thrown forward ten or fifteen yards. Two small
er pieces stu chung to the woodwork. The shot
mad struck little below the middle. The wood
was crushed in for i've feet high. and n hole four
feet across az the entrance and two feet and
q half Wide In the middle went through.
The woodwork behind. aisting Of huge beams.
was ripped up and shivercd to pieces parts of
the glrders were torn on and hurled. with largo
fragments 81 wood. among the sand bags and
gabions with great force. There was no mistake
about the tnrget being utterly smashed bv this
shot. The Minister of Marine. on looking AT tho
wreck, remarked TO n naval officer, When "A
snip receives blow Ike this, there l. nothing
more TO think about. This shot did more dam
age 10y far than the previous ones. The initial
velocity was l.i!H feet per second.
There Is this to he said In favor Of the gun,
that as these proiectiles were cast Ia rather a
hurry, they may not be so good ~ was EXPECT
eel; they have all broken up after striking tho
target. The gun burns its powder very we'll
certainly in the four shots which have struck the
four plates 1t has made complete wreck Of
Them besides causing a lot of damage to the
supports. The targets and earthworks have cost
upwards OF t2,Wu sterling. Each plate cost
about $50. The aspect of tho ground In front
is appalling some twenty huge misses OF ..,el
and iron lay scattered ~ they fell inter-p or-ed
with fragments of the prolectilcs and large
splintcrs OF wood.