The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-05-20
The Government Foundries
at Oboukhoff and Perm.
The Ordnance of the Imperial
Russian Navy.
HOW THE BIG GUNS ARE CAST,

Few men except Russians OF the great fortress
OF Modlin writer has aptly termed u the rus
sian Gibraitar" near tho Prussian frontier and no
stranger has ever entered II.
The navy itself is better known than the army, but
the dock YARDS ioundres and workshops, from whence
il draws It's ma,crie but little known Tho great
foundrics at 0ooukhoh, near St. Petersburg, which
rival those OF Herr Krpp at Essen furnish the steel
rife guns used In the Russian navy. Tho foundries
which in private hands, but which have guarantee
OF their time beng all Dled by government work.
occupy government buildings are now under govern
ment supervision and virtually government works
They named after Mr. Obouk non, mining engineer
in the government service, who invented IN 1851 an
improved process Of casting steel IN great masses
Al this time The Russian Ordnance Department.
was entirely dependent upon Herr Krupp Tor
their heavy artillery and werc naturally anxious
TO establish home manufacture. Contractors
aud capitalists who were already in rea-
lions with the imperial government were In
vcd TO the enterprise, and the government be.
sides advancing large sums Of money, gave also
tract OF land the Neva and the government
buildings which stood thereon. Mr Ohoukhon WAS one
OF the company; his process used, and he became
superint cndent Of the works. Work was commenced
in 1864. In 1866 Mr. Oboukhof retired, and Captain
Kookotzon, an officer or the imperial navy, was APP
pointed general superintendent Of the works. Colonel
Mussclus, naval artillery officer, was made technical
superintendent and the present successful career of
the Ohoukhon hundries commenced. The frst gun
from the foundry sent Tor trial in 1864 1t was
muzzle- loader OF cight-inch cabre, carrying shell
weighing 200 pounds and using 80 pounds OF
charge At $500 yards an armor plate four and
half inches In thickness pierced The gun burst
at tho 109th shot. This led the manufacturers TO
make various experiments in the manufacture and
Casting of the steel, which led 10 such favorable re-
suits that, the same year, they turned out nine
inch gup, carrying n shot weighing liz pounds,
| and having u charge weighing 81 pounds
| which, after GA rounds showed no interior
change In 1865 the Krupp breech-ioadng system was
introduced at the Obouxhon ioundries In 1867 the
hopping system OF General Gadolin, OF the Russian
army was adopted to strengthen the guns.
| The foundries In time Of peace employ some 1.50o
! men, but now many employed ana the works
| are at their highest capacity and working night and
day.
| MANUFACTURE OF THE sTEEI~
The cast iron used is from the blast furnaces Of the
Ural district aud manufactured by what is known
the ..charcoal method" The Steel made cruel
| bles OF which there somo four hundred. Zach
cruciblc has capacity OF nnety-two pounds. During
the process OF melting which lasts three to
hours, the manganese and other ingredients added
The crusiblcs placed two ami two Oh tho Sicmens
gas furnace tho fuel used being peat large deposits Of
which are found the vicinity. The cruclbles
manufactured in the works. made OF plumbago aud
clay for five castings Some 5000 Of the
crucibes manufactured yearly. Great taken
that ali the ingredients the crucbies DO used for
the same casting shall be OF the same quantity aud
quality. Tho amounts OF each Ingredient are carefully
weighed and by chemical analysis their quality is de-
termined.
THE CASTING GUNS.
Whom all il ready the converted contents OF tho cru
cibes poured into cast iron mould lined with
sand In which the steel gradually cools, forming
homogeneous mass. Two carry each crucble to
the side OF the casting pit where theare ranged IN
rows around II. and the work Is SO timed that
tnuous stream molten metal Is poured into the
mould. As many as 100 crucibcs used IN the cast
ing OF a tweve-lnch gun aud It s affair Of only from
fifteen TO twenty minutes The steel used for the cast
ing of tho guns contains from TO hree-quaricr
per cent carbon. Some twelve hours alter the
1tpC OF the mould the taken and water let
In TO casting. The stream OF water is continued
several days until the gun Is thoroughly cooled.
Alter casting has been made a sample is taken from
the muzzlc cnn, the breech aud the ccntre.o These
samples subjected TO physical and chemical tests,
kircady's we'll known machine beng used IN the for
mer Case.
Alter the casting finished the crude mass hosted
out the pit and taken TO tho snithery, where
IL is put In the Siemens heating furnaces and then
tougnoncd by being lifted into an immense cyinoer
containing boiling Iinsecd oil. The two together are
then gradually allowed TO cool THIS whole operation,
from the heating OF the gun to the moment OF its
|
regularity as to time aud all tho other conditions,
winch have been determined by many experiments as
being the most favorable This method, which is not
used by Herr Krupp, has found TO give excellent
results In England Pallisscr and Armstrong use It
interior tubes, which arc comparatively light steel
masses The gun Is then hammered into its proper
shape. The outside is then turned and the interior
channel bored out. These are long and tedious pro
cesses. winch require great care The main tube is
ready 10 be hoped Il is placed in vertical po-
been heated IN boiling linscod OIL are passed
muzx!c and on 10 the tube. Contracting after they
Is then taken the turning establ shmcnt, and tho
layer Is turned smooth. Tho other layers up To the
required number are then ADDED in similar manner
Treat skill required in the manufacture oi the
hoops that they shall NJ accurately and each exert
the same pressure Above all, they must not exercise
TOO great pressure contraction. The second layer
is calculated 10 exercise greater pressure than
tho nrst ana so on in succession After NE dihcu.t
operation OF hopping has been performed the oreech
is shaped the rning Of the bore scaSeiuy performed,
shutting mechanism al the oreech put IN place
The system OF closing tie breech by cynndro.prismat
cal wedges IL used white the closing OF the interior
aperture lett by the wedge effected by what known
as Broadvels circular ring.
Noe long ago Captain Kolokotzon invented a
process oil refining The guns after they had served tor
500 shots Formerly, alter TINS limit Of safety had
been pas sed gun material was recast INTO various
shapes, such axes, shafts, wheels &c. Captain
Knokotzou,s idea was 70 bore out the interior
after tho safety limit bud been passed, and INSERT
under hydraulic pressure, an INTERIOR tube OF one nch
IN tnickness ana ,hs gun is again rlAcd A hoop pro-
v,ousIy heated in OIL as before described is placed
the muzze and each shot az II comes out tends to es
iablsh more perfect contact between the old and
the new material. According TO this process . gun
bavng been dred SOC times Is refined and serves lor
500 shots; being again refined II can serve for 800
Shots Ihls method has proved very successful, and
In certainly very economical
PRODUCTION or THR WORKS.
The foundres At 0oouShon produce many sizes and
classes oil guns IRON our.pound howzer TO 'orty-
ono-ton gun having a twelve inch bore carrying
shot weighing 715 pounds anu using charge OF l3o
pounds The average production III guns Tor the last
i've years OF peace has been some i've thousand tons,
nj cost Of round numbers, say OF VI 600 per ton IN
finished guns. The works furnish guns tor ortresses
and the army wei! as Tor the navy. and manuiac-
lure also some forty thousand gun barrels per annum
In time OF peace large amount Of railway aud other
material Is manufactured since their establishment
these works have furnished some four hundred guns oil
heavy calibre 10 tho Russian imperial navy.
The following table Of The stce rncd guns forming
tho ordnance of the Russian Imperial navy VIII by