Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-03-28
A GREAT Gun.
The Largest Specimen Of steel Ord
nance Yet Made.

The Largest Specimen Of Steel Ord
nance Yet Made.
London standard Feb. ssd.
The war office and the admiralty
have been invited by Herr krupp IL
send representatives to be present at
the trials of new steel gun of cxtraor-
binary size, to take place AT Meppeu. in
Westphalia, on or about the 10th OF
next month. The gun 10 I've expert
mented with ON this occasion is the
largest specimen of steel ordnance vet
made. ltweighs ~ tons, with y calihre
of 40 centimetres, or l5$ inches. The
length of the gun is 81 feet S inches,
and that of the bore IS feet 6 inches.
The English S0-ton gun has calibre OF
Ii inches, total length of % feet and
bore II feet long. The superior
length OF bore in the krupp gun is
thus apparent, being alS calibres, ~
against Is calibres in the English gun.
The material of when the Krupp gun
is composed, is steel throughout. Tho
core of the gun consists of tube run
ming It's entire length, as in the Wool.
witch gun, but open at the rear.
the loading being 1T the breach
instead Of the mul2le. The tube OF
this large weapon being of such great
length, 1t has been made in two portions
the joints being secured in u peculiar
manner, Over the tube are four
Jackets" or cylinders, of various
lengths, supplemented by ring over
the breech ,ortion. The gun is cham
bered,-that is to say, the powder
chamber has n greater diameter than
the bore, The form given to the pow
der prisms, and the adjustment Of the
cartridge i'll the bore allow altogether
an amount of space which gives Az per
cent of air to the powder actually COM
posing the charge. The gun ia grooyei
ON the polgroove system, with uni
form twist, and the shot is rotated by
means of copper.ring let into its cir
cumlerenco near the base. The ring,
by filling the grooves Of the riting, also
acts rs II gas-check, and seals the bore
from the moment il is rammed into its
place, without waiting for any "sctting
up" by the pressure of the powder-gas
on igniting the charge. The closing OF
the brecch is effected by means OF a
sliding wedge, which passes across the
bore and is there fixed, The construc.
ton of this wedge is highly ingenious
and simple, one feature being that OF
rendering IL impossible to fire the gun
until the breech is etlectually closed.
The wedge is rounded ut the back into
| hn NT hA I I,
vent tho splitting Of tho gun by sharp
angles. This modification Of the
wedge has made the Krupp guns much
more secure than they were some years
ago, when the wedge was made squar,
at the rear.
The charge of this monster gun is tc
be 3S5 pounds of prismatic powder, the
projectile being a chilled iron shell OF
1850 pounds, with bursting charge OF
twenty-five pounds OF powder. 1t is cs.
timated that the velocity OF the projec
tile rs it leaves the muzzle Of the gun
will be 500 metres. or 1,640 feet per sec
ond, corresponding TO an energy Of very
nearly 81, 600 foot tons. Calculations
have. been made for certain distances
iibiISisy Nv ot' ghluh NtIuCly vi
1902 feet; at 1,64l yards q velocity oil
| ,443 feet; ut 2,1S7 yards n velocity Of
1,345 feet per second. This last range
it will be seen, is equal to $500 metres
the other distances given being respec.
lively 500 metres, 200, 500 and 1000
The Mcppen shooting ground Is admi'
rably adapted for the trial of this
great gun, there being an avail
able range Of 1900 metres, or nearly
eleven miles, with II breadth Of 1000
metres. 1t is not likely that the gun
will be fired at any great angle Of eleva-
ton, or even this noble range would be
insufficient. II is estimated, rather III
a matter of curiosity than otherwise
that if the gun were fired with its axis
rased to an angle Of 43 deg. with the
holizon, it would send its urojcctile to a
distance of fifteen miles. Great accu.
raey is also claimed for this weapon, as
for all tie Krupp breech-loading guns
At the forthcoming trials targets will
be placed at such distance that the
guns win have to be directed by other
means than the visibility Of the object
to be hit. The largest steel guns pre-.
viously made are, Krupp's two 5G ton
breech.loaders, one oil which il Mt Con
stantinople and the other at Cronstadt
s
An AstOnished Turkey.