Weekly Trinity journal., 1879-10-18
A NEW GREAT GUN.


steel gun of extraordinary size, to take
place at Meppen, in Westphalia. The
invitation has been accepted by the War
Office. which will be represented by two
officers deputed for that purpose. The
gun to be expeimented with on this oc-
casion is the largest specimen Of steel
ordinance yet made. 1t weighs ~ tons.
with caliber Of 40 centimeters. or l5A
inches. The length Of the gun is 32 feet
3 inches, and that of the bore % feet 6
inches. The English so ton gun has a
! cafiber of l6 inches, total length of 81
feet, and bore "a feet long. The supe>
rior length OF bore in the Krupp gun is
thus apparent, beng 2lA calibers, as
against Is calbers in the English gun.
The material of which the Krupp gun is
composed is steel throughout. The core
of the gun consists of tube running its
entire length, as in the Woolwich gun,
but open at the rear, the loading being at
the breech instead of the muzzle. The
tube of this large weapon being Of such
great length it has been made in two por-
tons, the joint being secured in pecul
lar manner.
We may observe that a sectional draw
ing ola Krupp gun is not to be obtained; /;
that the exact mode Of building up is not
dscoverable, except by cutting the gun
to pieces. Over the tuoe are fur" jack
ets," or cylinders, of various lengths,
supplemented by ring over the breech
portion. The cylinders are much less
massive than in the Fraser gun. and ap,
proxim more to the pattern of the
Armstrong ordnance. The gun is cham
bered-that is to say, the powder cham
ber has a greater diameter than the bore.
The form given to the powder prisms
and the adjustment of the cartridge in the
bore, allow altogether an amount of space
which gives 40 per cent OF air to The pow
der actually composing the charge. The
gun IS ri6ed on the polvgroove system,
with uniform twist, and the shot is ro-
tated by means OF copper ring let into
its circumference near the base. This
ring, by filling the grooves of the riding,
also acts as gas check, and seals the
bore from the moment it is rammed into
its p lace, without waiting for any "set.
ting up "bv the pressure of the powder
of the breech is effected by means OF
sliding wedge. which passes across The
bore, ana is there fixed. The construc
tion of this wedge is highly ingeGious and
simple, one feature being that of render
ing it impossible to fire. the gun until the
breech is effcctuallv closed. The wedge
is rounded Mt the back into the form of
the letter ID, so ms to prevent the splitting
of the gsn by sharp angles. This mod
fication of the wedge has made the Krupp
guns much more secure than they were
some years ago, when the wedge was
made square a. the rear.
The charge for this monster gun is to
be 1855 pounds of prismatic powder, the
projectile being chilled iron she'll OF
1850 pounds. with bursting charge of
% pounds of powder. 1t is estimated
that the velocity of the projectile as il
leaves the muzzle of the gun will be 500
meters, or ! $40 feet per second, cores
ponding to an energy of very nearly 3D.
600 foot tons. Calculations have been
made for certain distances namely, at
547 yards velocity of | ,565 feet, ut / ,09i
yards velocity of 1902 feet, at l,64l
yards velocity of .443 feet. at 2,lS7
yard. velocity OF 1.39l feet, and Mt 2, 734
yards velocity of / ,345 feet per second
This last range, it will be seen, is equal
to $500 meters, the other distances given
being respectively 500 meters, l 900, / 500
and 1900.
The M~ppen shooting ground is ad
mirably adapted for the trial of this great
gun, there being an available range of
IL 900 melers, or nearly ii miles, with a
breadth of 4 900 meters. 1t is not likely
that the gun will be fred at any great an
gle OF elevation, or even this noble range
rather as N matter of curiosity than other.
wise, that if the gun were fired with its
axis raised to an angle 43o with the hori-
zon, it would send its projectile to dis
tance of Is miles. Great accuracy is al
so claimed for this weapon, as for all the
Krupp breech loadirg guns. AT the
forthcoming trials targets will be placed
at such distance that the gun will have
to be directed by other means than the
visibility Of the object to be hit. As may
be supposed, the cost Of this great steel
gun will considerably exceed that Of the
Fraser gun of 80 tons. The largest steel
guns previously made are Krupp's two
Sc ton breech leaders, ene of which is at
Constantinople and the other at Cron-
stadt.
-