Morning journal and courier., 1891-01-23
FACTS ABOUT BIG GUNS.
Progress and Prospects of the New
Coast Armaments.

=
Coast Armaments.
From the New York Sum-
The longest recorded range of any for
eign gun is just over twelve miles, which
was achieved with an English gun. The
longest recorded range of an American
gun is about six and one-third miles.
The government now owns but one steel
eight-inch breech-loading rifle and one
steel breech-loading ten-inch rifle. These
are at the Sandy Hook proving ground,
and have not yet been fired to ascertain
how far they will carry.
The new ten-inch guns are expected to
range thirteen thousand six hundred and
fifty yards at twenty degrees elevation.
The twelve-inch guns will range fourteen
thousand seven hundred yards at twenty
degrees elevation.
The eight-inch B. L. gun at Sandy Hook
weighs about fourteen and one-fourth
tons, and has length of bore thirty two
cslibres. 1t is made of steel and bound
with steel hoops. The riling curve is
part of a semi-cubic parabola, and in
creases from one turn in fifty calibres to
one turn in twenty-five calibres. With a
load of one hundred and forty pounds of
German prismatic powder this gun sent a
three hundred pound projectile with a
muzzle velocity of one thousand nine hun
dred and fifty feet in a second, at a
pressure of forty thousand pounds to the
square inch and with a muzzle energy of
seven thousand nine hundred and seventy
three foot tons. About equal results were
obtained with Dupont's American powder.
The gun has been fired seventy-six rounds,
and is in an entirely sound condition.
| This gun has been fired for accuracy at
three thousand yards. The mean verticle
deviation was 194 feet. The mean lateral
deviation was 219 feet The eight-inch
gun is made entirely of American steel
The ten-inch B. L. steel rifle gun weighs
about twenty-nine tons and has a length of
bore of thirty-two calibres. 1t is partly
of English material. The rifing is simi-
lar to that of the eight-inch rifle. When
fired with two hundred and ffty-fve
pounds of German prismatic powder it
sent projectile weighing five hundred
and seventy-one pounds with a muzzle We
| locity of one thousand nine hundred and
| fifty-three feet per second and muZzle
energy of fifteen thousand one hundred
and thirteen foot tons. The distance was
not measured.
Recently the teK-ineh breech- loading
cast iron wire-wrapped gun at Sandy Hook
| WAS uTcu Will tWO dll2
pounds of powder and projectile weigh
ing eight hundred pounds. The carriage
broke and the tests were not completed.
One twelve inch breech-loading rifle,
cast iron, tubed with steel, has been COM
pleted and turned over for trial, but it has
not been tested.
Tt costs about one hundred dollars for
the powder and ball alone to fire one OF
these big guns.
When the new guns are tried for range
and accuracy it is expected that at ten
thousand yards about twenty five per cent.
of the shots fired will strike within space
forty-eight and one-half by nine and
three-tenth yards. Very much will de.
pend upon the powder. Extreme accuracy
is not expected with long ranges. 1t is
calculated that the range of the ten-inch
gun at fifteen degrees elevation will be
seven miles. The projectile will go thres
thousand feet up into the air.
One of the new twelve-inch mortars
which is about five times as long the
old mertars, has been fired. 1t sent a pro
iectile weighing $50 tons over three milei
up into the air, and the range was abou
six and one-tnird miles.
The board of Notifications reported Il
congress in 1886 that twenty y-seven of ou
ports required urgently Notifications ant
other defences, and estimated that fiv
hundred and seventy-one new guns ant
seven hundred and twenty-four new NOR
tars were needed to arm these exposet
ports. Twenty-seven ports were names
ss most urgently requiring armament, AMI