The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-10-30
WgIcn GUNS WILL WIN,
TIE Great Competitive Trial OF E,pid-nro
RInes at SANDY Hook.

| out 1t is expected to be the most interesting
and important affair OF the kind ever con
| Quoted anywhere: and while American gun
| are among those entered In competition, tn
| Sandy Hook proving grounds. on which thu
contest is to take place. will be for these pur
| poses neutral territory. whore absolute i'm par
| TALLY is assured.
| First will come the trial OF G-pounders. Thi
| calibre Is now the most important OF th
| lighter rapid-hre guns In our country. Ever,
| new ship in the navy has 8-pounders in III
! secondary battery, and while 3-pounders ant
1-pounders, as we'll as Gatlings. are also car
ried. the frst-named Is much the most used
Thus. the Texas and Maine each carry twelv,
o-pounders to ten OF the other pieces com
bined; the Indiana class has twenty G-pound
ers to four 1-pounders and four Gatlings
the Olympia. fourteen 6-pounlers to ten
Founders and Gatings combined. Other ship.
would illustrate the same fact. and a forma
decision has been reached to secure hereafter
large prepondernnce OF 6-rounders in the
auxiliary batteries. This policy will reduce
the number OF kinds OF ammunition mploy ed
winch Is an advantage. and in addition secure
greater weight OF projecties than with the
smaller calibres. greater range and greater
aggregate energy. yet with about the same
number OF men required to serve the pieces
and about the same rapidity. While this Is
true OF the navy. the fact that 6-pounders are
to be tried at Sandy Hook sufficiently shows
the view OF the military establishment The
test. OF course. Ia undertaken for practical
purposes. as G-pounders can be used In coas,
Qualifications the Maxim Nordenfelt Company.
for example. having received n single order
for hundred guns OF that caibre in England
for this purpose. 1t is said to be possible that
seven different G-pounders may be entered.
namely. the Adamson. briggs Schroeder.
HotchIAss. Maxim. Maxim Norde nfeldt, Sea-
bury and SponseL 1t Is believed that m a.
jority OF the seven will take part.
Following this test. which will soon be made,
IL the smokeess powder for the purpose is re-
ceived. there will be a second set OF trials Of
the 4. 12-inch class. This latter of course is also
available for coast Notifications. may fairly be
said to be the favorite among the rapid fire
guns used as the main batteries Of vessels
The English and French ships are particularly
strong in this calibre. while our navy uses
four-inch and flve-inch guns. or those Just
little smaller and larger. avoiding the fraction
For this second competition the Hotchkiss and
Armstrong guns the former from Paris and
the latter from Elswick. have already arrived
on the Sandy Hook grounds to be in readiness.
A third gun. the Canet. is supposed to be on
Il
the Chicago Fair. and is expected to be moved
thence to Sandy Hook. II. also. as is hoped.
the Krupp gun now at the Fair should enter.
there would be splendid contest.
Turning to some of these guns the least
known in this country is probably the Adam
son. which has had good success in Sweden.
1t Is not known yet that it will be represented
at Sandy Hook. but the Bofors rapid-fl
breech mechanism with which it Is fitted Is ef-
fective. 3.36-iEch. 24-calibre Adamson gun.
weighing 1.2OO pounds. has been successfully
tested in Sweden. The weight Of the projectile
was lax pounds. and that Of the charge 5.51
pounds OF black powder and 2.5 OF Nobel
smokeless. with 1920 feet initial velocity In
the former case and 2.163 in the latter. the
pressures. however. running quite high. The
maximum rapidty was five rounds in twenty
seconds. In this Adamson gun. in lieu of
trunnions. the jacket was constructed with a
spherical enlargement. which was held in n
socket OF the mount. this ball-and- rocket Joint
permitting quick pointing. which is a charac-
teristic OF the piece.
The Armstrong guns used In the British
service have for years been very famous In all
their calibres. The 4.72 gun. with a 45-pound
proJectile. gets p feet OF muzzle velocity. with
only 12.4 tons pressure and 22.65 with 14.S
tons. the former yielding muzzle energy Of
1875 and the latter OF 1901 foot tons These
are actual service velocties and energies: but
The guns are built and tested with 10 tons
pressure per square inch. which gives 2 3B
eet per second. the smokeless powder used
being cordite. With II tons pressure 22OO
eet per second has been obtained.
The Erupr rapid fire guns in the German
navy range from 1877 inches up to SOL.
With the largest calibre and a4 g. pound pro-
ectile an initial velocity OF .. 400 feet has been
obtained and OF 2,132 feet with l23-pound
'rojectile. Ten shots were fired in seventy
wo seconds. nine OF them striking the target.
The APP gun awaited for the Sandy Hook
rial would throw A. pound projectle with a
y pound charge
Among the foreign competitors one OF the |
most interesting is the Canet 4.72-inch gun,
t is four foot longer than the Krupp, being |
III feet long. weighs 2.S5 tons, or nearly ton
more. and yet throws projectile OF only about |
he came weight. or 463 pounds. Naturally |
he muzZle velocity is expected to be higher.
nd. In fact is 1924 feet per second. with a |
reater penetration than the Armstrong and |
he Krupp. and 1914 tons pressure.
That the American guns In both trials will
old their own by competition is fully expect.
d. The new Hotchkiss G-pounder Is said to
ave reached the very great initial velocity NJ
.6o5 feet per second. with less than 10 tons of
ressure. using smok eless powder and OH
aiming muzzle penetration In wrought iron
nearly 8 inches. with recol on the mount
less than 5 inches. This is n vast gain over
no 6-pounders hitherto installed in our war
essels with about 1850 feet velocity. The
liter are manufactured In this country. but
10 gun for the Sandy Hook test comes from
,e Hotchkiss works in Paris The briggs