The morning call., 1893-10-02
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:: MODERN; lGUlNNERY.

AT the rate the. science Of gunnery: is
progressing nations will presently fight
each other with :.pin heads. IAN order
from the Navy Department directs that
the new magazine gun for the navy shall
throw "a projeetiie.. of .234 :calfber: Long
after the close of our war our army and
navy carried a weapon. with bore OF As.
The guns of the European armies: were
about the. Same: ealibeE. 1t was: France
which: discovered that efficiency was in
inverse ratio to the; calfber and armed her
forces: witha a piece of .315 bore: England
improved apon this by adopting a caliber
of, $685. and the famous Manser gun, in
yented.in Belgium. went still, further with
a caliber of .3Q1:; Then the United States
Still. further advanced ito acaliber of 800.
Italian :gunners. working. ON 1.-The same
lines, deviseuia a pieeewith a calfber of .236,
while Spain was content fwith ONE of .275.
Now we have cut under them. all with a
navy magazine gun with a bore oi .2S4. =
*.The:o bject Of reducing the caliber is to
secure. greater Initial velocity and greater
range and penetration. 1t also enables
the soldier*to carry more rounds of am:
munitien on his person.. The weight OF a
bullet:: Of $50: caliber lis 162 grains, as
against 800: grains for a bullet of 80 cali
ber,: SO that one=feufth more cartridges
can be carried per man; The smaller the
bullet, within given limits. the greater the
range and the larger tha penetrating
power. Per contra. a: wound made by:a
buAet:of I62 grains will be less 1ike1y to. be
fatal than one made by ballet Weighing
go grains. And again; :on the other side,
bAllet: jnpelled: With increased initial
velocity will be less likely to: tear the
tissues and to shatter: the bones than a
hnllet'w fich.i is slower iu its trajectory.
Nothing short: of, actual ex pertinent will
determlne.t the point at which. the efficiency
Of a prnjeetile is s;tmpaired by its:smallness.
Everybody: remem bers the, stury of the
back we odsMan,. WHO, being: shown a toy
:ppcket+nistol, -e1cla tined. EFT you should
shoot: me with that ere wippon and l
should find it out. Pd thrash you within
an inch: of your.Hfe:"! In this case the
/ frontier fighterreckoned that the.charge of
powder would be lnsproportion-to the pro-
t iectiie.-: But The ,250scalibeT gun carries a
charge: of .176 grains of powder: which is
suffice e1t to drive The projeetile with vast
momentum. Such a bullet striking q vital
organ like the. head or THE. heart would
produce death as quickly as a Minie- ball,
but if 1t struck ffeshy pars il. would pass
through without necessary fatal eoHse-
quences. and its rapid flight would. scar
the :woun d: and prevent death frem loss of
biood.. i: = =: = .. -: 80
The object Of man: being to destroy
hostile armies as rapidly aS possible. the
more destructive. military. weapons are
made the shorter ;:will wars become. But
I to: a nou-milirar ry: observer it :seems that
this o bjeetis more: likely to be. attained. at
the present stage Of the;science. by bestow-
ing attention ON accuracy in firing than by
a1tera tipns in the size :.of the nrOjectiles.
In :battle:it takes a dozen: or. a score Of
shots To-: kill or wound mani. Soldiers
grow nervous when; the ping of; tbe bullet
sounds round their ears. They: discharge
their piece wrehont: aiming and J.: conse-
qnently they generally shoot: over the
enemy's: head, er~stfike the earth before
| reaching him. Ganuers who''have COM
pared +-:the enenYss list of killed and
wounded with the return. of cartridges
| fired are amazed at tire dispropurtIon be-
tween thetwo.: Heavy artillery-is. becoiE-
| Ing more aud more a matter. of exact
science. Modern big guns. are aimed by
mathematical calculations-the<e eye cuts a
secondary figure in the business; but the
small arm Is still, Brought up to the shoul-
der, the soldiers eye runs along ihe sight.
and the trigger is pulled when the support
ing arm is wobbling under. the weight of
| the piece. Here it would seem is the
! opening for progress in gulnery..