New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-26

NEW MACHINE GUNS WANTED.
INVENTORS WILL Pc INVITED BY THE
NAVY TO ENTER A COMPETITION.
EXPERIMENTS WITH sMOKELEss PoWDER-THE
TX" POWDER MADE AT NEWPORT BELIEVED

EXPERIMENTS WITH sMOKEIESs POWDER-THE
TX" POWDER MADE AT NEWPORT BELIEVED
TO BE THE BEST IN EXFTENCE
GDY TELEGRAPH TO THE cRIBuNEJ
Washington. May 25.-Americar ana io7eish IN
ventors to have an opportunity TO furnsn The
Navy with machine guns OF G-nn'' caipre zap
tain Sampson. Chief OF the Bureau or ordnance.
will shortly issue invitations o companies anu
individuals to submit guns OF MS type Tor TEST.
with view TO their adoption Tor use on naval
vessels 1t Is probable that the frst order Tor the
guns will call for the delivery Of leo. subsequent
orders will follow, and IT. tinr quantity snH-
Glen: for all ships in commission VIII De P"i-
chased. The chances that there VIII De hwy
competition among inventors. tnde' cohdi'io's W
be prescribed in circulars to- he sent out by the
Navy Department. any company or Individual VINO
can show to the satisfaction OF the authorities
ability to manufacture guns or cause tnen' W Nv
manufactured may enter the contest. hVe'y'h'"s
taken into account. American invention u pre-
ferred. but the gun that gives the best r's"i's III
practical experiments vii be adopteu' P'"'"'" u
comes up TO requirements
The conditions under which guns may pe o"eIe'
for trial are as follows. only guns using smoke
less powder and jacketed bullets Will be eS'N'.
Each gun must be accompanied by statement VA
the price for which similar guns OF 6min' '"'o'c :
will be manufactured in the United states anu
delivered 10 the Navy Department. the prices
either with without field carriages "mn'
submittcl without mounts will be tried. Inc
mechanism must be suitable for gun OF o'"''
calibre and its adapabilit% TO the us" OF r'i"'
cartridges will be considered. The iaclH'F "' "'>
mounting and assembling the mechanism ana vi
replacing important parts likely to be dlsapl'n o'
firing will be noted the operations being per
formed nv representatives OF the gun ana oS
others selected by a board Of naval oh,cers' i'"
thousand rounds of suitable ammunition '""S'
SUPPLIED with each gun FOR use III 'S .'H' az"
samnles of this ammunition taken at ramon anu
tested in a shoulder rife must show not Tess '""''
$50 foot seconds muzzle velocity. -.
Tho c,rs will he fired for rapidly withon, ann
ing with ordinary and extreme elevations anu W.
nressions Rapdi,y and accuracy OF aiming "'''
be tested by target firing at moderate ''"s' 49,,
gun being handled by It's representatives. an" -
others selected by the Board Excessive p'' w., =,
.os,s r.,u no made BY adding the charge supphed
n sufficient quantity OF powder to give d pre-
~ not over 90 90 pounds per square men
,des with defective primers will be hred IN or'c
to determine the effect OF 'blo" pachS '''
mechanism Such tests VIII be maze d. III"
considers necessary determine whe'h'' "'' 80
4, l,re,v 10 be disabled by dust or rusilhs o' ~"
mechanism. -. -. D-icrs
ch.oodor Hotchkiss Calling. Gardner. Hope''-
son and Maxim guns will enter the oo"''S"
hon.d that American inventors VIII '"'" w. -
tent,on 10 the matter and develop 4" '
that is superior TO those named A-o
Recent tests OF naval smoKcleSs Po" a.,
, h,h,, satisfactory results. 1t has been sa'u
q, ,hose disnatches that the * po"ue' man
featured at the Naval Torpedo station mas w.
veIoned surprisingly high velocity re'""'''
nressure and excellent keeping qua""eS -.
,,. h.s heon as great as 2io5 foot SECONDS inc
nressure as low as fourteen. ana qua"""'' - 80
nowder have been kept for more thai Y'"' ".,.'
-. o,,,ren, deteriorat ton. No such gool RESUME
hav. been obtained abroad. Here o. 'A'' nv "
,ention OF naval officers has peeh ue'o'''
periments calculated to insure u'''"i''''s
,i,v md nressurc In this relation the IA pow
dor has been somewhat erratic. In inc ''''9' ~
der made at Newport the deiecta ""."
A., ,h,s direction have been overcome ana the Cum
nosition now turned out comes up 10 inc Se''' =,
requirement with respect to uniforin''S' "r W"
as IN other elements. The velocity oD'a'h'' ""'"
~. samn,e lot OF the newest product is practically
the same as that developed with other small yuan
titles and the pressure is equally uniform g."
th.r experiments are going on 10 det t
whether * powder will detcriorai" IN h.ST
neratures Cans Of II have been kept ~ Lula"
Head ,or several weeks under rons'an' I'm IN
perature OF 100 degrees. ana 50 ina Ts,s IL
had no bad effect upon the composition '''' 81
an important point. lor on severaI .hlpS !" ,r,ne
mission the magazines are near me iirs o, s
rooms, where the temperature, ~ III , o. Ia
almost 10, degrees The probabilities seem 10 W
that the * powder will come up 70 ,ns nmrJ
mcnt satisfactorily as 10 me oth"is "iT,,ticss
If il does it will be the best all-round sin"h,I"sS
known.
Interested in its development VIII De ch''i"i 10
much credit FOR the results obiain"I . ,
Commander Spcrry. OF the bureau o' ordnance,
who has given special attention 10 IN" uI"ls o.
The * powder. had much Of interest 20 say TO-
day In res products OF the srlok"i'ss va j.
e,y He said that IL common nlst"h" I"
suppose that the chief advantage OF composition
~ ihis kind is smOkelessness That - "a h-'ihei
oractical benefit, but not the main one. In bi"cK
aud brown powders there IL much energy or power
wasted With the former there IL a residue "lndl
| i'm volume though not in weight To the volume OF
the charge This is much dead weight 'or Inc
gas TO overcome. TO push out OF the way IN
Inc discharge" as Commander Sperry expressed ~.
With srnokelcss powder Tx" the X compound.
which Is made y gun cotton. all Of the compost
ton IS converted into elastic gas. ana as mere
is no residue left. all OF the energy developer IS
exercised against the shot or shell IN the bore
The result Is higher velocity and greater stTikng
force That there is little smoke Is due TO the
fact that The powder < all burned. Another I'm
portant point mentioned by Commander Sperry II
nc relative ghtncss OF weight OF smokelcss pow
der | sing black powder In recent comparative
tests forty nine pounds fired from .4o-calbre gun
developed a velocity Of only 2.lD feet per second.
With the same gun and charge OF thirty three
mounds Of "<' powder velocity OF 1855 foot sec
onds resulted. Therefore. ships OF war OF this
country VIII soon be able 10 do away with about
one-thrd Of the weight carried In the magazines
Without injury to their lighting efficiency the
vessels can have board that additional quantity
~ powdcr-an important point. nowadays the
| Of fhc mi nmi Cd