The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-03-28
NEW NArAI GUN ExERcIsEs.
sub-Calibre Practice with Big Cannon
Among tlic Warsifu-.

| Sub-Calibre Practice with Big Cannon
Among tic Warships.
The man behind the gun" IS being
carefully and systematically trained "a
his duties on board the war.ships Of the
North Atlantic squadron. lying al Hamp-
ton Roads. In addition to the aiming and
sighting drill. which enables man to de-
termine his personal error" and to make
allowances for d.. there IS another very
instructive drill which has been begun
recently in the squadron.
This is sub-calibrc practice. 4 rigid
frame holding a navy rifle. t. arranged
10 be set into the brcech OF the modern
great gun. bringing the axis Of The rife 3
bore accurately in coincidence with thc
axis OF the gun Itself This IL accomplish
ed by two disks I'm the frame. tle for
ward one holding the muzzle OF the rife,
fits closely into the tube of fne great gun,
while the after disk IS arranged TO nc and
screw into the threads OF the screw-bOH;
that is. into the breech of the gun where
the bfcech block Is received when closed
and ready for firing Guard clamps nc
about the stock of the rifle. and are at
tachcd 10 the outside Of The great gun, so
that the rocon of the rife may not dis
arrange it. With the rifle I'm place and
loaded with the service cartridge, the gun
is trained. elevated, and sighted the same
as II there were q full charge and steel
prOjoctilc in the bore.
The targets used are empty casks mark
ed by red flags and anchored az q cOnvcn-
tent distance. not more than 900 yeaFas
from the ship. The range corresponding
10 the elevation of the gun cannot hold
true. but that is OF no consequence. the
great object being 10 insure rapidly OF
fire with accuracy on bringing the target
into the line OF sights A rather curious
point arises in sighting, for IL is found
that with the eye close to the rear si2ht
and the target apparently In line, upon
retreatine To some four or Eve feet TO tle
rear the target will be considerably out
Of range The rule Is. therefore. 10 sight
at the length of the lock lanyard. which
brings the observer well 20 the rear.
The ships of the squadron have been
sent out for target practice OF the capes
of the Chesapeake singly or in pairs. dur
ing the past ten days. recent revision
I'm the regulations governing target pfac-
tice has simplifled matters considerably
But one boat for observers Is now neces-
sary. This is anchored at a safe distance
from the target. and in a direction at
right angles To the line of fire, and par
allel 10 the course over which the ships
steam This course is marked OF by
buoys at the specified distance from the
target The observer IN the boat notes
the fall Of shots only those falling with
I'm a certain horizontal angular distance
of the target. as observed by him, count,
so that shot is either perfect or zero.
IL there were a ship In place Of the ta'-
get. those shots falling inside this angle
would strike her. while those iailinS
short or over would miss. Another OBJ
server watches the fall Of the shots from
the deck OF the ship. so that In plotting
that IL. making a graphic record OF ne
practice-the intersection OF the co-ofdi-
mates thus established marks the exact
spo, for each fail BY tables computed
for the purpose. this record can be readily
transferred 10 a vertical target. which
shows where the shot pierced the vertical
plane passing through the target so many
feet above. or. in the ease OF shot fall-
,p,, short the number of feet below. II
there mad been no detection or ricochet
from the water.