The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-05-29

! ioritv over the smooth-bore guns of
| eoual weight that their development was
ranid In England the Lancaster gun
| came into use. II was made OF cast iron
| and had an elliptiosl bore which was
twisted so as TO give a proJecule OF the
same shape the necessary spin 20 keep
IL end on. A great deal was expected
! OF these guns. but the proiectlles fire.
ouently damned in the bore, sometimes
breaking up and sometimes even burst
ing the gun with fatal results, and they
were abandoned after a long trial. Tn
trial however was valuable in that II
nolnted the way to better things.
Sir Joseph Whitworth about this time
invented his well-knOwn gun with the
hexaponal twisted bore. The Armstrong
gun. however. was generally considered
the best and was finally adopted by the
British Government. 1t was built up or
wrought iron tubes with wrought iron
hoops shrunk over them. II was a
breech-loading weapon, firing iron pro-
jectiles coated with lead. Between the
| years 1859 and 1863 more than $500 Arm
strong guns OF calibres ranging from
| Q IL to inches were manufactured, but
the gun was defective in many ways.
so that in a few years they were all
| abandoned and guns built up in the same
| way. UAL mAkLlO ANhAAAANf hhAN aAhHANA
I'm their place.
This was a retrOgressive step which
was not retraced til fifteen years after.
Just about this time I'm our own country
the smooth-bore shell gun attained such
n development through the genius OF
Dahleren and Rodman that the general
use Of rlned cannon was postponed for
many years. For a long time the Q. il
and Is inch Dahlgrens were superior 10
| any previous s~mOOth-bOres and equal even
TO contemporary rihed guns. Their supe-
| riority was due as much 10 n better dis
tribution Of the metal 20 Withstand firing
| strains as TO the superior quality Of
American cast iron. From the time Of
the civil war up TO 1852 there were no
\ improvements from smooth-bore gun TO
| rifle in on r laval armament.
The modern naval gun IS n breech-
loading weapon. 1t consists of an inner
| tube of the finest grade Of forged steel.
over which are shrunk reinforcing JAG
kets and hoops of the same material.
The breech Is usually closed by means
| Of q slotted screw system. by which a
powerful screw thread on the breech
block engages with a similar thread
forged on the inner surface Of the outer
Jacket covering the breech. The cham
\ Der. instead of being smaller IN diameter
| than the rest of the bore. as il used 10
be. is now larger, so as 20 permit the
| employment Of very large powder
charges without unduly shortening the
travel OF the proiectile before il leaves
the muzzle Of the gun thus giving 10 it
the advantage Of every ounce OF pres
sure which the combustion Of the powder
generates.
In guns OF earlier makes the projectilo
| Ice fba fnrrvgTa IafaVa tho rraugu fu4nnf1-
ing It had fully expanded. and thus, by
too short a gun much OF the energy
of the powder was wasted. The short
ness Of the bore I'm old ordnance was.
however, TO some extent compensated
by the use OF "a quick burning powder.
whereas that now employed Is slow burn
ing and takes much longer 10 develop
its highest pressure.
The length OF the modern gun IS gem
orally thirty calibres. sometimes a little
more. The rihing consists Of n large
number Of shallow grooves with a twist.
increasing as they approach the muzzle.
The rotation of tho proiectile. necessary
10 keep 10 point on while travelling
through the air. IS impaired 10 Sc by "a
copper baud fastened round 90 near the
base. This band is of a diameter slight
ly greater han the calibre. so that It
HE NV ANI hANWNNh NH NAE IANNt|
tile moves forward.
There are three kinds Of proiectiles.
The common shell. made either OF steel
or cast iron, ana containing a large
bursting charge; the armor-piercing shell
OF forged steel. with "a finely tempered
point for penetrating armor ana con-
taining a quantity OF very high oxplo-
sive. such a jOyite. and the |shrapnel.
containing @ great number of small balls.
with q bursting charge 10 spread them
when the fuse acts. These proiectiles
weigh in pounds about one-half tho cube
Of their diameter i'm inches. Compared
with the solid shot OF the smOoth-bore
they are four times as heavy. and they
are fitted with percussion fuses. eXplod-
Ing them on impact or with time fuses
which can be set to explode them after
@ given period Of fight. The powder
charges are about one-half the weight
Of the projectiles and impart 10 them a
velocity Of 1900 fOot-seconds.
There are now coming into use I'm the
United States Navy smokeless powder.
with charges of which, weighing from
o~ne-fourth 10 one-third the %proiectlle.
muzzle velocites as high as 200 and
200 feet a second are obtained. But the
erosion OF chamber and riding, due both
to the chemical action OF the gases which
lHAs new powder generates and 10 the
enormous pTessures developed by IL. is
so great as 10 raise "a very reasonable
doubt, not only Of the superiority of the
smokeless powder over that which il slow
burning, but Of its utility under most
circumstances. This so-cailed smOkcless
powder has for its base Il ljsh Ell lOsive
such as gunoottOn or nitrO-glycerine or
"a mixture of both. and the rapidly OF
its combustion is overcome by using il
I'm a dense. nOn-hbrOus form or by the
addition Of insert substances.
The calibres OF The new .ihes with
which our ships are armed are I. 8. Is. s..
10. -. and 10 inch. The processes Cf con-
struction and the methods Of assembling
the various parts are the same for an
these guns. The starting point I'm the
manufacture Of a Zig rifle Is an immense
vat OF molten steel of the finest quality
o~btainable. While cooling. yet still I'm a
malleahle condition, the whole mass is
put under powerful trip hammers which
work n beat IL to prevent any air be-
ing inclosed between the cooling par
ticles. a possibility TO be carefully guard
ed against, since the imprisoned air
would prevent q thorough kneading OF
the steel and might develop weakness
n render the tube less able 20 with
stand the tremendous pressure which
firing eXerts upon It.
After this forging process the piece Is
rouEh-bOred and turned down I'm huge
lathes nearly 10 service dimensions, but
enough metal IS left on one or both ends
20 permit Of taking of test specimens.