Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-18
THE RAPID-FIRE Gun.
1t is One of the Great Modern Pro-
duets of Mans Ingenuity.

From the independent
The new weapon about which one hears
the most during the present war is the So
called rapid or quick firing gun. This
is especially the gun of today. since its
chief development has taken place within
the last ten years. Of course, all guns
which throw projectiles in rapid succession
are quick-fring; but distinction is made
between the machine guns and the rapid
firing guns, the former being literally ma
chimes having many moving parts which
cooperate TO throw a great many small
shells In a very brief period of time, and
the latter being simply single-shot guns,
which use what is termed liked ammuni-
ton; that is to say, instead of their being
loaded at the breech successfully with
shell and then one or more cartridges ana
finally provided with a primer which Is ls-
nited when struck by the hammer of the
lock, they have their projectile. charge and
primer all combined, just as in the ordinary
revolver or sporting small arm; and hence
but one operation is necessary in loading.
But as compared with the little metallic
cartridge of ones pistol. the load of a big
qutck-fre gun is rather gigantic. For
gun of a caliber OF five inches the combined
projectile and case measure nearly four
feet in length and weigh about ninety-ftve
pounds, while for the Six-inCh guns the
total weight of the complete cartridge is
about one hundred and thirty-fve pounds.
Fixed ammunition saves time in loading.
ana still more time IS saved Dy arranging
the door in the breech of the gun, which is
closed after the charge is put in so that it
can be very rapidly opened and shut by
means Of hand levers; and, lastly, the gun
Itself is SO supported that ii can be trained
quickly upon its target So that the quick
ness depends first upon the fact that you
put in the whole charge at once Instead of
N separate parts: second, upon the celebrity
with which the breech can be opened and
closed. and, third, upon the ease of point
ing And as a consequence of all this, two
ehots can be fired in much less time than
it would otherwise take to fire one; and for
war purposes the man who does that is
more useful even than the much-vaunted
hero who cOaxes two blades of grass out
Of the reluctant earth which ordinarily
yields but a solitary stalk.
From what has been said ii will be evil
dent that the rapid-fire gun is by no means
necessarily small affair. True, there are
little rapid-fires which throw projectiles
ranging in weight from one to six pounds,
but the big ones of calibers of four, five and
six inches are powerful enough 10 arm the
lighter cruisers and gunboats all by them
selves. The six-inch gun is over twenty
feet long and weigh six tons With the So
called Dashiell breech mechanism this gun
has been fired ten times In two minutes
and fifty-six seconds, or in about half the
time required to deliver the same number
Of shots when the ordinary Fredericksburg
devices were employed.
But, of course, speed of shooting will de-
pend upon many factors. With such great
cartridges as are required Dy the S1X-fncn
gun the supply of ammunition is necessarily
much slower than when the light charges
of the One-pounder pieces are handled, and
the thorough drilling of the men in the
operations of loading also increases the
rapidity Of fire.
On board ship the quick-fire guns form
the principal part Of what is XII swn as the
secondary battery Thus the Iowa in her
main battery carries four twelve-inch, eight
eight-inch and six fOur-inch guns, and in
her secondary battery twenty six-pounder
and four one-pounder quick-fires They
are used to destroy the ends of vessels
which are protected only over their boilers
and engines. to disable unshielded guns and
gun machinery. and, with the machine
guns, they are the great safeguard against
attacks of torpedo boats: for it is we'll
demonstrated that these light craft are
poweriess when confronted with d concen-
trated hail of Quick-fire projectiles. The
two Spanish boats which rushed upon Ad-
miral Dewey's squadron at Mani a were lit
orally torn to pieces; and even the much
larger and faster torpedo destroyers which
attacked the Texas off Santiago de Cuba
were driven back almost as soon as the
searchlight revealed them.