The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-06
A MODERN RAPID-FIRE GUN.
HOW 1T DIFFERS FROM OTHER
CANNON OF SAME CALDER.

Time in LoadinG-NO Separate
Primer or SNvabbing Out Required.
"AutOmntic" and "scmi-AutOmat-
ic" Guns.
From the New York Tribune.
In describing the armament sof war
vessel, nowadays, 1t is customary 60 speak
of her big rifles. having a calibre of from
eight to thirteen inches, her "rapid-dre''
Tor 'quick-firing'O guns of smaller cali
bre, and her torpedo tubes. if she has any.
The aforementioned means of offence need
not be discussed at present But the dit.
ference between a "rapid-fire" gun anc
any other cannon of the same size is no,
as well understood, perhaps, as it might
be.
In the first place il should be borne In
mind that both kinds of ordnance are
adapted to the use Of shells or solid shot
whichever the gunner may prefer. Again
while there are dissimiiarites in the
breech mechanism of the two STYLES OF
gun. these are immateriaL Finally. the
distinction IS not one of size. although the
peculiaritles of the rapid-fre system were
ers and 6-pounders, which have bores of
LA and pa inches respectively. subse,
quently, the idea was applied to 4-inch. D.
inch and 6-inch guns, which discharge So
pound, 7O-pound and 1OO-pound shot. Ana
now Tor the last three or four years there
has been good deal of talk of S-inrb
'rapid-hre' guns, capable. of throwing $50
pounds of steel i'm one chunk
The essential difference between the old
gun ana the new is in the method of load
ing Formerly, the breech having been
opened, the projectle was inserted in fine
bore from the rear, and the powder wa.
put IN afterward The latter was nclosed
IN a light flannel, or bunting cover which
would burn quickly when once ignited II
was necessary, too. to apply "A priraer
men, after firing the piece the interior
was swabheG out, TO remove the products
Oh combustion. These various operations
consumed a great deal of lime
for rapid-tre guns the ammunition is
prepared as 1t is for modern small arms
Inc powder and ball are combined In a
single cartridge having a metallic case
The primer is in the center of the rear
END of this case, and is detonated by the
nrlne-pln OF the gun mechanism. The
smudse LEFT by the burning powder sticks
TO the inside of the case. which Is extract
ed automatically when the breech Is again
opened Swabbing out is unnecessary, M
time or thought need be given TO the
primer.
In the Hotchkiss rapd-hre gun there Is
vertical slot, in which the breechblock
moves up ana down. lever at the side
OF the piece, and normally pointing for
ward, Is pulled upward and backward
when operations begin. The first effect of
TINS movement Is 20 cock the hammer
Then the breechblock is seen to slide down
ward AS 1t does so the extracting mech
anism pulls on the empty cartridge shell
in the gun, slowly at first and then quick
ly. The case is elected by the time the
block has stopped sinking The gunner
then drops into the hole on top a cartridge.
and starts the point of Il into the bore
He pushes 1t in only half way on revers
ing the lever-that is throwing II forward
and downward--the breechblock is brought
back into place. AS 1t comes upward II
forces the cartridge home and completes
certain other preliminaries for firing
There is trigger however which must
be pulled in order to discharge the piece.
This may be operated with a lanyard or
short rope If the gunner desires
number of styles of rapid fire guns
have been devised. They differ only in
what to the novice would seem mere de-
ment of the breechlock the extractor. pro-
lection against premature explosion and
rust. There are also several different kinds
Of mount or support more perfectly to
adapt these guns to the varied service ex-
! pected of them. A rapid-fire gun designed
for use in a mountainous region would not
have the same sort OF a carriage as If lis
operations We're to be confined to a level
country. Again, the naval mount is unlike
a movable support.
Besides those rapid-fire guns which are
discharged only by pulling trigger, after
loading, there are others which are fired
by the screw movement of the lever, which
restores the breehblock to its position and
drives the cartridge home These are
known as "semi-automatic." Then there
is the automatic" gun. of which Maxim's
is a good specimen, and which not only
feeds itself but fires itself, after once being
started. The cartridges are arranged par
allel 10 one another, crosswise, on a rib
bon. This is fed into the gun automatic
ally. The extraction of the empty cases
their election, the loading, and finally the
| firing, all result from the recoil Of the bar
rel and a powerful spring that throws 1t
| forward again before each discharge
From coo to 1000 rounds a minute have
been fired from automatic" guns. This
speed Is possible, however, only with am
! munltion suited TO infantry rifles, whose
| calibre is somewhat between a quarter and
| two-flfths of an inch. The automatic IS
| hardly to be classed with the "semi-auto-
matte and other rapid-fre guns.
In test of rapid-nre guns under the
auspices of the United States war depart
ment, three or four years ago the follow
! ing speed was made with some six-pound-
! ers (2N inches caliber). The time re-
| quired TO fire one hundred shots was four
| minutes and twenty-six seconds for the
Hotchkiss; 4:35l3 for the Driggs-Schroe-
| der 4:41 for the Maxim Nordenfelt, and
1861 for the Sponsel These figures chow
| a frequency of from % to % a minute
| Without any attempt at aim, the speed
can be run up to 30 or IS. OF course, with
heavier guns no such rapidity can be se-
cured When the 5-inch G0-pounder0 Of
| the Cincinnati were tried the other day
| thirty-sx shots were fired in five minutes
or seven to the minute. This was consid-
cred good work
Most rapid-fre guns are built up" The
! barrel consists of a tube of practically
uniform diameter, strengthened at The
| breech by jackets and hoops that are treat
! ed to expand them and then are shrunk
on. But Calling and Maxim have lately
found a way to manufacture them in a
etnpIa niece thus saving much time In the