The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-11
VIEW GUNS YoR TEE NAvY.
Contract Awarded for Fifty OF the DrisGs-
ssabury ssmi-Automatio siI-poundsrs.

W
sssbury Semi siH-poundsrs.
WASHINGTON. March l0.-Ths Navy Depart
ment to-day awarded q contract to the Driggs.
Beabury Gun and Ammunition Company OF
New York for atty semi.automatic 6-poundsr
guns. This CUR IL tho lnven ton OF Comman-
der William n. briggs. U. y. n, retired. and
has Just completed q series OF remarkable
trials at the Indian Head proving-ground.
The report Just received at the Navy Depart.
ment shows a rate Of Ave rounds 10 four SEQ
onds. which 10 more than double the best
record already made and ct the rate OF
75 shots a minute with "a 8-poundsr shell.
This proIectile 10 loaded with powder. and has
. percussion fuse which OK plodss the shell upon
impact. This and the firing charge are together
In one cartridge. like tina cartridge OF a pistol or
o rifle. but on a large scale. The cartridges are
entered into the cham Der py hand. and as
soon as securely placed the gun closes auto
matically. fres. recoils and. returning 10 the
battery. the breech opens, ejecting the empty
case and leaving the gun ready to receive
another load. II not desired to use the full
automatic feature the guE. pointer releases his
hold upon the trigger until such time - no
wishes to Are. Then. by pulling the trigger. as
he finds his piece bearing on the target. the
gun fires again. recoils. and on the counter.re-
coil opens and elects the empty case and leav 60
the gun ready for q new load.
To get a continuous FIRE. however. the
operator has only to continue his hold upon
the trigger and have the assistant load 40
rapidly a. the empty cases are ejected. Tho
automatic feature may be entirely thrown out
OF operation By simply throwing up a email
handle. when the gun can b. worked. a. an
ordinary gun and 40 delioer.
greatest simplicity has prevailed. The gun
has lever parts than the hand.working guns.
the whole mechanism can be or
taken down without the use OF special too.s.
The greatest feature OF the gun H. its con.
accuracy OF fire. and Secretary Long and Ad:
mirul ONeil have 50 far Recognized the value OF
the automatic 6-pounder that the atty now
contracted Tor the Navy are to be placed on the
new ships now under construction. A recent
report on automatic guns and the testing OF
the briggs gun says:
Light guns of this olass are divided into
" NAN classes; I mos wUltsa s ensirsi' 1 oSy
those partially operated automatically called
semi-automatlo guns. The new Drlks gun
belongs to this latter class, though II can at
will be used a. a hand working gun fired as
deliberately AZ desired, 1t is evident that Il
would be a useless waste OF ammunition TO
make use OF the extreme rate OF the gun a. all
times. Ut used In this way the aim must OF ne
cessity be very rough and many shots lost. On
the other hand there are times when tie range
Is short aud the target large. as for instances
the sudden d iscoyery OF a torpedo boat clo-e to
pend on covering the attacking boat viii such
ashower OF shell As to sink or disable her be-
lore she could reach her object OF attack. Vol
ume as well as accuracy OF nre therefore plays
this new gun is designed to cover both OF these
important factors