The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-02-25
TRIALS FOR FIELD-GUNS
RIGOROUS TEST THEY UNDERGO
BEFORE ACCEPTANCE.


immersed I'm Water and Then Fired -
ttfty shots to Test the Gums Accuracy.
The ingenuity inventors have dis
played in simplifying and Derfectng
the heldpiece. the long. slender weapou
OF that dashing service. light. flying
artillery. has remarkable parallel in
the methods devised by ordnance OK
perts TO detect the slightest fault of
design or construction i'm these pieces
If the inventor has lain awake o.
nights over his gun, so, apparently.
mas the ordnance expert Ii Is skill
against skill; not that the designer
or builder has the remotest idea OF i'm
posing an inferior weapon uDon the
inventor Che could not do that II he
tried, because the gun is of Uncle
Sans own make. The aim of the
expert is TO aid in improving the
weapon. destructive as his method
may seem to be. He feels il is his
duty to submit the gun to n series
| of tests, which. although based upon
service conditions-that is. upon the
haps and mishaps 1t would encounter
in the tield-are of magnifed severity.
This means that when the fieldpiece
shall have withstood the trial IL NAV
rest assured in its own inner conscious
ness that it is a very fine gun indeed.
and that it is extremely unlikely. even
in the trying time of warfare, to have
to bear up under such burdens.
These elaborate and exhaustive tests
are now being made at the Govern
| ment proving ground at Sandy
Hook. EXperiments-this would seem
to be better word than "tests"-are
being tried with field pieces of four
models. two OF them of foreign de-
sign. the others American, one being
the Government piece.
The ability to fling its small. swift
missile at an enemy is only part of
what is demanded Of the light artil-
lery weapon. Warfare imposes real
hardships upon it from the moment ii
Is ordered to the front. 1t must with
stand the stress of weather, the Jolt
ing and jarring of rough roads; il must
stand wetting, even be effective when
unavoidable rust has occurred; it must
be able to do its duty with defective
| ammunition, although this is primarily
test of ammunition itself, and do its
work willingly, cheerfully. If you will.
as If 1T had been reared under glass
case.
For such a demonstration of service
ability the War Department, through
It's ordnance Bureau, lays down rigid
rules covering n wide range They
begin with the requirement that the
gun shall fire at least two rounds with
excessive powder charge to develop
the enormous chamber pressure of "A. -
600 pounds-twenty-t tons-to the
| square inch, and end with practice
march of $50 miles over country roads
Even then the Board of Ordance and
Fortihcation may not be satisfied. so
II leaves the door open by saying that
any other tests seeming necessary will
| be conducted.
While the fieldpiece is a comparative
ly small weapon, it weighs. behind
horses. in the neighbOrhood of 1000
pounds. The she'll used in 1t weighs
fifteen pounds, and 1t leaves the niece
at muzzle velocity of 100 foot-sec-
onds.
When the fieldpiece is ready for test
the experts devote themselves first TO
It's mechanism, scrutinizing it as the
horse in the show ring is scrutinized.
| with critical eye to its simplicity of
| action. its certainty, and how readily
| injured parts may be removed and new
| parts substituted. Then ii must under
| go the dust trial. In which sand and
dust are blown into the gun. into all
| parts of the mechanism, and the rust
| Test, TO determine whether II is eff
| wi
to cover the piece
Fifty shots are fred to test the ac-
curacy Of the gun. the target being
300 yards distant When it comes
10 rapidity. the piece is fired ten times
| without aim from a loan platform
| then ten shell and ten shrapneI are
| fired for both rapidity and accuracy.
| from a clay platform. To determine
| the maintained rapidity forty-fve shots
| are fired. The behavior of the gun. the
| recoil and the jump. which is the de-
| parture from the line of fire. are care
| tully noted. In one test the trail of
the gun, that part which rests upon
| the ground i'm the rear of the piece.
Is braced against stake. The gun is
| elevated and depressed to its extremes
| '-'''a ''''iA III GU anu Ut II even wheeled
! upon rocks and discharged and then
moved to plOwed ground and dis
charged again. i'm order that service
| conditions may be counterfeited.
! The ammunition is dealt with quite
| as severely. Metallic ammunition is
! Immersed for five minutes i'm water
and then made to stand for twenty
! four hours before being fired. The
| humidity test Is at 100 degrees t.. with
a humidity Of ninety-fve degrees This
is maintained for thirty days and after
that the ammunition is expected to
/ be unframed
From the gun ana tine ammunition
| the experts turn to the Timber and
! Timber chests There the chests be-
/ ing filled with ammunition. arc placcd
! upon n vibrating table which respn
! blcs in action miniature carthquakc.
ana kept there for forty eight hours
After all this Earring and iotiug the
! ammunition must Doe fired and found
/ perfect Timber chests also are sub.
( iccted To- the yagarips of the weather
! for mt least "a week so that the
/ experts may feel sure that any ammu.