Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-25

wire has a tensile strength of $4,000 pounds
to the square inch. IL is wound upon the
inner tube at a tension of $50 pounds, but
this tension varies increasingly from the
inner coil outward, that the lathe has to
be almost thinking mechanism and has
to be delicately adjusted and carefully nan
died to produce just the desired results
When the wire is all wound on up TO the
trunions of the gun, ii is covered with an
outer steel jacket to protect II from cN-
ternal injury by small arm and machine
gun fire. When finished an outsider would
not suspect that 1t was not solid steel
gun.
Some Advantages Claimed.
There is also to be considered the longi-
tudinal strain to which the gun is sub
tected when fired which would tend to tear
the comparatively thin steel inner tube TO
pieces. But this is provided for in the wire
gun by a simple and effective arrangement
whereby the breeching of the gun screws
upon both the outer jacket and the inner
tube. and the kick OF the powder inside is
effectively taken up by a sufficiently pow
erful rear wall to the powder chamber.
Now the advantage claimed for the wire
gun is that il will stand a heavier bursting
charge than n solid steel gun. The wire Is
so wound that IL takes up the strain OF the
discharge just when and where II Is most
needed, and the wire envelope RECEIVERS
from the shock better than does the solid
steel jacket. that the life of the gun IL
practically limited only by the wearing out
u
When the rifing is worn the comparatively
inexpensive inner tube can be replaced at
less expense than would be the case in
boring out one of the big built-up steel
guns.
As has been said, the wire gun problem
has been before the War Department some
years, and there have been a number of
tests of the Brown gun. Without entering
into any controversy on the respective
merits of the Brown and CroZler guns, one
may refer to the course that the expert
ments have run up TO date. The Brown
gun has been tested before by the depart
ment and appropriations have been made
al various times to carry forward the work.
General CroZier, now chief of ordnance de-
signed the gun which bears his name while
he was a captain in the ordnance office.
1t was ready for manufacture about the
same time the Brown gun finished It's hrsL
test. But the gun was never built. ana
when General Crozier was promoted ana
became chief of ordnance. ii did not seem
good taste to him that he should take up
his own invention and push II while he
was the head of the department that would
have to test it.
In Competition.
However when the last appropriation was
made for building and testing sx-inch
Brown gun. he called the attention of the
Secretary of War to the fact that the de-
partment had a gun Of its own which might
as well be tested in competition with the
Brown gun. At the same time he re-
0ueSted to be relieved OF duty with the
board of ordnance and Notifications that
would have to pass on the wire gun. SO
the testing has been turned over TO the
chief of artillery of the army, General j.
p Story, under whom the final decision
will be rendered.
The department and the Brown company
are not particularly keen on giving out tho
exact cost of making their respective guns.
But 1t may be said that there was an APP
propriation of SAL 600 made for the con-
struction and purchase of ammunition for
the six-inch Brown~gun. When the cost
of the ammunition for the two tests is de-
Quoted, it figures out about $4,000 for the
construction of the Brown gun and Sll,Oo0
for the Crozier gun. But to be fair it should
be said that the War Department gun was
made in the government works. The prin-
cipal difference in the two types Is in the
segmental inner tube of the Brown gun,
which is built up out of steel slaves more
or less like the making of a long, narrow
barrel. The muzZle energy of each gun
when it is completed will be about 1900
foot tons. The Crozier gun, like the Brown
gun, has been patented but the patent has
been thrown open to the government and
to the public, so that the chief of ordnance
has no pecuniary interest in the result OF
the test, though he is naturally holding
aloof from any supervision over it.