New-York tribune., 1907-11-26
WIRE WOUND GINS


For fifteen or twenty years ordnance experts
have been familiar with type of gun in which
resistance to bursting strains is secured bv
wrapping the piece from end to end with steel
wire. The United States War Department has
been considering its merits since 1902 and last
summer two different guns OF this class were
elaborately tested at Sandy Hook. Washing
ton dispatches intimate that one OF them is not
regarded with entire confidence, but that the
principle of the design commends itself to the
approval of the authorities AS vet the de-
partment is not ready TO announce any de-
cision, but from the statements which have
been made it may be inferred that the other
gun recently on trial Will be adopted If moth
ing better can be found
The interior Of the Brown wire wound gun
is composed Of sections resembling barrel
stayes. In order 10 prevent the escape of gun
powder gases between them and q diminution
in the force which ought TO be expended on
the projectlle the encircllng wire Is put on
under a pressure which is Intended TO exceed
that Of the explosion In the Crozicr gun there
is continuous tube Of forged steel and the
wire is less tightly wound.
A different application of the same ptnciple
has been in vogue for about half century. AS
long ago as 1870 patents were taken out in the
United States and England on plan which
Sir W. q. Armstrong put into practice three
years later. He and other gun founders
! strengthened their cannon with large hoops of
steel, and most of them followed a precedent
established by the wagon maker In fitting n
tire TO wheel. The metal was first expanded
by heat and then tightened by the shrinking
effect Of cold. Between a gun so produced and
the wire wound gum of course, there are sew
eral points of dssimilarity In the former.
whether forged or cast, large amount of metal
is employed before the work of reinforcing II
begins, whereas in the latter there Is very lit
tle-hardy more than enough to serve as a
core. In the built up gun the coils are mas
sive and limited in number. In It's possible Sue
cessOr the piece is chiefly composed of reIa-
lively fine wire arranged In almost countless
circles. As may readily be perceived, the sec
ond design demands less steel for a given
amount of strength and hence insures a lighter
gun. By diminishing the weight the work of
handling is facilitated-a strong recommends
ton both on land and sea-while there is an
exceptional advantage in lessening the burden
which a war vessel must carry If all the
drawbacks to the wire wound gun have been
overcome therefore, the achievement is of large
Importance.
In the designing of a cannon-especiaIIy one
which is to be loaded at the breech and is To
be fired rapidly-there are many requirements
to be met. Some relate to the strains ON the
grn proper. If it is not equal to the Longitude
nal strain 1t will break in two. If the lateral
strain Is excessive it will burst One might
suppose that an easy calculation would fix the
ratio between these forces and thus determine
exactly how much metal is needed to guard
against the and how much to offset the
other. Apparently it should be a simple task
to apportion the material used as to insure
the highest economy and efficiency The prob
lem has proved exceedingly complicated, how
solved even yet Should the wire wound gun
realize the hopes of its advocates its develop
ment would constitute a considerable step in
advance but perhaps not the final one.