The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1917-09-07
The Scrap Book
WEIGHT MAKES mo GUNS BEND.

stfucteu OF the right KIND OF ma
terials In order hat they may with
stand the enormous strains to which
they are subjected In firing and the
greatest care must be taken TO make
them accurate because obviously. the
strongest and most powerful gun
would not only be useless but IL
might easily be a positive menace to
those using Il II IL we're not 50 CON
structed that Il could he depended
on at an times Ia hurl projccties ac-
~curareiy and effectively TO the point
! aimed at.
From an interesting discussion In
the New FORK u OF one OF the puz-
Kiing problems that must he worked
out by ordnance engineers IN the
building OF such weapon we gather
the following.
Contrary to what the layman sup
poses. the building of a l6-inch gun
is not simply y matter OF building
one like the i4-inch gun. only on n
larger scale, the larger gun IL a more
eXacting problem and by reason OF
Its greater weight. girth and length
II r. more difficult to make IL ac-
ouratc and precise In action The
bigger the gun the more Troublesome
characteristics are likely To be devel-
oped and presented for correction.
The cost u a i6-inch gun and It's
mount including materials and work
manship. Is tl75,00o. To insure the
maximum usefulness as a weapon Of
war and the ability to stand up Ia its
work during It's active career which
is measured by about 200 rounds Il IL
necessary that the greatest care he
given to It's construction and that
special emphasis he placer on accu-
racy.
\ is-inch she'll weighs 2l00 pounds.
The force Of the explosive back Of this
ponderous missile must be Sufficient
TO start II from a state Of rest and
hurl IL out with a muzzle ~velocity OF
-S1O feet per second. II Is evident
| that this force mus, he enormous and
n the shell should jam In the rifle
80 as tn be suddenly arrested the gun
would probably be fractured II sonie-
thing worse did not happen. For
I this reason 1t is essential that the
path 81 the projecule. represented by
the bore. be made AS nearly q straight
line ds possible.
A big modern gun IL virtually "a
single-pivoted rirder and Us power TO
1 resist bending or reformation depends
essentially on the strength Of the ma
terial In 1t and on the distribution Of
the mass. The bigger the gun. OF
course. the greater the tendency to
droop at the muzzle end and conse-
auently the greater tendency toward
in%accuracy.
some ~ the big guns now In Us. N
the nav droop at their muzxles ~
much as half or three quarters of an
inch on aCcoun OF their great weiGht.
II this h not recognized and allowed
FOR In sighting the Eun viii he ihic-
curate and AS the ranEe becomes
greater the degree of inaccuracy will
I increase. The shell II directed by the
last six feet Of the rifle and Il there
Is a downward droop at the mu.>le
end the she'll will follow the ,ufvo-
tune instead Of taking the path as
sumed 10y the gun pointer.
Tine big l4-inch guns now In NC
have an appreciable droop Of less
than two-fifths Of an inch which Is
not sufficient to endanger the life of
the gun or lessen It's effectiveness
when the sights arc properly adjust
ed. However. the weather affects the
run causing the bend 10 wary some
hundredths OF an inch from time Ia
time. Ihus' II ~" u SHINES tler,e!y
- a., tan'ts
downwnrd more. So long howeyer
ny the total DETECTION II not greater
than half an inch there r. no danger
NM ~ 49, y"
,be Iack.t or hooplnr is extended
further out over the forward part OF
me gun thus fedu''nt th' "r'p ann
affected hy the heat Of the sun.
In the case OF older guns, hunt
without any provision '"' "Ner.on''
~ ~ -. $3.50 ~ en-. ~ocnu
~si..v. OF me mount until tho under
side Is uppermost. thus reversing the
curve IN the phfi"' me ""'u'"'
- - "..1'.u, ,ha ann'. w.irh,
mills 4, back until il is straight