The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1917-09-15

In Some casss the Flsxurs 10 Crest
Enough. " Not Allowed For, 70 Affect
the Accuracy Of the Wsapen--he~
the Defect 10 csrrsetsd.
The newest American drcadnaughts
arc to be armed with sixteen inch ri.
fes, and the layman takes It as mat
ter Of course that these monster weap-
ons arc merely bigger brothers of the
fourteen inch gun. But this offhand
conclusion IL decidedly ut fault. The
sixteen inch gun IL more exacting
engineering problem than the fourteen
inch weapon, and Just because of its
greater length and glrth and weight 1t
Ii a more difilcult piece to make pre-
else in its action. The bigger the gun
the moro 1t II prone to develop trOu-
blesome characteristics. and the ord
nance engineer has his cunning heavi-
~ taxed In order to neutralize or to
minimize these inherent tendencies.
To begin with. the sixteen inch
gun, without its mount represents an
outlay of $175.0O0. that being the price
paid for the materials used and the
skilled workmanship. Unless fabricat-
I'd with exquisite regard to accuracy
the weapon Is neither safe TO FIRE nor
capah of standing up to Its work
du n relatively short active career,
measu I'd by something like couple
Of hundred rounds.
1t must be remembered that q six
teen inch shell weighs about q ton
to be exact, 2.10O pounds-and the
powder impulse exerts sufiicient en-
ergy back Of the projectile to start It
from standstill aud to send 1t hur-
thing from the weapons muxxie at q
velocity Of 2. 800 feet second. 1t would
not do to have that speeding shell Jam
In the bore of the rifle, because II sud
denly arrested It would probably frac-
ture the weapon II 1t did not cause a
graver disaster. Therefore the ord
nance engineer must sec that the path
represented by the bore Ia As nearly
straight line rs 1t Ia mechanically
and physically possible to make 1t.
A twelve inch gun OF - caliber In
forty-five feet long. and except Mt the
single supporting point the heavy mass
Of the extended weapon Is without any
sustaining help. These monster pieces
Of ordnance are virtually single pivot
ed girders, and their power to resist
bending or reformation depends es-
sentially upon the strength Of the ma
terials employed and the distribution
Of the mass. Clearly. then. the big
Rcr the ride the greater becomes the
disposition to droop toward tho muz-
ale. and not only does this impair the
shooting accuracy, but In time the
weapon becomes 4 source Of danger to
Its own people.
The weight of some Of the big guns
now In use In the navy causes them to
drOOp at their muxzles as much as half
or three-Quarters Of an inch, and this,
II not realised and allowed for In sight
Ing. will make the shooting inaccurate,
the inaccuracy increasing with the
length Of range. In fact. the projec-
tile ON leaving the gun Ia directed by
the last six feet of the muzzle. That
10 to say that II the rife has droop
the shell follows the curvature instead
Of taking the line assumed by the gun
pointer at the telescope sight.
The bureau Of ordnance In Washing
ton has been working at this problem
a. guns have grown in length and d.
ameter of bore. At the present time
the great fourteen inch weapons have
an appreciable droop Of only IS Of an
Inch. This droOp Ia not enough to en-
danger the ltfe Of the gun or to impair
Its range, provided the sights are ad-
1usted to 1t. But there Is another In
| nuence at work which tends to affect
this droOp and to cause 1t to vary some
hundredths Of an inch from time to
time. This IL the weather. For In
stance. a gun will droop when the sun
shines fiercely upon Its upper side.
while the under side Is shaded. But
30 long a. this total DETECTION does
not exceed half an inch there is no dan
ger Of the shell jamming in passing
along the slightly curved bore.
| In the latest Of our big naval weapons
this droop has been still further re-
duced by extending the jacket or hoop
| inH further out over the forward part
| OF the gun. This serves to stifIen the
gun 90 that the sun has not as much
deforming effect as heretofore. 1t may
he asked, ."What about the other guns
now In service that have not been 90
REINFORCED to check droopingT The
bureau Of ordnance has resOrted to 4
very simple expetient In correcting this
curative.
The defOrmed weapon Is simply ro-
tated In the recOil sleeve Of the mount
until tho underside Of the rife is mp
permost. The muzzle then, instead Of
dipping actually, IL curved skyward.
In tune the natural elasticity Of the
metal asserts itself. and the over
hanging weight Of the Outstretche<l
muzzle gradually presses the chase
downward and Strengthens out ths
| piece.-New York Sun.
Well Balanced rirsa
balance I'm 4 tire means that thu