Ordnance

ORDNANCE (a syncopated form of " ordinance " or " ordonnance," so spelt in this sense since the 17th century), a general term for great guns for military and naval purposes, as opposed to " small arms " and their equipment; hence the term also includes miscellaneous stores under the control of the ordnance department as organized. In England the MasterGeneral of the Ordnance, from Henry VIII.'s time, was head of a board, partly military, partly civil, which managed all affairs concerning the artillery, engineers and materiel of the army; this was abolished in 1855, its duties being distributed. The making of surveys and maps (see MAP) was, for instance, handed over eventually (1889) to the Board of Agriculture, though the term " ordnance survey " still shows the origin.

I. History And Construction The efficiency of any weapon depends entirely on two factors: (I) its power to destroy men and material, (2) the moral effect upon the enemy. Even at the present day the moral effect of gun fire is of great importance, but when guns were first used the noise they made on discharge must have produced a bewildering fear in those without previous experience of them; more especially would this be the case with horses and other animals. Villani wrote of the battle of Cressy that the " English guns made a noise like thunder and caused much loss in men and horses " (Hime, Proc. R. A. Institution, vol. 26). Now, the moral effect may be considered more or less constant, for, as men are educated to the presence of artillery, the range of guns, their accuracy, mobility and on shore their invisibility, so increase that there is always the ever present fear that the stroke will fall without giving any evidence of whence it came.

On the other hand, the development of the gun has always had an upward tendency, which of late years has been very marked; the demand for the increase of energy has kept pace with - or rather in recent times may be said to have caused - improvements in metallurgical science.

The evolution of ordnance may be divided roughly into three epochs. The first includes that period during which stone shot were principally employed; the guns during this period (1313 to 1520) were mostly made of wrought iron, although the art of casting bronze was then well known. This was due to the fact that guns were made of large size to fire heavy stone shot, and, in consequence, bronze guns would be very expensive, besides which wrought iron was the stronger material. The second epoch was that extending from 1520 to 1854, during which cast iron round shot were generally employed. In this epoch, both bronze and cast iron ordnance were used, but the progress achieved was remarkably small. The increase of power actually obtained was due to the use of corn, instead of serpentine, powder, but guns were undoubtedly much better proportioned towards the middle and end of this period than they were at the beginning. The third or present epoch may be said to have commenced in 1854, when elongated projectiles and rifled guns were beginning to be adopted. The rapid progress made during this period is as remarkable as the unproductiveness of the second epoch. Even during recent years the call for greater power has produced results which were believed to be impossible in 1890.

The actual date of the introduction of cannon, and the country in which they first appeared, have been the subject of much antiquarian research; but no definite conclusion has been arrived at. Some writers suppose (see Brackenbury, "Ancient Cannon in Europe " in Proc. Royal Artillery Inst., vol. iv.) that gunpowder was the result of a gradual development from incendiary compounds, such as Greek and sea fire of far earlier times, and that cannon followed in natural sequence. Other writers attribute the invention of cannon to the Chinese or Arabs. In any case, after their introduction into Europe a comparatively rapid progress was made. Early in the 14th century the first guns were small and vase shaped; towards the end they had become of huge dimensions firing heavy stone shot of from 200 to 450 lb weight.

The earliest known representation of a gun in England is contained in an illuminated manuscript " De Officiis Regum " at Christ Church, Oxford, of the time of Edward II. (1326). This clearly shows a knight in armour firing a short primitive weapon shaped something like a vase and loaded with an incendiary arrow. This type of gun was a muzzle loader with a vent channel at the breech end. There seems to be undoubted evidence that in 1338 there existed breech-loading guns of both iron and brass, provided with one or more movable chambers. to facilitate loading (Proc. R. A. I., vol. iv. p. 291). These firearms were evidently very small, as only 2 lb of gunpowder were provided for firing 48 arrows, or about seven-tenths of an ounce for each charge.

The great Bombarde of Ghent, called " Dulle Griete " (fig. I) is believed to belong to the end of the century, probably about FIG. I. - Dulle Griete, Ghent.

[HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION

1382, and, according to the Guide des voyageurs dans la ville de Gand (Voisin) the people of Ghent used it in 1411. This gun, p which weighs about 13 tons, is formed of an inner lining of wrought iron longitudinal bars arranged like the staves of a cask and welded together, surrounded by rings of wrought iron driven or shrunk on. The chamber portion is of smaller diameter, and some suppose it to be screwed to the muzzle portion. The length of the gun is 197 in., the diameter of the bore 25 in., and the chamber io in. at the front and tapering to 6 in. diameter at the breech end. It fired a granite ball weighing about 700 lb. Two wrought iron guns left by the English in 1423 when they had to raise the siege of Mont St Michelin Normandy belong to about the same period; the larger of these guns has a bore of 19 in. diameter. " Mons Meg " (fig. 2) in Edinburgh Castle is a wrought iron gun FIG. 2. - Mons Meg. of a little later period; it is built up in the same manner of iron bars and external rings. It has a calibre of 20 in. and fired a granite shot weighing 330 lb.

Bronze guns of almost identical dimensions to the " Dulle Griete " were cast a little later (1468) at Constantinople (see Lefroy, Proc. R. A. I., vol. vi.). One of these is now in the Royal Military Repository, Wollwich. It is in two pieces screwed together: the front portion has a calibre of 25 in. and is for the reception of the stone shot, which weighed 672 lb; and a rear portion, forming the powder chamber, of 10 in. diameter. The whole gun weighs nearly 184 tons.

To give some idea of the power of these guns, the damage done by them to Sir John Duckworth's squadron in 1807 when the Dardanelles were forced may be instanced. In this engagement six men-of-war were more or less damaged and some 126 men were killed or wounded. The guns were too unwieldy to lay for each round and were consequently placed in a permanent position; they were often kept loaded for months.

The 16th century was remarkable from the fact that the large bombard type was discarded and smaller wrought iron guns were made. This was due to the use of iron projectiles, which enabled a blow to be delivered from a comparatively small gun as destructive as that from the very weighty bombards throwing stone shot.

Bronze guns also now came into great favour. They were first cast in England in 1521 (Henry VIII.), and iron cannon about 1540, foreign founders being introduced for the purpose of teaching the English the art. The " Mary Rose," which sank off Spithead in 1545, had on board both breech-loading wroughtiron and muzzle-loading bronze guns.

The smaller guns cast at this period were of considerable length, probably on account of the large charges of meal powder which were fired. The long bronze gun in Dover Castle known as " Queen Elizabeth's pocket pistol " has a calibre of 4.75 in.; its bore is 23 ft. 1 in. long or 58 calibres, but its total length including the cascable is 24 ft. 6 in. It was cast at Utrecht in 1544 and presented by Charles V. to Henry VIII.

Little or no classification of the various types of guns was attempted during the 15th century. The following century saw some attempt made at uniformity and the division of the several calibres into classes, but it was not until about 1739, when Maritz of Geneva introduced the boring of guns from the solid, that actual uniformity of calibre was attained, as up to this date they were always cast hollow and discrepancies naturally occurred. In France organization was attempted in 1732 by Valliere, but to Gribeauval (q.v.) is due the credit of having simplified artillery and introduced great improvements in the equipment.

It is not possible to compare properly the power of the earlier guns; at first small and feeble, they became later large and unwieldy, but still feeble. The gunpowder called " serpentine " often compounded from separate ingredients on the spot at the time of loading,burnt slowly without strength and naturally varied from round to round. The more fiercely burning granulated or corned powder, introduced into Germany about 1429, and into England shortly after, was too strong for the larger pieces of that date, and could be used only for small firearms for more than a century after. These small guns were often loaded with a lead or lead-coated ball driven down the bore by hammering.

The bronze and cast iron ordnance which followed in the 16th century were strengthened in the 17th century, and so were more adapted to use the corned powder. By this means some access of energy and greater effective ranges were obtained.

In the 18th century and in the first half of the 19th no change of importance was made. Greater purity of the ingredients and better methods of manufacture had improved gunpowder; the windage between the shot and the bore had also been reduced, and guns had been strengthened to meet this progress, but the principles of construction remained unaltered until the middle of the 19th century. Metallurgical science had made great progress, but cast iron was still the only metal considered suitable for large guns, whilst bronze was used for field guns. Many accidents, due to defects developing during practice, had, however, occurred, in order to prevent which experimental guns constructed of stronger material such as forged iron and steel had been made. Some of these weapons were merely massive solid blocks, with a hole bored in for the bore, and only withstood a lew rounds before bursting. This result was attributed to the metal being of an indifferent quality - quite a possible reason as the treatment of large masses of steel was then in its infancy, and even with the best modern appliances difficulties have always existed in the efficient welding of large forgings of iron. Forged iron, however, always gave some evidence of its impending failure whereas the steel burst in pieces suddenly; steel was, therefore, considered too treacherous a material for use in ordnance. This view held for many years, and steel was only again employed after many trials had been made to demonstrate its reliability. It will be seen later that the ill success of these experiments was greatly due to a want of knowledge of the correct principles of gun construction.

The progress made since 1854 is dependent on and embraces improvements in gun construction, rifling and breech mechanisms.

Considerable obscurity exists as regards the means adopted for mounting the first cannon. From illuminations in contemporary manuscripts it appears that the earliest guns, which were trunnionless, were simply laid on old the ground and supported by a timber framing at g PP y g each side, whilst the flat breech end rested against a strong wood support let into the ground to prevent recoil. This arrangement was no doubt inconvenient, and a little later small cannon were fastened in a wooden stock by iron bands; larger guns were supported in massive timber cradles (fig. 3) and Redrawn from Mallet's Construction of Artillery. FIG. 3. - Primitive Gun-mounting.

secured thereto by iron straps or ropes. The ponderous weight to be moved and the deficiency of mechanical means prevented these large cannon and their cradles from being readily moved when once placed in position. Laying was of the most primitive kind, and the bombard was packed up in its wood cradle to the required elevation once for all. When it was desired to breach a wall the bombard with its bed would be laid on the ground at about 100 yds. distance, the breech end of the gun or the rear end of the bed abutting against a solid baulk of wood fixed to the ground. " Mons Meg " was originally provided with a wood cradle.

HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION]

It is by no means certain when wheeled carriages were introduced. They must have gradually appeared as a means of surmounting the difficulties engendered by the recoil of the piece and of transport of the early guns and their cradles. Andrea Redusio mentions in Chronicon Tarvisinum the use of two wheeled bombard carriages at the siege of Quero by the Venetians in 1376. It does not follow that these weapons were of large dimensions, as the term " bombard " was applied to small guns as well as to the more ponderous types.

The ancient carriages used on land are remarkable from the fact that in general design they contain the main principles which have been included in field carriages up to the present day. Until 1870 the body of all field carriages was made of wood. In an early type the trail portion was made of a solid baulk of timber supported at the front by a hard wood axletree, on the arms of which the wheels were placed (iron axletrees were introduced by Gribeauval in 1765). The gun resting in its wooden cradle was carried in bearings on the trail immediately over the axletree (fig. 4), the cradle being provided with an FIG. 4. - Early Field Gun.

axle or trunnions for the purpose. For giving elevation a wood arc was fixed to the trail towards the rear end, and the breech end could be moved up and down along this arc and fixed at certain positions by a pin passing through both cradle and arc.

About the middle of the 15th century the trunnions were formed with the gun - the wood cradle therefore became unnecessary and was discarded. The carriage was then formed of two strong cheeks or sides of wood fastened together by four _wood transoms. At the front end the cheeks were secured to the wooden axletree, which was strengthened by a bar of iron let into its under side. Trunnion bearings were cut in the upper surface of the cheeks over the axletree, and these were lined with iron, while the trunnions were secured in position by iron cap-squares. Elevation was given by a wedge or " quoin " being placed under the breech and supported by a transom or stool bed. For transport the trail end of the carriage was supported on a limber, a pintle on the limber body passing through a hole in the trail. One set of shafts were fixed to the limber, and a single horse was harnessed to them; the remainder of the team were attached in pairs in front. A driver was provided for every two pairs of horses. In Italy oxen were often yoked to the larger guns instead of horses. Tartaglia mentions in his Nova scientia (1562) that 28 oxen were required for a gun 15 ft. in length and weighing 13,000 lb; horses were used for small guns only.

For service on board ship the difficulties of the cramped situation seem to have been surmounted in an ingenious manner. In the " Mary Rose, " sunk in the reign of Henry VIII., the brass guns with trunnions were mounted on short wood carriages provided with four small wood wheels called " trucks " and fastened to the gun ports by rope breechings. The iron breechloading guns were employed in restricted positions where loading at the muzzle would be difficult. They had no trunnions and were mounted in a wood cradle, the under side of which was grooved to enable it to slide on a directing bar.

At the end of the r 7th century not much progress had been made. The larger guns were mounted on short wood carriages having two or four " trucks. " The guns and carriages recoiled along the vessel's deck, and where this endangered the masts or other structures the recoil was hindered by soft substances being laid down ir],the path of the recoil.

The small guns were mounted in iron Y pieces - the upper arms being provided with bearings for the gun trunnions - and the stalk formed a pivot which rested in a socket in the vessels side or= on a wall, so that the gun could be II turned to any quarter.

Similar carriages %"? %M" Mar (fig. 5) existed until the advent of rifled guns, but a few small improvements, such as screw elevating gear in place of the quoin, had been approved. Cast iron standing carriages were also, about 1825, used on land for hot climates and situations not much exposed.

The earliest guns were not provided with sights or other means for directing them. This was not important, as the range seldom exceeded roo yds. As, however, ranges became longer, some means became necessary for Sighting. giving the correct line and elevation (see also Sights). The direction for line was easily obtained by looking over the gun and moving the carriage trail to the right or left as was necessary. For elevation an instrument invented by Tartaglia called a Gunner's Quadrant (sometimes also called a Gunner's Square) was used; this was a graduated quadrant of a circle (fig. 6) connecting a long and short arm forming a right angle; a line with a plummet hung from the angle in such a manner that on the long arm being placed along the bore near the muzzle the plummet hung down against the quadrant and indicated the de grees of elevation given to the piece. The quadrant was divided into go° and also into 12 parts; it was continued past the short arm for some degrees to enable depression to be given to the gun. The instrument was also used for surveying in obtaining the heights of buildings, and is still much employed for elevating guns in its clinometer form, in which a level takes the place of the plummet.

For short range firing a dispart sight was in use early in the 17th century. A notch was cut on the top of the breech or base ring, and on the muzzle ring a notched fore sight (called the dispart sight) was placed in the same vertical plane as the notch, and of such a height that a line stretched from the top of the breech ring notch to the notch of the foresight was parallel to the axis of the bore. These sights were well enough for close, horizontal fire and so long as the enemy were within what was called " point blank " range; that is the range to the first graze, on a horizontal plane, of the shot when fired from a gun the axis of which is horizontal. As this range depends entirely, other things being equal, on the height of the gun's axis above the horizontal plane, it is not very definite. When, however, the enemy were at a greater distance, elevation had to be given to the gun and, as a quadrant was slow and not easy to use, there was introduced an instrument, called a Gunner's Rule (see The Art of Gunnery, by Nathanael Nye, 1670), which was really a primitive form of tangent sight. This was a flat brass From Clephan, Early Ordnance. FIG. 5. - Truck Carriage.

FIG. 6. - Gunner's Quadrant.

[[[History And Construction]] scale 12 or 14 in. long divided on its flat surface into divisions proportional to the tangents of angles with a base equal to the distance from the notch on the base ring to the dispart notch. A slit was made along the rule, and a thread with a bead on it was mounted on a slider so that it could be moved in the slit to any required graduation. By sighting along the bead to the dispart the gun could be laid on any object. Later still, the requisite elevation was obtained by cutting a series of notches on the side of the base ring and one on the muzzle ring. These were called " Quarter Sights " and allowed of elevations up to 3 0; the lowest notch with the one oil the muzzle swell gave a line parallel to the axis of the bore but above it so as to clear the cap-squares of the trunnions. This system was also used in bronze field guns and in all cast iron suns up to the 32-pdr. Difficulties in laying occurred unless the direction was obtained by looking over the top or dispart sight and the elevation then given by the quarter sights. This was the system of sighting in use during the great naval actions of the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the ,9th century. A pointed dispart sight was often used, and for naval purposes it was fixed on the reinforce near the trunnions, as the recoil of the gun through the port would destroy it if fixed on the muzzle swell.

The double sighting operation was rendered unnecessary by the use of " tangent scales " introduced by Gribeauval. Similar scales were soon adopted in the English land service artillery, but they were not fully adopted in the English navy until about 1854 (see Naval Gunnery, by Sir Howard Douglas, p. 390), although in the United States navy a system of sighting, which enabled the guns to be layed at any degree of elevation, had been applied as early as 1812. These tangent scales were of brass fitting into sockets on the breech end of the gun; they were used in conjunction with the dispart fore sight and gave elevation up to 4° or 5° over the top of the gun. For greater elevation a wooden tangent scale was provided which gave elevation up t08°orio.

In the British navy, before tangent sights were used, the plan often adopted for rapidly laying the guns was by sighting, with the notch on the breech ring and the dispart sight, on some part of the masts of the enemy's vessel at a height corresponding to the range.

With sailing ships about the middle of the 19th century the angle of heel of the vessel when it was sailing on a wind was ascertained from the ship's pendulum, and the lee guns elevated or the weather guns depressed to compensate by means of a graduated wooden stave called a "heel scale" of which one end was placed on the deck or last step of the carriage whilst the upper end read in connection with a scale of degrees engraved on the flat end of the cascable.

Subsequently the term " tangent sight " was given to the " tangent scales," and they were fitted into holes made in the body of the gun - the foresight usually being fitted to a hole in the gun near the trunnions. Two pairs of sights - one at each side - were generally arranged for, and in rifled guns the holes for the tangent sight bars were inclined to compensate for the drift of the projectile. As the drift angle varies with the muzzle velocity, the tangent sights of howitzers were set vertically, so that for the various charges used the deflection to compensate for drift had to be given on the head of the sight bar. Modern forms of sights are described and illustrated in the article Sights.

Breech-loading ordnance dates from about the end of the 14th century, or soon after the introduction of cannon into England (Brackenbury, Proc. v. 32). The gun body, in some cases, was fixed to a wood cradle by iron straps and the breech portion kept in position between the muzzle portion and a vertical block of wood fixed to the end of the cradle, by a wedge. Accidents must have been common, and improvements were made by dropping the breech or chamber of the weapon into a receptacle, solidly forged on or fastened by lugs to the rear end of the gun (fig. 7). This system was used for small guns only, such as wall pieces, &c., which could not be easily loaded at the muzzle owing to the position in which they were placed, and in order to obtain rapidity each gun was furnished with several chambers.

Guns of this nature, called Petrieroes a Braza, were used in particular positions even at the end of the 17th century. Moretii states that they carried a stone ball of from 2 lb to 14 lb, which FIG. 7. - Early Breech-loader.

was placed in the bore of the gun and kept in position by wads. The chambers, resembling an ordinary tankard in shape, had a spigot formed on their front end which entered into a corresponding recess at the rear end of the bore and so formed a rude joint. Each chamber was nearly filled with powder and the mouth closed by a wood stopper driven in; it was then inserted into the breech of the gun and secured by a wedge. Even with feeble gunpowder this means of securing the chamber does not commend itself, but as powder improved there was a greater probability of the breech end of the gun giving way; besides which the escape of the powder gas from the imperfect joint between the chamber and gun must have caused great inconvenience. To these causes must be attributed the general disuse of the breech-loading system during the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries.

Robins mentions (Tracts of Gunnery, p. 337) that experimental breech-loading rifled pieces had been tried in 1745 in England to surmount the difficulty of loading from the muzzle. In these there was an opening made in the side of the breech which, after the loading had been completed, was closed by a screw. The breech arrangement (fig. 8) of the rifled gun in FIG. 8. - Cavalli Gun, 1845.

vented by Major Cavalli, a Sardinian officer, in 1845, was far superior to anything tried previously. After the projectile and charge had been loaded into the gun through the breech, a cast iron cylindrical plug, cupped on the front face, was introduced into the chamber; a copper ring was placed against its rear face; finally a strong iron wedge was passed through the body of the gun horizontally just in rear of the plug, and prevented it being blown out of the gun. In England the breech of one of the experimental guns was blown off after only a few rounds had been fired. In Wahrendorff's gun, invented in 1846, the breech arrangement (fig. 9) was very similar in principle to the Cavalli gun. In addition to the breech plug and horizontal wedge there was an iron door, hinged to the breech face of the gun, which carried a rod attached to the rear of the breech plug. The horizontal wedge had a slot cut from its right side to the centre, so that it might freely pass this rod. After loading, ' Section cot, AA Section of B B ] the hinged door, with the breech plug resting against its front face, was swung into the breech opening, and the plug was pushed forward to its position in the chamber of the gun; the al FIG. 9. - Wahrendorff Gun, 1846.

wedge was then pushed across to prevent the plug being blown back, and, finally, a nut screwed to the rear end of the plug rod was given a couple of turns so that all was made tight and secure. After firing, the breech was opened by reversing these operations.

The Armstrong system of breech-loading introduced in 1854 was the first to give satisfactory results; its simple design and few parts produced a favourable effect in the minds of artillerists, which was increased by the excellent accuracy obtained in shooting. The gun (fig. 10) had a removable breech block having FIG. io. - Armstrong B.L. Arrangement.

on its front face a coned copper ring which fitted into a coned seating at the breech end of the powder chamber. The breech block was secured by means of a powerful breech screw; a hole was made through the screw so that, in loading, the shell and cartridge could be passed through it after the breech block had been removed. After loading, the block was dropped into its place and the breech screw turned rapidly so that it might jam the block against its seating, and so prevent the escape of powder gas when the gun was fired. This gun was most successful, and a great number of guns of this type were soon introduced into the British army and navy.

They were employed in the China campaign of 1860, and satisfactory reports were made as to their serviceableness; but while the breech-loading system had obtained a firm footing on the Continent of Europe, there was a strong prejudice against it in England, and about 1864 M.L.R. guns were adopted. Breechloaders did not again find favour until about 1882, when a demand was made for more powerful guns than the M.L.R. In consequence, M.L. guns having enlarged chambers for burning large charges of prismatic powder were experimented with by the Elswick Ordnance Co. and subsequently by the War Office. The results were so promising that means were sought for further improvements, and breech-loading guns, having the Elswick cup obturation, were reintroduced.

Up to about 1850 the dimensions of canon had been proportioned by means of empirical rules, as the real principles underlying the construction of ordnance had been little understood. It was known of course that a gun was subjected to two fundamental stresses - a circum ferential tension tending to split the gun open longitudinally, and a longitudinal tension tending to pull the gun apart lengthwise; the longitudinal strength of a gun is usually greatly in excess of any requirements. It is easy to demonstrate that any so-called homogeneous gun, i.e. a gun made of solid material and not built up, soon reaches a limit of thickness beyond which additional thickness is practically useless in giving strength to resist circumferential stress. This is due to the fact that the stress on the metal near the bore is far higher than that on the outer portion and soon reaches its maximum resistance which additional thickness of metal does not materially increase. The gun can, however, be arranged to withstand a considerably higher working pressure by building it up on the principle of initial tensions. The inner layers of the metal are thereby compressed so that the gas pressure has first to reverse this compression and then to extend the metal. The gun barrel supported by the contraction of the outer hoops will then be able to endure a gas pressure which can be expressed as being proportionalto the initial compression plus the extension, whereas in the old type solid gun it was proportional to the extension only. The first to employ successfully this important principle for all parts of a gun was Lord Armstrong (q.v.), who in1855-1856produced a breech-loading field gun with a steel barrel strengthened by wrought iron hoops. In this system (fig. 11) wrought iron coils were shrunk over one another so that the inner tube, or barrel, was placed in a state of compression and the outer portions in a state of tension - the parts so proportioned that each performs its maximum duty in resisting the pressure from within. Further, by forming the outer parts of wrought iron bar coiled round a mandril and then welding the coil into a solid hoop, the fibre of the iron was arranged circumferentially and was thus in the best position to resist this stress. These outer coils were shrunk over a hollow breech-piece of forged iron, having the fibre running lengthwise to resist the longitudinal stress. The several cylinders were shrunk over the steel inner tube or barrel. To obtain the necessary compression the exterior diameter of the inner portion is turned in a lathe slightly greater than the interior diameter of the outer coil. The outer coil is heated and expands; it is then slipped over the inner portion and contracts on cooling. If the strength of the two parts has been properly adjusted the outer will remain in a state of tension and the inner in a state of compression.

Every nation has adopted this fundamental principle which governs all systems of modern gun construction. The winding, at a high tension, of thin wire or ribbon on the barrel or on one of the outer coils may be considered as having an exactly similar effect to the shrinking of thin hoops over one another. The American, Dr Woodbridge, claims to have originated the system of strengthening guns by wire in 1850; Brunel, the great railway engineer, also had similar plans; to Longridge, however, belongs the credit of pointing out the proper mode of winding on the wire with initial tension so adjusted as to make the firing tension (i.e. the tension which exists when the gun is fired) of the wire uniform for the maximum proof powder pressure. Great XX. 7 FIG. 1 1. - Armstrong B.L. Construction.

[HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION

success attended the early introduction of the coil system. Large numbers (about 3 Soo) of breech-loading Armstrong guns from 2 5 in. to 7 in. calibre were manufactured for England alone; most of these had barrels of coiled iron, but solid forged iron barrels were also employed and a few were of steel. This manufacture continued until 1867, when M.L. guns built up on the coil system (fig. 12) with the French form of rifling were adopted; but as the knowledge of the proper treatment and the quality of the steel had improved, steel barrels bored from a solid steel forging were mostly used; the exterior layers were still iron hoops with the fibre of the metal disposed as in the original type. In order to cheapen manufacture the coils were thickened, by Mr Fraser of Woolwich Arsenal, so that a few thick coils were used instead of a number of thin ones (fig. 13).

In the Fraser system an attempt was made to obtain rigidity of construction and additional longitudinal strength by interlocking the various coils from breech to muzzle; this feature still exists in all designs adopted by the English government, but foreign designers do not favour it altogether, and many of their guns of the latest type have a number of short independent hoops shrunk on, especially over the chase. Their view is that movements - such as stretching of the inner parts - are bound to take place under the huge forces acting upon the tubes, and that it is better to allow freedom for these to take place naturally rather than to make any attempt to retard them. On the other hand it cannot be denied that the rigid construction is FIG. 12. - M.L. Gun Construction.

conducive to strength and durability, but it is essential that massive tubes of the highest quality of steel should be employed.

The actual building up of a gun entails operations which are exactly similar, whether it be of the M.L. or B.L. system; and the hardening treatment of the steel is also the same - the coiled iron hoops when welded, of course, received no such treatment.

148 FIG. 13. - M.L. Gun Construction (Fraser).

Fig. 14 shows the various stages of building up a B.L. gun and illustrates at the same time the principle of the interlocking system.

The steel barrels of the M.L. guns were forged solid; the material was then tested so as to determine the most suitable temperature at which the oil hardening treatment should be carried out after the barrel had been bored. The bored barrel was simply heated to the required temperature and plunged vertically into a tank of oil. The subsequent annealing process was not introduced until some years after; it is therefore not to be wondered at that steel proved untrustworthy and so was used with reluctance.

Since 1880 the steel industry has made so much progress that this material is now regarded as the metal most to be relied on. The long high-power guns, however, require to be worked at a greater chamber pressure than the older B.L. guns, with which 15 tons or 16 tons per square inch was considered the maximum. With the designs now produced 18.5 tons to 20 tons per square inch working pressure in the chamber is the general rule.

A stronger material than ordinary carbon gun steel was consequently demanded from the steel-makers, in order to keep the weights of the heavier natures of guns within reasonable limits. The demand was met by the introduction of a gun steel having about 4% of nickel in addition to about 0 4% of carbon. This alloy gives great FIG. 14. - Modern B.L. Construction.

toughness and endurance under a suitable oil hardening and annealing process, the yielding stress being about 26 tons to 28 tons and the breaking stress from 45 tons to 55 tons per square inch, with an elongation of 16%. The tests for ordinary carbon gun steel are: " yield not less than 21 tons, breaking stress between 34 tons and 44 tons per square inch, and elongation 17%." The toughness of nickel steel forgings renders them much more difficult to machine, but the advantages have been so great that practically all barrels and hoops (except jackets) of modern guns are now made of this material.

The gun steel, whether of the carbon or nickel quality, used in England and most foreign countries, is prepared by the open hearth method in a regenerative gas furnace of the Siemens- Gun Martin type (see Iron And Steel). The steel is run from the furnace into a large ladle, previously heated by gas, and from this it is allowed to run into a cast iron ingot mould of from 10 to 12 ft. high and 2 ft. or more in diameter. With very large ingots two furnaces may have to be employed. The external shape of these ingots varies in different steel works, but they are so arranged that, as the ingot slowly cools, the contraction of the metal shall not set up dangerous internal stresses. The top of the ingot is generally porous, and consequently, after cooling, it is usual for about one-third of the length of the ingot to be cut from the top and remelted; a small part of the bottom is also often discarded. The centre of the larger ingots is also inclined to be unsound, and a hole is therefore bored through them to remove this part. In the Whitworth and Harmet methods of fluid compressed steel, this porosity at the top and centre of the ingot does not occur to the same extent, and a much greater portion can therefore be utilized.

The sound portion of the ingot is now heated in a reheating gas furnace, which is usually built in close proximity to a hydraulic forging press (fig. 15, Plate I.). This press is now almost exclusively used for forging the steel in place of the steam hammers which were formerly an important feature in all large works. The largest of these steam hammers could not deliver a blow of much more than some 500 ft. tons of energy; with the hydraulic press, however, the pressure amounts to, for ordinary purposes, from woo tons to 5000 tons, while for the manufacture of armour plates it may amount to as much as 10,000 or 12,000 tons.

For forgings of 8-in. internal diameter and upwards, the bored out ingot, just mentioned, is forged hollow on a tubular mandril, kept cool by water running through the centre; from two to four hours forging work can be performed before the metal has cooled down too much. Generally one end of the ingot is forged down to the proper size; it is then reheated and the other end similarly treated.

The forging of the steel and the subsequent operations have a very marked influence on the structure of the metal, as will be seen from the micro-photographs shown in the article Alloys, where (a) and (b) show the structure of the cast steel of the actual ingot; from this it will be noticed that the crystals are very large and prominent, but, as the metal passes through the various operations, these crystals become smaller and less pronounced. Thus (c) and (d) show the metal after forging; (e) shows the pearlite structure with a magnification of moo diameters, which disappears on the steel being oil hardened, and (f) shows the oil hardened and annealed crystals. At the Bofors Works in Sweden, gun barrels up to 24 cm. (9'5 in.) calibre have been formed of an unforged cast steel tube; but this practice, although allowing of the production of an inexpensive gun, is not followed by other nations.

After the forging is completed, it is annealed by reheating and cooling slowly, and test pieces are cut from each end tangentially --? - FIG. 15.-Forging Process.

FIG. 18.-Shrinking-On Process.

] to the circumference of the bore; these are tested to ascertain the quality of the steel in the soft state.

It is found that the quality of the steel is greatly improved by forging, so long as this is not carried so far as to set up a laminar structure in the metal, which is thereby rendered less suitable for gun construction - being weaker across the laminae than in the other directions. It is then termed over-forged.

If the tests are satisfactory the forging is rough-turned and bored, then reheated to a temperature of about 1600° F., and hardened by plunging it into a vertical tank of rape oil. This process is a somewhat critical one and great care is observed in uniformly heating, to the required temperature, the whole of the forging in a furnace in close proximity to the oil tank into which it is plunged and completely submerged as rapidly as possible. In some cases the oil in the tank is circulated by pumping, so that uniformity of cooling is ensured; and, in addition, the oil tank is surrounded by a water jacket which also helps to keep it at a uniform heat. The forging is subsequently again heated to about 1200° F. and allowed to cool slowly by being placed in warm sand, &c. This last operation is termed annealing, and is intended to dissipate any internal stress which may have been induced in the forging by any of the previous processes, especially that of oil-hardening. After this annealing process a second set of test pieces, two for tensile and two for bending test, are cut from each end of the forging in the positions above mentioned; for guns of less than 3-in. calibre only half this number of test pieces is taken; and with hoops of less than 48 in. in length the test pieces are taken only from the end which formed the upper part of the cast ingot.

In all cases of annealed steel the test pieces of 2 in. length and 0 '533 in. diameter must give the stipulated tests according to the character of the steel. For breech screws the steel is made of a harder quality, as it has to resist a crushing stress. These are the tests required in England, but they differ in different countries; for instance in France a harder class of carbon steel is employed for hoops, in which the tensile strength must not be less than 44.5 tons, nor the elastic limit less than 28.5 tons per square inch, neither must the elongation fall below 12%.

Assuming that the tests of the annealed forging are satisfactory, the forging, which we will suppose to be a barrel, is tested for straightness and if necessary rectified. It is then rough-turned in a lathe (fig. 16) " to break the skin " (as it is termed technically) and so interior of the covering tube or hoop finished to suit. The covering hoop is allowed usually only a small shrinkage, or sometimes none, as it is simply intended as a protection to the wire and to give longitudinal strength; but in order to place it over the wire it must be heated and thus some little contraction always does take place on cooling. The heat to which these hoops are brought for shrinking never exceeds that used in annealing, otherwise the modifying effects of this process would be interfered with.

In the earliest modern type B.L. guns, the breech screw engaged directly with a screw thread cut in the barrel, which thus had to resist a large portion, if not all, of the longitudinal stress. This was also the system first adopted in France, but there are certain objections to it, the principal being that the barrel must be made of large diameter to meet the longitudinal stress, and this in consequence reduces the circumferential strength of the gun. Again, the diameter of the screw is always considerably larger than the breech opening, and so an abrupt change of section takes place, which it is always best to avoid in structures liable to sudden shocks. The thick barrel, however, gives stiffness against bending and, moreover, does not materially lengthen with firing; thin barrels on the other hand are gradually extended by the drawing out action of the shot as it is forced through the gun. In some large guns with excessively thin barrels this action was so pronounced as to entail considerable inconvenience. In the English system the breech screw is engaged either in the breech piece, i.e. the hoop which is shrunk on over the breech end of the barrel, or in a special bush screwed into the breech piece. This latter method suits the latest system of construction in which the breech piece is put on the barrel from the muzzle, while with the earlier type it was put on from the breech end.

With the earlier modern guns short hoops were used whenever possible, as, for instance, over the chase, principally because the steel in short lengths was less likely to contain flaws, but as the metallurgical processes of steel making developed the necessity for this disappeared, and the hoops became gradually longer. This has however, increased correspondingly the difficulties in boring and turning, and, to a much greater extent, those encountered in building up the gun. In this operation the greatest care has to be taken, or warping will occur during heating. The tubes are heated in a vertical cylindrical furnace, gas jets playing both on the exterior and interior of the tube. When sufficiently hot, known by the diameter of the tube expanding to equal previously prepared gauges, the tube is FIG. 16.---Lathe used prevent warping during the subsequent operations. It is then bored out to nearly the finished dimension and afterwards fine turned on the exterior. In the meantime the other portions of the gun are in progress, and as it is far easier to turn down the outside of a tube than to bore out the interior of the superimposed one to the exact measurements required to allow for shrinkage, the interior of the jacket and other hoops are bored out and finished before the exterior of the internal tubes or of the barrel is fine turned. The process of boring is illustrated in fig. 17. The barrel or hoop A, to be bored, is passed through the revolving headstock B and firmly held by jaws C, the other end being supported on rollers D. A head E, mounted on the end of a boring bar F, is drawn gradually through the barrel, as it revolves, by the leading screw K actuated by the gear G. The boring head is provided with two or more in Gun Construction. raised out of the furnace and dropped vertically over the barrel or other portion of the gun (fig. 18, Plate II.). In cooling it shrinks longitudinally as well as circumferentially, and in order to avoid gaps between adjoining tubes the tube is, after being placed in position, cooled at one end by a ring of water jets to make it grip, while the other portions are kept hot by rings of burning gas flames, which are successively extinguished to allow the hoop to shorten gradually and thus prevent internal longitudinal stress. A stream of water is also directed along the interior of the gun during the building up process, in order to ensure the hoop cooling from the interior. After the building up has been completed, the barrel is fine-bored, then chambered and rifled. The breech is then screwed either for the bush or breech screw and the breech mechanism fitted to the gun.

FIG. 17. - Boring.

cutting tools, and also with a number of brass pins or pieces of hard wood to act as guides, in order to keep the boring head central after it has entered the barrel. The revolving headstock B is driven by a belt and suitable gearing.

With wire guns the procedure is somewhat different. The wire is wound on to its tube, which has been previously fine turned; the exterior diameter of the wire is then carefully measured and the In order to obtain additional longitudinal strength the outer tubes are so arranged that each hooks on to its neighbour from muzzle to breech. Thus, the chase hoop hooks on to the barrel by a step, and the succeeding hoops hook on to each other until the jacket is reached which is then secured to the breech piece by a strong screwed ring. In all the latest patterns of English guns there is a single chase hoop covering the forward portion of the gun and a jacket covering the breech portion, an arrangement which simplifies the design but increases the difficulties of manufacture.

Wire guns are now made of almost all calibres, ranging from 3 in. to 12 in. Many authorities objected to guns of less calibre than Elswick System Woolwich System FIG. 19. - Wire Fastening.

4.7 in. being wound with wire, as they considered that on diameters so small the interior surface of each layer of wire is over-compressed, while the exterior is too much extended; but by proportioning the thickness of the wire to the diameter of the tube on which it is wound there is no reason for this to be so.

The wire is wound on the barrel at a certain tension, ascertained by calculation, and varying from about 50 tons per square inch for the layers first wound on the gun, to about 35 or 40 for the outer layers. To fasten the wire at the beginning and end several methods are adopted. In the Woolwich system a narrow annular ring (fig. 19), with slots cut into one of its faces, is shrunk on to the gun; into these slots one end of the wire is inserted and secured in position by a steel screwed plug. The wire is wound on for the distance desired and then back again to the ring, where the end is fastened off in the same way. At Elswick the wire is fastened by bending it into a shunt cut groove in a similar annular ring, but the wire is only fastened off in the same way after several layers have been wound.

With each succeeding layer of wire the interior layers are compressed, and these in turn compress the barrel. It is therefore [[[History And Construction]] necessary, in order to prevent the fatigue of the material, to make the barrel comparatively thick, or, better still, to have an outer barrel superimposed on the inner one. This latter arrangement is now used in all guns of 4 in. calibre and upwards. It is not so important with smaller guns as the barrel is always relatively thick, and therefore meets the conditions.

With many modern guns the interior of the outer barrel, termed the " A " tube, is taper bored, the larger end being towards the breech; and the exterior of the inner barrel or liner, called the " inner A tube," is made tapered to correspond. The latter is, after careful fitting, inserted in the outer barrel while both are cold, and forced into position by hydraulic pressure or other mechanical means.

The details of the machines for winding on the wire (see fig. 20) differ somewhat in different works, but all are arranged so that any desired tension can be given to the wire as it is being wound on to the gun. The wire is manufactured in much the same way as ordinary wire. A red-hot bar of steel, gradually rolled down between rollers to a section about double that which it is finally intended to have, is annealed and carefully pickled in an acid bath to detach any scale. It is then wound on a drum, ready for the next process, which consists in drawing it through graduated holes made in a hardened steel draw-plate, the wire being often annealed and pickled during this process. The drawplate holes vary in size from slightly smaller than the rolled bar section to the finished size of the wire, and, as a rule, the sharp corners of the wire are only given by the last draw. It is found that considerable wear takes place in the holes of the draw-plate, and a new plate may be required for each hank of 500 or 600 yds. of wire. Great importance is attached to the absence of scale from the wire when it is being drawn, and, after pickling, the rolled bar and wire are treated with lime or some similar substance to facilitate the drawing. The tests for the finished wire are as follows: it has to stand a tensile stress of from 90 to Ito tons per square inch of section, and a test for ductility in which a short length of wire is twisted a considerable number of turns in one direction, then unwound and re-twisted in the opposite direction, without showing signs of fracture. It will be seen that the wire is extremely strong and the moderate stress of from 35 to 50 tons per square inch, which at most it is called upon to withstand in a gun, is far less than what it could endure with perfect safety.

The wire after being manufactured is made up into hanks for storage purposes; but when required for gun construction it is thoroughly cleaned and wound on a drum R about 3 ft. 6 in. in diameter, which is placed in one portion of the machine in connexion with a powerful band friction brake M. The wire is then led to the gun A placed between centres or on rollers B.B. parallel to the axis of the wire drum. By rotating the gun the wire is drawn off from the drum against the resistance of the band brake, which is so designed that, by adjusting the weight S suspended from the brake strap, any desired resistance can be given in order to produce the necessary tension in the wire as it is being wound on the gun. The stress on l y ae Fqs re v/ va /Qi c FIG. 20. - Wire-winding Machine.

] the wire is indicated on a dial, and the headstock, containing the drum of wire, is capable of being moved along the bed G by a leading screw H, driven by a belt through variable speed cones I; the belt is moved along the cones by forks J, traversed by screws K, which in their turn are actuated by chain belts from the hand wheel L. The traversing speed is regulated to suit the speed of winding by moving the belt along the speed cones.

The wire is rectangular in section, 0.25 in. wide and o 06 in. thick, and after it has been wound on to the gun it presents a very even surface which requires little further preparation. The diameter over the wire is gauged and the jacket or other covering hoop is carefully bored equal to this, if no shrinkage is to be allowed; or the dimension is diminished in accordance with the amount of shrinkage to be arranged for.

The gun is built up, after wiring, in the same manner as a gun without wire, the jacket or other hoop being heated in the vertical gas furnace and when hot enough dropped into place over the wire, cooled by the ring of water jets at the end first required to grip and kept hot at the other, exactly as before described.

The machine arranged for rifling modern guns is very similar to that employed for the old muzzle-loaders; it is a special tool used in gun construction only (fig. 21), and is in reality. a copying machine. A steel or cast-iron bar J which forms the copy of the developed rifling curve is first made. The copying bar - which is straight if the rifling is to be uniform but curved if it is to be increasing - is fixed, inclined at the F C bullet, from the muzzle. In 18 3 6 Russia made a large number of experiments with a rifled gun invented by Montigny, a Belgian; this was not a success, but in England the guns invented by Major Cavalli, in 1845, and by Baron Wahrendorff in 1846, obtained some measure of favour. Both these guns were breechloaders. The Cavalli gun had a bore of 6.5 in. diameter; it was rifled in two grooves having a uniform twist of 1 in 25 calibres, and the elongated projectile had two ribs cast with it to fit the grooves, but no means were taken to prevent windage. The Wahrendorff gun had an enlarged chamber and the bore of 6.37 in. diameter was rifled in 2 grooves; the projectile had ribs similar to that for the Cavalli gun; but Wahrendorff had also tried lead-coated projectiles, the coating being attached by grooves undercut in the outside of the shell. In 1854 Lancaster submitted his plan of rifling; in this (fig. 22) the bore was made of an oval section which twisted round the axis of the gun from the breech to the muzzle; a projectile having an oval section was fired. Several old cast-iron guns bored on this system burst in the Crimean War from the projectile wedging in the gun. In 1855 Armstrong experimented with a breech-loading rifled gun, firing a lead-coated projectile. The rifling consisted FIG. 21. - Rifling Machine.

proper angle, to standards K on the machine. The cutting tool is carried at one end C of a strong hollow cylindrical rifling bar B, the other end of which is fixed to a saddle M. This is moved along the bed of the machine by a long screw N, and the rifling bar is consequently either pushed into the gun or withdrawn by the motion of the saddle along the machine. During this motion it is made to rotate slowly by being connected to the copying bar by suitable gearing I. It will thus be seen that the cutting tool will cut a spiral groove along the bore of the gun in strict conformity with the copy. In most English machines the cutting tool cuts only as the rifling bar is drawn out of the gun; during the reverse motion the cutter F is withdrawn out of action by means of a wedge arrangement actuated by a rod passing through the centre of the rifling bar, which also pushes forward the cutter at the proper time for cutting. One, two or more grooves may be cut at one time, the full depth being attained by slowly feeding the tool after each stroke. After each set of grooves is cut the rifling bar or the gun is rotated so as to bring the cutters to a new position. In some foreign machines the cut is taken as the rifling bar is pushed into the gun.

Rifling is the term given to the numerous shallow grooves cut spirally along the bore of a gun; the rib between two Riling grooves is called the " land." Rifling has been known for many years; it was supposed to increase the range, and no doubt did so, owing to the fact that the bullet having to be forced into the gun during the loading operation became a mechanical fit and prevented to a great extent the loss of gas by windage which occurred with ordinary weapons. Kotter (1520) and Danner (1552), both of Nuremberg, are respectively credited as being the first to rifle gun barrels; and there is at the Rotunda, Woolwich, a muzzle-loading barrel dated 1547 rifled with six fine grooves. At this early period, rifling was applied only to small arms, usually for sporting purposes. The disadvantage of having, during loading, to force a soft lead (or lead-covered) ball down a bore of smaller diameter prevented its general employment for military use. In 1661 Prussia experimented with a gun rifled in thirteen shallow grooves, and in 1696 the elliptical bore - similar to the Lancaster - had been tried in Germany. In 1745 Robins was experimenting with rifled guns and elongated shot in England. During the Peninsular War about 1809, the only regiment (the " Rifle Brigade," formerly called the 95th) equipped with rifled arms, found considerable difficulty in loading them with the old spherical lead of a large number of shallow grooves having a uniform twist of 1 in 3 8 calibres. When the gun was fired the lead-coated projectile, which was slightly larger in diameter than the bore of the gun, was forced into the rifling and so gave rotation to the elongated projectile. Whitworth in 1857 brought out his Seccion) (iacest FIG. 22. - Sections of Rifling.

hexagonal bore method of rifling and a projectile which was a good mechanical fit to the bore. Good results wexe obtained, [[[History And Construction]] but although this system had certain advantages it did not fulfil all requirements.

In 1863, England re-opened the whole question, and after exhaustive trials of various inventions decided on the adoption of the muzzle-loading type for all guns, with the French system of rifling. This system was invented in 1842 by Colonel Treiiille de Beaulieu and consisted of a few wide and deep grooves which gave rotation to a studded projectile. At the first trials two grooves only were tried, but the number was afterwards increased to three or more, as it was found that two grooves only would not correctly centre the projectile. The adoption of the muzzle-loading system with studded shot was a distinctly retrograde step, as a considerable amount of clearance was necessary between the bore and projectile for the purposes of loading, and this resulted in the barrel being seriously eroded by the rush of gas over the shot, and also led to a considerable loss of energy. In the Wahrendorff and Armstrong systems however the lead-coated projectiles entirely prevented windage, besides which the projectile was perfectly centred and a high degree of accuracy was obtained.

Shunt rifling was a brief attempt to make loading by the muzzle easy without forfeiting the centring principle: in this the rifling varied in width and in depth, at different portions of the bore in such a manner that, during loading, the studs on the projectile could move freely in the bore. When the gun was fired the studs of the projectile were forced to travel in the shallow part of the rifling, thus gripping and centring the projectile as it left the muzzle.

With uniform rifling on the French system, the few studs - generally two per groove - had to bear so high a pressure to produce rotation that they sometimes gave way. This subject was investigated by Captain (Sir Andrew) Noble, who showed that by making the rifling an increasing twist, commencing with no twist and gradually increasing until the necessary pitch was obtained, the maximum pressure due to rotation was much reduced. Increasing rifling was consequently adopted, with beneficial results.

In order to prevent the heavy erosion due to windage, a gas check was adopted which was attached to the base end of the studded projectiles. In some guns the number of grooves of the rifling was sufficiently great to admit of rotation being insured by means of the gas check alone; in these guns studded projectiles were not employed, but the gas check, called " automatic," to distinguish it from that fitted to studded projectiles was usually indented around its circumference to correspond with the rifling of the gun. It was found that the studless projectile had considerably greater range and accuracy than the studded projectile, with the additional advantage that the shell was not weakened by the stud holes.

The introduction of the plain copper driving band for rotating projectiles with breech-loading guns included a return to the polygroove system with shallow grooves; this still exists, but the continuous demand for greater power has had the effect of increasing the number of grooves from that at first considered necessary, in order to keep the rotating pressure on the driving band within practical limits.

Many ingenious devices for giving rotation and preventing the escape of gas past the projectile were tried in the early days of modern rifling. Experiments of this nature still continue to be made with a view to improving the shooting and to prevent the 'erosion of the bore of the gun. Briefly considered, without going into any detail of the numerous plans, all rotating devices fitted to projectiles can be divided into three classes - the " centring, " the " compressing " and the " expansion " systems. The two last named almost invariably include the " centring " type. Studded (fig. 23) and Whitworth (fig. 24) hexagonal projectiles, which can freely slide in the bore, come under the first system.

In the compression class the coating or rings on the projectile are larger in diameter than the bore and when fired the coating (or rings) is squeezed or engraved by the rifling to fit the bore - the projectile is consequently also centred. The old-fashioned lead-coated shell (fig. 25), and the modern system of plain copper driving bands (fig. 26), come under this class. Most variety exists in the expansion type, where the pressure of the powder gas acts on the base of the projectile or on the driving ring and compresses a lead, copper or asbestos ring into the rifling grooves. One of the earliest was the Hotchkiss (1865) shell (fig. 27), in which a separate base end B was driven forward by the gas pressure and squeezed out the lead ring L into the rifling. The automatic gas check (fig. 28), and the gas check driving band (fig. 29), belong to this system; in the last the lip L is expanded into the rifling groove. In fig. 30 a copper driving band is FIG. 25.

FIG. 28.

A FIG. 29. FIG. 30. FIGS. 23-30. - Projectiles for Rifled Ordnance.

associated with an asbestos packing A, contained in a canvas bag or copper casing made in the form of a ring on the principle of the de Bange obturator; but the results of this have not been entirely satisfactory.

It will be seen that with breech-loading guns the projectile is better centred, and the copper driving band forms a definite stop for the projectile; and, in consequence, the capacity of the gun chamber is practically constant. In addition, the use of a copper driving band ensures a uniform resistance while this is being engraved and the projectile forced through the gun, and also prevents the escape of gas. These elements have a very great influence on the accuracy of the shooting, and fully account for the vastly superior results obtained from breechloading ordnance when compared with the muzzle-loading type. Driving bands of other materials such as cupro-nickel and ferro-nickel have also been tried.

Many authorities believe that the best results are obtained when the projectile is fitted with two bands, one near the head and the other near the base, and no doubt it is better centred when so arranged, but such shot can only be fired from guns rifled with a uniform twist, and it must also not be forgotten that the groove formed for the front band in the head of the projectile necessarily weakens that part of the projectile which should be strongest.

Projectiles with a driving band at the base only can be fired from guns rifled either uniformly or with increasing twist.

The introduction of cordite about 1890 again brought into special prominence the question of rifling. The erosion caused by this explosive soon obliterated the rifling for some 4 or 5 calibres at the breech end. The driving band of the shell consequently started with indifferent engraving, and with the increasing twist, then in general use, it was feared that the wear would quickly render the gun useless. To remedy this the late Commander Younghusband, R.N., proposed straight rifling, which was adopted in 1895, for that portion of the rifling mostly affected by the erosion, with a gradual increase of the twist thence to the required pitch at the muzzle. Thus, any erosion of the straight part of the rifling would not affect that portion giving rotation, and it was argued that the gun would remain efficient for a longer period. The defect in this system is that when the projectile arrives at the end of the straight rifling it has a considerable forward velocity and no rotation. Rotation is then imparted by the increasing twist of rifling, and the o a FIG. 23.

FIG. 26.

FIG. 24.

FIG. 27.

] resulting pressure on the engraved ribs of the driving band rises suddenly to a maximum which, in high velocity guns, the driving band is unable to resist. For this reason the straight portion at the commencement of the rifling has been discarded, and with high power guns firing a slow burning propellant uniform rifling has again found favour.

It is evident that in order that a projectile may have a definite amount of spin as it leaves the gun a determinate amount of work must be imparted to rotate it during its passage along the rifled portion of the bore. Put briefly, this work is the sum of the products of the pressure between the engraved ribs on the driving band and the lands of the rifling in the gun multiplied by the length of the rifling over which this pressure acts. Sir Andrew Noble has proved theoretically and experimentally (see Phil. Mag., 1863 and 18 73; also Proc. Roy. Soc. vol. 50) that the rotating pressure depends on the propelling pressure of the powder gas on the base of the projectile and on the curve of the rifling. If this curve was so proportioned as to make the rotating pressure approximately constant along the bore, the result was an increasing or progressive curve partaking of the nature of a parabola, in which case it was usual to make the last two or three calibres of rifling at the muzzle of uniform twist for the purpose of steadying the projectile and aiding accuracy.

In uniform rifling the curve is a straight line and the rotating pressure is consequently mainly proportional to the propelling gas pressure. The pressure for rotation with uniform rifling therefore rises to a maximum with the propelling pressure and falls as it becomes less towards the muzzle.

With increasing rifling, owing to the angle of twist continually changing as the projectile travels along the bore, the ribs originally engraved by the rifling on the driving band are forced to change their direction correspondingly, and this occurs by the front surface of the ribs wearing away. They are therefore weakened considerably, and it is found that with high velocities the engraved part of the band often entirely disappears through this progressive action.

It will thus be seen that although an increasing twist of rifling may be so arranged as to give uniform pressure, it is evident that if wear takes place, the engraved rib becomes weaker to resist shearing as the shot advances, and the rate of wear also increases owing to the increase of heat by friction. With the very narrow driving bands used for low velocity guns this action was not so detrimental.

With the long modern guns and the high muzzle velocities required, the propelling gas pressures along the bore rise comparatively slowly to a maximum and gradually fall until the muzzle is reached. The pressure of the gas at all points of the bore is now considerably higher than with the older patterns of B.L. guns.

For modern conditions, in order to obtain an increasing curve giving an approximately constant driving pressure between the rifling and driving band, this pressure becomes comparatively high. The maximum rotating pressure, with uniform rifling, is certainly somewhat higher, but not to a very great extent, and as it occurs when the projectile is still moving slowly, the wear due to friction will be correspondingly low; the pressure gradually falls until the muzzle is reached, where it is much lower than with increasing rifling. The projectile thus leaves the gun without any great disturbance from the rifling pressure. Further, as the band is engraved once for all with the angle it will have all along the bore the pressure is distributed equally over the driving face of the engraved ribs instead of being concentrated at the front of the ribs as in progressive or increasing rifling.

The following formulae showing the driving pressures for increasing and uniform rifling are calculated from Sir Andrew Noble's formula, which Sir G. Greenhill has obtained independently by another method.

Let R = total pressure, in tons, between rifling and driving band. G=gaseous pressure, in tons, on the base of the projectile. r= radius, in feet, of the bore.

µr = coefficient of friction.

radius of gyration of projectile.

S angle between the normal to the driving surface of groove and radius.

h= the pitch of the rifling, in feet.

k = cotangent of angle of rifling at any point of rifling. M = weight of the projectile in pounds.

z=the length, in feet, travelled by the projectile. Then for parabolic rifling _ 2p2(Gz +Mv2) R ( r2 k 2 +4 p2 z 2 ) sin r2) (4z 2 sin 2 o+k 2)3 (4z2+k2)2 For uniform rifling R - p, 2 (2 rrp 2 sin s (I k 2)3 (k2 + sin2S)i For modern rifling o = 90 0; therefore sin S by which the above expressions may be considerably simplified.

For parabolic rifling 2p 2 (4z 2 +k 2) z (Gz+Mv2) R = kr2 (k - 2µ 1 z) +2p 2 z (2z -{-ik) For uniform rifling we can write hk =21rr and the expression reduces to R= p2(I-±k2)' .G.

N	_ ? a
4 9

( p2k k) p2 +72 Fig. 31 shows graphically the calculated results obtained for a 4.7-in. 50-calibre gun which has a shot travel of 17.3 ft.; the pressure [[Feet ' '4 7 Inch So Calibre Gun Fig]]. 31. - Pressure Curves (uniform and increasing twist).

curve A is for a rifling twist increasing from i in 60 calibres at the breech to I in 30 calibres at the muzzle; curve B is for rifling having a uniform twist of I in 30 calibres.

It must be remembered that this comparison is typical for modern conditions; with old-fashioned guns firing black or brown powder the maximum rotating pressure for uniform rifling could attain a value 50% above that for increasing rifling.

In this example, with the increasing twist there is a loss of energy of about 11% of the total muzzle energy, and for the uniform rifling a loss of about 8%. This explains the reason for uniformly rifled guns giving a higher muzzle velocity than those with increasing rifling, supposing the guns to be otherwise similar.

The pitch of the rifling or the amount of twist to be given to it depends altogether on the length of the projectile; if this is short a small amount of twist only is necessary, if long a greater amount of twist must be arranged for, in order to spin the shell more rapidly. Sir G. Greenhill has shown that the pitch of the rifling necessary to keep a projectile in steady motion is independent of the velocity, of the calibre, or of the length of the gun, but depends principally on the length of the shell and on its description, so that for similar projectiles one pitch would do for all guns.

Table I., on following page, has been calculated from Greenhill's formula.

In most modern guns the projectile varies in length from 3 . 5 to 4 calibres, so that the rifling is made to terminate at the muzzle with a twist of I turn in 30 calibres, which is found ample to ensure a steady flight to the projectile. In the United States a terminal twist of I in 25 calibres is often adopted; Krupp also uses this in some guns. With howitzers the projectile may be 4.5 calibres long, and the rifling has to be made of a quicker twist to suit.

If the gun has, as is usually the case, a right-hand twist of rifling the projectile drifts to the right; if it has a left-hand twist the drift takes place to the left. The drift increases with the range but in a greater ratio; further, the greater the twist (i.e. the smaller the pitch of rifling) the greater the drift. On the other hand the smooth B.L. projectiles drift less than studded M.L. projectiles.

To find the angle, usually called the permanent angle of deflection, at which the sights must be inclined to compensate for the drift, a number of shots are fired at various ranges. The results obtained are plotted on paper, and a straight line is then drawn from the point representing the muzzle through the mean value of the plotted curve.

The early guns were fired by inserting a red-hot wire into the vent, or by filling the vent with powder and firing it by a redhot iron. Slow match held in a cleft stick afterwards took the place of the hot iron, and this again was Firing replaced by a port-fire. Filling the vent with loose . powder was inconvenient and slow, and to improve matters the powder was placed in a paper, tin or quill tube ce, 2?r 200 [[[History And Construction]] which was simply pushed into the vent and fired by the slow match or port-fire.

The first attempt to fire guns by mechanical means was made in 1781 by Sir Charles Douglas, who fitted flint locks, similar to musket locks, but with the trigger actuated by a lanyard, to the guns on board his ship H.M.S. " Duke." A double flint lock introduced in 1818 by Sir Howard Douglas, R.A., continued to TABLE I.

Minimum twist at muzzle of gun requisite to give stability of rotation = one turn in n calibres; or a pitch of n calibres.

Length of projectile in calibres.	Cast-iron common shell, cavity- 2 s, vol. of shell (s.g. of iron=7'2).	Palliser shell, cavity =4 vol. (s.g. =8'0).	Solid steel bullet (s.g.-8'o).	Solid lead and tin bullets of similar composition to M.-H. bullets (s.g.=ro'9)
		n.	n.	n.
2.0	63.87	71.08	72.21	84.29
' 1	59.84	66.59	67-66	78.98
2	56.31	62.67	63-67	74'32
'3	53-19	59.19	60.14	70.20
4	50.41	56.10	5 7.00	66.53
5	47'91	53'32	54-17	63'24
.6	45'65	50.81	51.62	60 26
.7	43.61	48'53	49'30	57.55
.8	41'74	46'45	47.19	55.09
'9	40.02	44'54	45.25	52.72
3' 0	38'45	42-79	43'47	50'74
1	36'99	41-16	41.82	48.82
2	35.64	39.66	40'30	47-04
'3	34.39	38'27	38.84	45.38
4	33'22	36-97	37-56	43-84
'5	32' 13	35'75	36.33	42 4 0
6	31.11	3 4.62	35'17	41.05
7	30-15	33 ' 55	34'09	39.79
. 8	29-25	32.55	33.07	38.61
. 9	28-40	31-61	32.11	37-48
4 0	27 60	30-72	31.21	36-43
1	26-85	29.8 8	30.36	35.43
2	26.13	29.08	29.55	34-49
'3	25-45	28'33	28.78	33'59
4	24.81	27.61	28.05	32-74
.5	24.20	26-93	27.36	31.94
-6	23-65	26-32	26.74	31.21
.7	23.06	25.66	26.08	30.44
8	22-53	25.08	25.48	29-74
9	22.03	24.51	24.91	29'07
5.0	21 56	23.98	24.36	28 44
1	21.08	23.46	23-84	27-83
-2	20-64	22-97	23.34	27.24
-3	20.22	22.50	22.86	26-68
. 4	19.81	22.05	22.40	26-14
.5	19-42	21-61	21-96	25.63
-6	19.04	21 19	21-53	25.13
-7	18 68	20.79	21.12	24-66
-8	18 33	20.40	20.73	24-20
-9	18 00	20.03	20.35	23-75
6-o	17-67	19-67	19-98	23-33
7' 0	14-99	16 68	16-95	19-78
8-o	13-02	14.48	14-72	17.18
9.0	11.50	12.80	13.00	15.18
10.0	10.31	11-47	11-65	13.60

be used until about 1842, when it was replaced by a percussion lock invented by an American named Hiddens. In this lock one pull on the lanyard caused the hammer to fall and strike a percussion patch or cap hung on a small hook over the vent, and afterwards caused the hammer to be drawn backwards out of the way of the blast from the vent. These somewhat clumsy contrivances were swept away on the adoption in 1853 of friction tubes (see Ammunition), which had simply to be placed in the vent and the friction bar withdrawn by means of a lanyard.

Friction tubes continued to be used with all muzzle-loading ordnance except in one or two natures with which the charge was ignited axially at the breech of the gun. In these a vent sealing friction tube retained in the vent by a tube holder was employed. With breech-loading field guns ordinary friction tubes were also used until the introduction of cordite, which eroded the vents so quickly by the escape of the gases that vent sealing tubes became a necessity.

In all other breech-loading ordnance and with the latest pattern field guns the firing gear forms part of the breech mechanism.

All modern breech mechanisms form two groups (a) the sliding type as with the Krupp wedge system, (b) the swinging type as in the interrupted screw system. Either type may be used with B.L. guns (i.e. those with which the charge is not contained in a metallic cartridge case) and Q.F. guns those with which a metallic cartridge case is used).

Sliding mechanisms may be divided into two forms: (r) those having the block or wedge sliding horizontally, and (2) those in which the block works in a vertical direction. (1) is that used principally by Krupp; (2) is best illustrated by the Hotchkiss system for small Q.F. guns; the Nordenfelt, Skoda and the DriggsSchroeder mechanisms for small Q.F. guns are an adaptation of the same principle.

The Krupp gear is in reality an improved Cavalli mechanism; it is capable of being worked rapidly, is simple, with strong parts not liable to derangement, except perhaps the obturator. The breech end of the gun, however, occupies valuable space especially when these guns are mounted in the restricted turrets or gun houses on board ship.

Later it will be seen that owing to the difficulty of arranging a convenient and efficient obturating device for the smokeless nitropowders, which have a peculiarly severe, searching effect, a metal cartridge case has to be used with even the heaviest guns; naturally this assumes large dimensions for the 305 m/m. gun.

The wedge (fig. 32) is housed in the breech piece, which covers the breech part of the barrel, made very massive and extended to the rear of the barrel. A slot, cut transversely through the extended portion, forms a seat for the sliding block. The slot is formed so that its front is a plane surface perpendicular to the axis of the gun, while the rear is rounded and slightly inclined to the axis. One or more ribs similarly inclined on the upper and lower surfaces of the slot guide the breech block in its movements. For traversing the block a quick pitched screw is fitted to its upper surface and works in a nut attached to the upper part of the slot (in small guns this traversing screw is dispensed with, as the block can be easily moved by hand). As the rear seat of the sliding block is inclined, there is a tendency for the block to be moved sideways, when the gun is fired by the pressure in the chamber acting on the front face of the wedge; this is prevented by a locking gear, consisting of a cylinder, having a series of interrupted collars, which is mounted on a screw. When the breech has been traversed into position, the collars are rotated, by a cross handle at the side of the block, into grooves cut in the rear surface of the slot; a further movement makes the screw jam the collars hard in contact with the gun and secures the breech. With small guns having no traversing gear a short strong screw takes the place of the collars, and on the handle being turned enters a threaded portion at the rear surface of the slot, actuates the breech for the last (or first in opening) portion of its movement in closing and secures it. To open the gun the movements are reversed.

The gun is fired by a friction tube, screwed into an axial vent bored through the sliding block, or, in field guns, by a copper friction tube through an oblique vent drilled through the top of the breech end of the gun and through the block.

There is also fitted in some guns a percussion arrangement for firing a percussion tube.

The obturation is effected by a Broadwell ring or some modification of it; thin is placed in a recess cut in the gun and rests against a hard steel plate fitted in the breech block.

For modern Krupp mechanisms, for use with cartridge cases, the arrangement (fig. 33) is very similar to that described above, but some improvements have added to its simplicity. The transporting screw is fitted with a strong projection which, at the end of the movement for closing the breech, locks with a recess cut in the upper surface of the slot and secures the breech. The extra locking device is consequently dispensed with. The firing gear consists of a striker fitted in the sliding block in line with the axis of the gun; the striker is pushed back by a lever contained in the block and, on release, is driven forward against the primer of the cartridge case by a spiral spring.

In the Hotchkiss gun the mechanism has a vertical breech block of a rectangular section. The actuating lever F (fig. 34) is on the right side of the gun, and connected to a powerful crank arm C working in a groove E cut on the right side of the breech block. By pulling the lever towards the rear, the crank arm forces down the block A and extracts the fired case by an extractor X, which is actuated by a cam groove Y cut on one side or on both sides of the block. As the mechanism is opened the hammer H is cocked ready for the next round. To close the mechanism the lever is pushed over to the front, and by releasing the trigger sear by pulling the lanyard the hammer falls and fires the cap of the cartridge case.

Automatic gear is now generally fitted which opens the breech as the gun runs up after recoil and extracts the fired case by means of a supplementary mechanism and strong spring actuated by the recoil of the gun, and on pushing a new cartridge into the gun the breech which was retained by the extractor is released and closes automatically.

] The Nordenfelt mechanism consists of a breech block (fig. 35) and a wedge to secure it. A hand lever on the shaft is pulled to the rear, and this works the action cam, which pulls down the wedge; the breech block is then caused to rotate and falls back to the rear. This motion of the breech block actuates the extractor FIG. 32 - Krupp Breech Action and extracts the case. While the wedge is being withdrawn the firing pin is pulled back and cocked for the next round. The mechanism is closed by reversing the hand lever; this rotates the breech block upwards and pushes home the cartridge case, and the wedge is then forced up and secures the breech block.

These small type Q.F. guns, which were introduced to cope with torpedo boats, are now, however, of little account, since experiment has proved that nothing smaller than a 12-pounder is sufficient so to injure a modern torpedo boat as to stop it. Most of these small guns are therefore in the English and in some other Services being converted into " sub-calibre " guns for exercise purposes. These sub-calibre guns retain their ordinary breech mechanism, but the bodies are fitted with a strong steel plug screwed on the outside in a similar manner to the breech screw of the parent gun. The sub-calibre gun is placed in the parent gun and the screwed plug engages in the threads of the breech opening.

There has been a gradual development of ideas regarding the repelling power required by a vessel against torpedo boat attack. The 12pounder Q.F. 40-calibre guns were replaced by the more powerful 12pounder Q.F. 50-calibre gun; this again by the 4-in. high power gun of 50 calibres, and now 6-in. guns are being used.

One other form of sliding mechanism is of importance owing to its adoption for the 75 m/m. French long recoil field gun (see below: Field equipments). This mechanism is on the Nordenfelt eccentric screw system and is very similar to that proposed by Clay about 1860; it has a breech screw (fig. 36) of large diameter mounted in the breech opening, which is eccentric to the bore. For loading, the breech block has a longitudinal opening cut through it, so that when the mechanism is in the open position this opening coincides with the chamber, while a half turn of the breech screw brings its solid part opposite the chamber and closes the gun. The mechanism is very simple and strong, but it is only suitable for small Q.F. guns using cartridge cases; the firing gear is similar to that applied to other types of mechanism, and the fired case is extracted by an extractor actuated by the face of the breech screw as it is opened.

With the swinging type of breech mechanism we are confronted with numberless patterns, many of undoubted merit and claiming certain advantages over others, and all showing the vast amount of ingenuity expended in so designing them that they may be as simple, and, at the same time, as effective and quick acting as possible. It is impossible to deal with all these, and therefore only the more important systems will be described. The special feature of this type is that the breech is closed by an interrupted breech screw; the screw is either supported in a carrier ring or tray hinged near the breech opening, or on a carrier arm which is hinged near the outer circumference of the gun.

The screw may be of the cylindric interrupted, Welin and coned types; these, or their modifications, practicall y embrace the various forms used. The cylindric form (fig. 37) is the simplest; it consists of a strong screwed plug engaging with a corresponding screw thread cut on the interior of -the breech opening of the gun. The screw surface of the breech plug is cut away in sections equally divided and alternating with the threaded portions. The screw surface of the breech opening is similarly cut away, so that the plug can be pushed nearly home into the breech opening without trouble; by then revolving the breech screw through a ? ` ???\\??? small angle the screwed por tions of the plug and breech opening engage. Thus if three screwed sections alternate with three plain sections the angle of revolution necessary to ensure a full engagement of the screw surfaces will be 60°. The Welin screw (fig. 38) is an ingenious adaptation of the cylindric type; in this the surface is divided into sections each formed of two or three cylindrical screwed steps with a single plain portion; thus if there are three sections, each section of which has one plain division and two screwed divisions, there will be in all six screwed portions and three plain. The breech opening is correspondingly formed so that the screwed threads would fully engage with 40° of movement. There is consequently a greater amount of screwed circumferential surface with the Welin screw than with the ordinary cylindric interrupted type; the latter form has 50% screw surface while the Welin has 60%. For equal screw surface the Welin can therefore be made shorter.

For medium guns the Elswick type of coned screw (fig. 39) has found much favour, and this mechanism has been fitted to guns of all calibres from 3-inch to 6-inch, both for the British and numerous other governments. The coned breech screw is formed with the front part conical and the rear cylindrical, to facilitate its entrance into the gun, and also its exit; this form, moreover, is taken advantage of by cutting the interruptions in the screwed surface alternately on the coned part and on the cylindrical part, so that there is a screwed surface all round the circumference of the breech screw. By this means the stress is taken all round the circumference, both of the breech screw and in the gun, instead of in portions alternately, as with other forms.

The Bofors breech screw is a modification. The surface is formed of a truncated ogive instead of a cylinder and cone, and the threaded portions are not alternate.

In the older types of mechanism for heavy B.L. guns the breech was opened in from three to four different operations which involved considerable loss of time. Fig. 40 shows the general type for 9.2-in., to-in. and 12 -in. B.L. guns. To open the breech the cam lever C was folded up so that it engaged the pin B in connexion with the FIG. 33. - Krupp Breech Action.

ratchet lever E. This was worked and so disengaged the breech screw from the threads cut in the gun; the cam lever was then folded down as to to start the breech screw, and the winch handle Q rotated and so withdrew the screw and swung it clear of the breech opening. During these operations the firing lock was actuated and made safe, but the fired tube had to be extracted by hand. To close the gun these various operations must be reversed, and to open or close the gun would certainly occupy at least half a minute with trained men.

[HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION

To compare with this a modern 12 -in. breech mechanism is shown in fig. 41. In order to open this breech it is only necessary to turn xx. 7 a the handwheel continuously in one direction, and to close it again the motion of the handwheel is simply reversed; either closing or opening the breech by hand occupies about 6 seconds. Supposing the breech closed, the handwheel when rotated gives motion to the link G through the worm wheel S and crank F. By this means the FIG. 34. - Hotchkiss Q.F. Breech Mechanism.

tooth B is moved from its extreme left position to the right, and so disengages the breech screw A from the threads in the gun; the rack A 2 on the breech screw then comes into gear with the pinion E and draws the breech screw out of the gun into the carrier ring C, which finally swings on the axis pin and clears the breech opening. While the opening is being performed the firing lock L is operated by the cam groove A. 3; this puts the firing mechanism, either electric or percussion, to safety by withdrawing the firing needle, extracts the fired tube and leaves the primer chamber open for a fresh primer. All these operations are performed in the reverse order on closing.

With both these types of mechanism the de Bange system of obturation, with the pad only slightly coned, is used.

With smaller guns the mechanism is simpler, as less power is required for opening the breech. Thus, with the 6-in. B.L. gun Mark IV., introduced about 1885 (fig. 42) the breech is opened in three separate operations - (a) the cam lever, which also locks the breech, is raised into the vertical position and pulled over to the left; this disengages the screw threads; (b) the cam lever is folded down so FIG. 35. - Nordenfeldt Q.F. Breech Mechanism.

that the cam acting on the rear face of the gun releases the de Bange obturator, and the screw is then pulled by hand through the carrier ring out of the breech; (c) the carrier ring and breech screw are revolved together to the right, clear of the breech opening.

In a modern 6-in. gun fitted with de Bange obturator all these operations are combined and the mechanism (fig. 43) worked by a horizontal hand lever which is moved from left to right through an angle of about 200°. The hand lever A moves a link B connected to a pin C on the breech screw D and disengages the screw from the gun; a small lateral movement is then given to the axis pin of the carrier so as to allow the obturator pad E to swing out of its seating; when FIG. 36. - Eccentric Screw, Breech Mechanism.

this is quite free, the whole mechanism revolves on the axis pin and thus clears the breech opening. The firing lock F is actuated at the same time and ejects the fired tube G. A new tube is inserted while the gun is being loaded, so that immediately the breech is closed the charge can be fired without loss of time. In the old mechanisms the breech had to be closed first, and the firing tube inserted after.

HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION]

The breech mechanism for Q.F. guns firing metallic cartridge cases is worked on similar principles, but is somewhat simpler than that for the de Bange obturation, due principally to the fact of the firing primer being already contained in the cartridge case when this is introduced into the gun.

In the English service the later patterns of breech mechanism for medium and heavy B.L. guns have a Welin screw, with a " steep Hand Gear W1?1?1 1111n ' -i ????J ' 'r?? lll? ??tllNlilllilll! ' '; fu8. ' 'tM, ' 'SR AFT TO [[Motor Fig]]. 37. - Interrupted Breech Screw - Cylindrical.

cone " de Bange obturator, supported on a carrier arm. This arrangement allows the mechanism (fig. 44) to swing clear of the breech opening immediately the threads of the breech screw are disengaged from those in the breech in a similar manner to the Q.F. guns fitted with a cone screw. The mechanism is actuated by the handwheel L which rotates the hinge pin; this in turn, through gearing, moves a crank arm D connected, by a link B, to the pin on the breech screw. By continuously moving the handwheel the link B is drawn towards the hinge pin until the breech screw threads are disengaged; the catch C then drops into a pocket on the breech screw and fixes it to the carrier arm. The whole of the mechanism then rotates around the hinge pin and leaves the breech open ready for loading. As the breech screw threads are being disengaged the electric or percussion lock W is operated by a cam groove in a similar manner to that already described. In the latest modification of this mechanism a roller at the end of the crank arm D works a long lever connected to the breech screw by two pins. This forms what is termed a " pure-couple " mechanism and it is claimed that greater ease of working is ensured by its use. While the loading is going on a new firing tube is placed in the vent, so that on closing the gun, by turning the handwheel in the opposite direction, the gun is ready for firing. For 9.2 -in. guns and those of smaller calibre the handwheel is replaced by a hand lever pivoted on the carrier (fig. 45). By giving this lever a single motion from left to right the mechanism is opened.

For 6-in. and 4-in. guns a shot support is attached to the breech face which is operated by the breech mechanism so that when the breech is open the shot support is in position for loading, and the breech is being closed.

In the larger types of all breech mechanisms ball bearings are employed in various parts, such as the hinge pin bearings, &c., to reduce friction and in most of the modern heavy guns on board ship the breech mechanism is arranged to be worked by a hydraulic cylinder placed on the breech face, or by a small hydraulic engine or electric motor placed in some convenient position on the mounting. The hand gear, however, is always retained for emergency and a clutch is provided so that it can be put into action at a moment's notice.

The Welin screw is largely used in the United States, but in heavy guns the ordinary cone (not " steep cone ") de Bange obturator is employed. The screw is mounted either in a carrier ring or on a carrier tray. In France the ordinary type of interrupted screw is adopted and this rests in a carrier tray. The operations of opening and closing are very similar to those already described.

All the recent patterns of mechanism have an extractor fitted to extract the empty cartridge case with Q.F. guns or the fired tube with B.L. guns. In Q.F. field guns it generally takes the form of a lever working on an axis pin. The longer arm of the lever is formed into a jaw which rests on the inner face of the breech opening beneath the rim of the cartridge case, and the short arm is so arranged that when the breech is opened the carrier, in swinging mechanisms, or the breech block itself, in sliding systems, suddenly comes in contact with it; the long arm is thus jerked backwards and extracts the case. In B.L. mechanisms the tube extractor is FIG. 38. - Welin Breech Screw.

arranged on the same principle but in this case usually forms part of the box slide, i.e. that portion of the mechanism attached by interrupted collars to the rear end of the vent axial, in which the firing lock slides as it is actuated by the opening or closing of the breech mechanism. When the breech is being opened the firing pin of the lock is drawn back to safety and the lock is moved aside from over the tube; a tripper then actuates the extractor and ejects the fired tube. The extractor and tripper are so contrived that when a new tube is pushed home the extractor is also pushed back into the closed position, or, if the tube is somewhat stiff to insert, the action of closing the mechanism moves the lock over the primer and forces it home.

The firing lock used in B.L. guns is an important part of the FIG. 39. - Elswick Coned Screw.

mechanism. They are all designed on the same principle, with a view to safety and rapidity, and may be regarded as a miniature sliding breech mechanism. In the older types the lock or its substitute was manipulated by hand, and with electric firing the wires from the tubes were joined up to the loose ends of the firing circuit; it falls out of the way when [[[History And Construction Fig]]. 41. - 12-in. Gun, Breech Mechanism.

safety depended therefore on everything being in order and all operations correctly performed. The gun, could, however, be fired before the breech was properly secured and a serious accident caused; to prevent this all the movements of modern locks are arranged to be automatic, and wireless electric tubes are used so that immediately the breech mechanism commences to open, the lock itself is moved in the box slide so as to uncover the vent opening. During the first part of this movement a foot on the History And Constructioni striker rides up an incline I (fig. 45) on the box slide and thus pushes back the striker from contact with the tube. The extractor described above is actuated at the same time. Most locks FIG. 40. - Breech_ Mechanisms, Heavy Guns.

consist of a steel frame with a socket for containing the striker and main spring. They are contrived so as to be capable of firing both electric and percussion tubes, but others are arranged for firing only electric, separate locks being employed for use with percussion tubes. The construction of both is very similar, but with the percussion lock, or the combined lock, a trigger is provided FIG. 42. - Breech Mechanism, 6-in. B.L. Mark IV.

which drops into a notch in the striker when this is pulled back by the lugs E E (fig. 45) on the outer attachment of the striker. On the trigger being pulled by a lanyard the striker is released and fires the tube.

For Q.F. guns with interrupted or coned breech screws the striker is contained in the breech screw, but, in order to provide for safety, a small lever cam or other contrivance is fitted which, when the mechanism commences to open, is operated by the hand lever and withdraws the striker from contact with the primer inserted in the cartridge case.

The striker consists of a steel needle, with the stem insulated by, ebonite or some similar material, contained in an outer steel sheath. The sheath is formed with a foot or lug which is acted upon by the safety gear; a collar is also provided for taking the thrust of the main spring.

Another form of lock now much in favour, especially for field-gun mechanisms, is that known as a trip lock. It is mainly used for percussion firing but can also be combined for use with electric tubes. In this pattern the striker is withdrawn, cocked and released by the continuous pull of a hand lever attached to the mounting or by a lanyard attached to the lock. Should a miss-fire occur the striker may be actuated as often as necessary by releasing the "hand lever or lanyard and again giving a continuous pull (fig. 46).

In all modern heavy guns, especially when firing to windward, there is a tendency, when the breech is opened rapidly after firing, for a sheet of flame to issue from the open breech. It was practically un known with the old black powders, but is of frequent occurrence with all smokeless propellants. If the gun is loaded immediately after the breech is opened the fresh charge may be ignited and an accident caused. Several serious accidents have already been traced to this cause, notably one on the United States battleship " Missouri " on 13th April 1904, when 33 lives were lost. The flame is due to the large amount of highly heated carbonic oxide remaining in the gun from the explosion of the charge; this mixing with the oxygen of the air when the breech is opened burns rapidly as a sheet of flame in rear of the gun, and should wind be blowing down the action is more intense. By looking into the gun from the before the breech is opened, the gas can often be seen with a pale-blue flame as it slowly mixes with air curious singing noise is heard at the same time. It is now usual to fit a special apparatus on the gun, so that directly the breech is partly opened a blast of compressed air is allowed to enter the rear end of the chamber and thus sweep the whole of the residual gas out at the muzzle.

The purpose of the obturator is to render the breech end of the gun gas-tight, and to prevent any escape of gas past the breech mechanism. In the first Obturators. Armstrong B.L. gun this object was attained by fitting to the breech block a copper ring coned on the exterior; the coned surface was forci