r 



RIFLED ORDNANCE. 



RIFLED ORDNANCE. 



34, the larger guns have more, they make about half a turn in 

 the length of the piece, and the charge seems to be about !th the 

 weight of the projectile. The construction of the projectile, which is 

 shown in Jig. 2, has been thus described by Sir VT. Armstrong. " The 

 projectile consists of a very thin out-iron shell, the interior of which 

 is composed of forty-two segment-shaped pieces of cost iron built up 

 in layers around a cylindrical cavity in the centre, wliich contains 

 the bursting charge and the concussion arrangement. The exterior of 

 the shell is thinly coated with lead, which u applied by placing the 

 .-hell in a mould and pouring melted lead round it. The lead is 

 allowed to percolate among the segments, so as to fill up the inter- 

 stices, the central cavity being kept open by the insertion of a steel 

 core. In this state the projectile U so compact that it might be fired 

 through 6 feet of hard timber without injury, while its resistance to 

 a bunting force U co small that leas than one ounce of powder Is 

 sufficient to break it in pieces." It is a great advantage for service 

 to have a projectile of this description, which can be used as shot, 

 hell, ahrapnell, or case. The simplicity of ammunition 'a perfect 

 when one form serves all the purposes that can be required, fur it i.< 

 only Decenary in using it a* shot not to put in a fuze. The shell 

 can, as will be seen, be made, according to the fuze, either a lime shell 

 or a r*ciinioa shell. By adjusting the fuze so as to burst the shell 

 just short of the object, we have a shrapnel! of the most perfect de- 

 scription, for a small bursting charge will liberate the numerous seg- 

 ments of which the shell is formed ; while, by adjusting the fuze so 

 u to burst the shell at the muzzle, we may use it as case. Sir W. 

 Armstrong stated in a speech he made at Newcastle, that the shell 

 bunt into 49 regular piece* and about 100 irregular piece*. And also 

 that for breaching purpose*, tiring at buildings and ship*, a different 

 construction of shell was adopted, the object being to introduce the 

 large** puwible charge of powder. The shell of the Armstrong Si- 

 pounder contains about twice as much powder as that of the ordinary 

 3J pounder. 



The two description* of fuzes, .< . 3 and 4, are thus described by 

 . Armstrong. " The body of the time fuze, Jig. 3, is made of a 





Fig. J. Time Fair, fall >Ue. 



, tb* bamaxT ; , tb* impending pin ; , the detonating composition ; 



t i, tb* hollow collar ; , IB* fuw sonpoiitlon. 



r of lead and tin, cast to the required form in a mould. The 

 fun composition U stamped into a channel forming nearly an entire 

 circle round the body of the fuze, and i* afterward* papered and 

 varnished on the external surface. A* the shell fit* accurately into 

 the gun, there i* no pi***** of flame by which the fuze could be 

 ignited. The effect i* therefore produced in the following manner : 

 A nall quantity of detonating composition i* deposited at the bottom 



f the cylindrical cavity in the centre of the fuze, and above thi* i* 

 ahead a small weight or striker terminating in a sharp point presentee 

 downward*. Thin striker i* secured in it* place by a pin, which, when 

 the gun i* find, i* broken by reason of the TO iVrdVr of the striker 

 The detonator i* then inetantly pierced by the point and i* thtu fired. 

 The flame thus produced prune* into an annular space formed within 

 the revolving cover, which rest* on the upper surface of the fuze coin 

 position, and from thi* annular space it i* directed outward* through 

 an opening, so a* to impinge on and to ignite the fuze comp-- 



any required part of the circle. The fuze thus ignited burns in both 

 jm AXD set. DIV. vol. vu. 



directions, but only takes effect at one extremity, where it communi- 

 cates with a small quantity of powder in the centre. ' The fuze is 

 surrounded by a scale paper graduated to accord with the elevation of 

 .he gun, so that when the range of a distant object is found by trial, 

 t is only necessary to turn the igniting aperture of the cover to the 

 mint on the fuze scale corresponding with the degrees and minutes of 

 elevation on the tangent scale. 



The concussion fuze (/</. i.) is on nearly the same principle. " A 



Fig. 4. Concussion Fuze, full MM. 



a a, the hammer ; * *, the itupeiulinn pin ; r, the detonating composition ; 

 d J, priming chamber. 



striker with a point presented upward* is secured in a tube by a wire 

 fastening, which U broken on the firing of the gun ; the striker being 

 thus liberated recedes through a small space, and rests on the bottom 

 of the tube, but as soon as the shell meets with any check in its 

 motion, the striker runs forward and presses the detonator in front, 

 by which means the bursting charge it ignited." To show the extreme 

 accuracy of the Armstrong shell and fuzes, we may mention an experi- 

 ment which took place before the Duke of Cambridge and .1 number 

 of distinguished officers. Two targets, each of 9 feet square, wero 

 placed at a distance of 1500 yards from the gun, and 1 shells \\vrv 

 fired at them ; the effect of these 7 shells w.n, that the targets were 

 struck in 598 places. Similar effect* were produced at 3000 yards 

 with shell*, and a target 9 feet square has boon struck with shot ."> 

 time* out of 10 shot*. At 600 yards on object the size of the muzzle 

 of a gun can be struck almost every time with the shot or shell. Tim 

 tabular statement below will explain the advantages of rifled ordnance 

 at long range*, while the short ranges at low angle* of elevation will 

 be easily understood, for the reasons given under CINNKKT and 

 RIFLE, when we remember that the initial .velocity of the Armstrong 

 1 J pounder shot U less than 1100 feet per second, while that of the 

 ordinary 12-pounder i* about 1800 feet per second. 



The first form of carriage employed for the Armstrong gun was Urn 

 bracket carriage with recoil slide. The recoil slide is hm v< r 

 abolished for Geld service pieces, though we bcliuvo it is intcndc 1 t<> 

 employ it still for garrison, siege, and nnv.il guns. The fluid service 

 carriage U now in form very similar to the old block trail carriage. 

 The trunnions of the gun however rest in moveaUo trunnion hole*. 

 The** trunnion holes being connected together by a band of irou, a 

 horizontal motion can be given to them round a centre or pivot 

 between them by means of a bar, which, paving to the rear almost as 

 far a* the elevating screw, has motion given to it by a horizontal screw 

 passing through ita end. By this means the gun c.mi i,'o having been 

 brought into the general direction of lino of fire, the gun can bo most 

 accurately laid by merely turning the handle attached to this screw 

 without further shifting of the carriage. 



The following extract from Sir W. Armstrong's speech at Newcastle, 

 will show the great labour it cost him to bring it to perfection, and iU 

 great power now ta a siege-gun : " To go back to the commencement 

 of my experiments, I may tell you that they began upward* of four 

 years ago, my first gun having been commenced in December, 1854, 

 and completed early in the following spring; although this gun wan 

 constructed upon the same principle as those which I am now making, 

 it di'l not in the first instance afford patWactory result*. ,s, I 



