GUN 



maximum strength with the mini- 

 mum weight. To obtain the requi- 

 site strength and toughness in the 

 barrels they were for many years 

 constructed of strands of wrought 

 iron and steel twisted and then 

 welded together (Damascus bar- 

 rels), and these are still frequently 

 employed, but now are chiefly 

 valued for the beauty of the etched 

 surface, as modern alloy steels pro- 

 vide ample strength and toughness. 

 Breech-loaders and Automatics 



All modern weapons are breech- 

 loading and employ central fire car- 

 tridges. In some guns the striking 

 mechanism is external and these 

 are termed hammer guns, while in 

 others the striking mechanism is 

 enclosed in the lock, giving a 

 neater appearance, such weapons 

 being termed hammerless. Some of 

 the latter class, known as ejectors, 

 automatically throw out the empty 

 cartridge case after a shot has been 

 fired, and a further development is 

 the single trigger gun in which one 

 trigger controls both barrels. 

 Single-barrel repeating and auto- 

 matic guns carrying five to eight 

 cartridges in a magazine have also 

 been introdiiced, but are too heavy 

 to be popular. To afford safety 

 in carrying the weapons loaded, 

 hammer guns can be placed at half 

 cock, and the hammerless varieties 

 have a safety catch. 



In the highest class guns speci- 

 ally well-figured walnut is employed 

 for the stocks, and the greatest 

 skill is lavished on elaborate en- 

 graving of the lock plates and 

 breech block. English guns have 

 the highest reputation for beauty 

 and accuracy of workmanship, 

 while Belgian guns supply a more 

 popular demand. After the Great 

 War the Birmingham Small Arms 

 Co. instituted a policy of mass pro- 

 duction of plain finished, reliable 

 guns at a competitive price. Be- 

 fore any gun is purchased it should 

 be submitted to a firing proof for 

 strength as evidenced by a proof 

 mark stamped on the barrels,while 

 smokeless powder cartridges should 

 not be used in any gun which has 

 not been tested for the higher pres- 

 sures involved and does not bear the 

 additional stamp " nitro proof." 



E. W. de S. Colver 



NAVAL GUNS. Naval guns are 

 those engines on board fighting 

 ships from which projectiles are 

 discharged by explosive force. Ed- 

 ward III had iron and brass guns 

 in his ships, and during subsequent 

 centuries the mechanisms increased 

 largely in number and variety. In 

 Elizabeth's time ships carried the 

 double cannon or cannon-royal, 

 with 8-in. bore, firing a 64-pound 

 projectile, and the demi-cannon, 

 which was a 30-pounder. Smaller 



3746 



guns were the culverins, which 

 were longer in proportion to bore, 

 and fired shots ranging from 

 17 pounds to one pound. They 

 comprised whole and demi-cul- 

 verins, serpentines, sakers, minions, 

 falcons, robinets, and bases. 



Other guns something like the 

 modern -howitzer type were called 

 perriers, and were intended to dis- 

 charge stone balls, carcase or case- 

 shot, fire-balls and the like ; and 

 there were mortar pieces called 

 petards and murderers, the latter 

 being breech-loaders, like some 

 other types of the time. Early guns 

 were made of bronze and iron bars 

 hooped together. The Sovereign of 

 the Seas, in Charles I's reign, moun- 

 ted 102 brass guns. Cast-iron guns 

 were made in England as early as 

 1545, and this construction con- 

 tinued for 300 years or more. 



All these guns were smooth- 

 bores, firing round shot. The ships 

 in the great war with France car- 

 ried 32 -pounders and 42 -pounders 

 as the lower deck armament, and 

 shorter and lighter pieces called 

 carronades, from Carron in Scot- 

 land where they were first made. 

 These ranged upward from 6 to 

 68-pounders. The carronade was 

 intended to project large-calibre 

 shots with accuracy to the distance 

 at which the old wooden ships 

 generally engaged, viz. 400 to 600 

 yards. Guns of this character con- 

 tinued to be made until about 1830, 

 when a more effective 32-pounder, 

 weighing 50 tons, was introduced. 

 Large-calibre guns were mean- 

 while being brought in for the firing 

 of shells and hollow shot. They 

 were first introduced in the French 

 navy by Col. Paixhans in 1824. 

 Introduction of Rifling 



The Armstrong system of " built- 

 up guns," formed of wrought iron 

 with steel for the inner tube, dating 

 from 1856, put an end to the earlier 

 manner of construction. Rifled 

 guns began to be introduced about 

 1850, firing elongated projectiles, 

 and were tried in the Crimean War. 

 The really effective rifled gun was 

 due to the inventive ingenuity of 

 W. G. ( afterwards Lord ) Armstrong. 

 Its parts were the A-tube, or barrel, 

 with powder and shot chamber, 

 and the polygroove rifled bore ; 

 the breech -piece of wrought iron ; 

 three to six coils or jackets which 

 were shrunk on the A-tube after 

 expansion by heat ; the trunnion 

 ring, and other fittings. 



Some difficulties occurred with 

 the early breech -loading guns, 

 and delays resulted which gave 

 France and Germany the lead. It 

 was not until 1881 that the manu- 

 facture of a fully satisfactory type 

 really began in England. The im- 

 mense advantages of the new guns 



GUN 



were manifest, not the least of them 

 being that the possibility was se- 

 cured of easily repairing guns by 

 renewing the inner tube or "lining" 

 when eroded by the action of 

 deleterious gases. Guns increased 

 enormously in size, weight, and 

 power, until the 16-in., 111-ton 

 was mounted in the Benbow, Sans 

 Pareil, and Victoria. These huge 

 guns were not used in subsequent 

 ships, because only two of them 

 could be placed in a single ship, and 

 the advantage was seen of mount- 

 ing, in such ships as the Anson, four 

 67-ton guns, which could be fired 

 more rapidly, and ultimately could 

 discharge a greater weight of metal. 

 Essentials of Naval Guns 



The standard type of big gun for 

 the British navy was afterwards 

 for many years the 12-in., which 

 was mounted on all the ships 

 prior to the super-Dreadnoughts. 

 The chief requirements sought 

 were, and still are, great range, 

 rapidity and accuracy of fire, and 

 high striking-energy with the mini- 

 mum weight. 



In the Russo-Japanese War the 

 effective range was about 6,000 

 yards ; before the Great War it 

 had increased nominally to 9,000 

 or 10,000 yards, and at the Jutland 

 Battle fire was opened at a range 

 of nearly 19,000 yards. 



Enormous strength is required 

 to withstand the pressure of mod- 

 ern cordite and other propellant 

 charges, and steel of perfect homo- 

 geneity, elasticity, and break-resist- 

 ing strength is used. The breech 

 block must combine the smallest 

 possible weight consistent with 

 complete resistance to the back 

 pressure of the gases. The mechan- 

 ism must ensure the most rapid 

 opening of the breech, charging of 

 the gun, closing the breech, and fir- 

 ing the gun. The mounting and 

 carriage of the guns, which are 

 usually placed in pairs, must pro- 

 vide for the easiest and smoothest 

 working in elevation and in training 

 on the roller-path, in order to find 

 the target and attain immediate 

 accuracy of aim. The whole of 

 the weights of the gun and gun- 

 house are distributed over a large 

 area, and are perfectly balanced 

 for ease of rotation. 



The 12-in. gun, its original length 

 being 45 times its calibre, weighed 

 over 57 tons, and fired a projectile 

 of 850 Ib. with a cordite charge of 

 309 Ib. The muzzle velocity was 

 2,666 feet per second, and the 

 muzzle energy 41,000 foot-tons. 

 The complete" gear for working two 

 guns of this character, concen- 

 trated within the moving mass, 

 would represent a weight of about 

 600 tons, enclosed in a barbette 

 mounting or gun-house. The 



