846 



Popular Science Monthly 



twisted joint sleeve without regard to the 

 position of the upper cranks or the lower 

 wheels. 



At rest a series of screws with flat heads 

 descend and level the platform automat- 

 ically. 



The inner tube of any big gun is no 

 stronger than any flaw which it may con- 

 tain. To make a tube in one piece is like 

 putting all your eggs in one basket. The 

 inner tube of my rifle is designed to take 

 care of the stress developed parallel with 

 the major axis only. It consists of 16 strips 

 of steel, each 375 feet long, 2 feet thick, 

 22^degreeswide, each locked with the next, 

 making a tube 375 feet long, 9 feet in 

 diameter, with a 5-foot bore. To take care 



A man on horse- 

 back looks like a 

 child's toy in com- 

 parison with the 

 height of this shell 

 standing on end 



of the stress at right angles with the gun's 

 major axis, I shrink upon this segmented 

 tube 750 steel rings each 6 inches thick, 

 12 feet in diameter with a 9-foot hole. 

 These rings are of compressed steel made 

 when in a semi-fluid state and subjected 

 to the greatest pressure that can be de- 

 veloped. Upon these rings a series of 

 steel sleeves are locked and shrunk. Last- 

 ly, the trunnion and breech band are 

 placed in position. As a result of this con- 

 struction the gun is proportionately 40% 

 stronger parallel with its major axis and 

 at right angles to it than a 16-inch gun of 

 the same size would be. 



One shell from this gigantic weapon 

 would annihilate Essen and make the 

 Krupp works look like so many heaps of 

 emery powder. Another would make the 

 whole district a Valley of Death for thirty 

 days after it fell. 

 v \ One form of shell used is exploded by 



The new rifle is 375 

 feet long and weighs 

 39,277 tons without 

 the mountings 



THE BUNNELL GUN 



TRINITY, N.Y 



The rifle has a bore of sixty inches, 

 throwing its huge projectile 100 miles 



A comparison of the length of the gun with the 

 height of Trinity Church and steeple, New York 



