PRECIS 
AND 
TRANSLATION. 
“REYTJE D’ARTILLERIE.” 
SCITLAPFER AUTOMATIC BRAKE. 
BY 
LIEUT. D’ARTILLERIE SCHWOB. 
TRANSLATED BY 
LIEUT.-COLONEL F. E. B. LORAINE, late R.A. 
Many gun carriages have been supplied with automatic brakes, where the action 
of the latter has been effected by the discharge of the gun. The brakes of which 
we are about to speak act automatically, not only during practice, but also on the 
march. 
In a system which was tried at Erauenfeld in Switzerland, the skidding of the 
wheels was produced by the action of the horses when holding back the carriage. 
But to the effort required to hold the carriage before the brake could act was 
added the effort required to actuate the brake, and it was found that horses 
were frequently thrown on their knees on even moderately rough ground. This 
system was therefore abandonned. In a more recent plan skidding is on the wheels 
whenever the horses are not pulling. This plan is therefore automatic in the 
descent of hills. Similarly the gun in action is always skidded without any 
previous manipulation. There is a special arrangement for unskidding when the 
gun has to be run up in action. 
The plan embodying these advantages, which we are about to describe, is due to 
Mr. Schlapfer, a mechanical engineer of Lausanne, who has applied it to a bronze 
6 cra Krupp gun employed for the instruction of the cadets of the Canton of Vaud. 
In July, 1892, the brake was shown at the General Assembly of Swiss Officers, 
presided over by Colonel Turettini, and the latter praised it unreservedly. The 
author of this article has examined the brake in Mr. Schlapfer’s workshop and has 
seen it applied to all sorts of carriages. He declares that, though a few improve¬ 
ments in detail are still desirable, yet the brake has acted with good effect under 
all circumstances, both in gun-practice and on the march. 
During practice, with a charge of 10£ ozs., and a projectile of 8 lbs., the recoil 
was 81 inches. The recoil of the same piece was 13 feet when the brake was un¬ 
shipped. 
Description and Action. 
Two battens, AA', are carried by a curved bar B, which can revolve in the two 
collars, Z, Z', fixed to the carriage. When the bar revolves each batten also 
(3. VOL. xx. 
