THE NEW AUSTRIAN FIELD GUNS. 
(Captain Instructor, loyal Gun Factories ). 
The new Austrian field pieces, the exact dimensions of which are given in 
TableI.,are constructed of the so-called Uchatius “steel bronze”—an alloy of 
92 parts copper and 8 parts tin—which will be found fully described, so 
far as known, in a paper published in “Proceedings, B.A. Institution,” 
Yol. IX., No. 4 of 1875. The absolute details of the process of casting and 
subsequent treatment of piece are kept a profound secret ;* although there is 
probably not very much to learn, save on some minor points. It seems 
likely that during the process of casting, the alloy is kept in a state of 
rotation; and we know that it is cast in chill, and subsequently compressed, 
as to the surface of the bore, by forcing through the latter, by means of 
hydraulic pressure, steel mandrels gradually increasing in size—the object 
aimed at being to secure uniformity of structure, freedom from tin spots, and 
a very hard and smooth interior surface, as well as to gain an advantage 
theoretically by placing all but the innermost layers in a state of initial 
tension increasing in amount towards the exterior. 
* Even the instructing officers of the Artillery Cadet School in the Arsenal itself are not allowed 
entrance into the gun foundry; 
[YOL. X.] 
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