66 
KRTJPP’S 
PATENT PROTECTED NON-EECOIL SYSTEM. 
CONTBIBUTED BY 
MAJOR E. MAITLAND, R.A. 
The indefatigable German gun-maker is now busy in pushing on a 
new device which he considers likely to prove a decided advance in 
the practical manipulation of standing guns. It is still quite in the 
experimental stage, and has as yet been tried only with light pieces, but 
the success already attained is considered by Krupp to warrant great 
expectations. 
The object of the system is the complete protection of the gun 
detachment and of the gun itself, except at the muzzle. It is also 
supposed to ensure accuracy of aim for a continuous series of rounds. 
The general idea is that the gun shall pivot at the muzzle in a ball and 
socket joint, fixed into the armour of a casemate, entirely closing the 
port and preventing recoil. Krupp claims that when once the gun is 
laid true on the object, it can be fired any number of times without 
recoiling, jumping, or otherwise changing its position or direction in 
the least; so that all error in shooting due to inaccuracy of laying is 
prevented when once the right direction is secured. 
The drawing (Fig. 1) shows a section of a casemate for a 6-in. gun. 
The muzzle is enlarged to form a ball, A, which plays in a socket con¬ 
sisting of a steel port plug, B, into which is screwed a wrought-iron 
cylinder, C } holding the ball of the muzzle firmly in the socket. On 
each side of the gun the trunnion, B, travels up and down a carrier, B } 
in which a slot is cut for the purpose. This carrier is fitted with a 
hollow-soled truck, F } which permits the carrier to pivot on the racer, G } 
and so to accommodate the arc travelled through by the trunnion, when 
elevation is given, to the straight slot in the carrier. The truck also 
moves along the racer, G, when the gun is traversed. 
The casemate is composed of a thick wrought-iron plate, H, in front, 
supported by strong box girders, AT, and roofed with thin wrought-iron 
plate, I. The lower portion is made of cast-iron, J . It is protected 
from the enemy's fire by a glacis of concrete, L } in which is embedded a 
