Gun making in the United States

Front matter

FROM THE

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

THROUGH THE

I. Introductory 9

Abandonment of cast-iron rifles. — Conservative course of legislation. — Dffficulty of perfecting a new type of gun. — Early inventions. — Treadwell's coiled and ring-welded guns. — Hooped guns. — Origin of slotted-screw breech mechanism. — Broadwell gas check.

Initial tension in cast-iron guns 14

Rodman method of casting. — Inadequacy of old method of determining initial tension in castings. — New methods described. Cast-iron smoothbore guns in service. — Parrott rifles 17-18

II. Period from 1872 to 1881 20

Systems recommended by Heavy Gun Board of 1872. — Hitchcock, Mann, and Lyman-Haskell guns. — Woodbridge brazed wire gun.

Converted muzzle-loading rifles 22

Strength of the converted guns. — Wrought- iron and steel tubes of American manufacture. — Table showing endurance of experimental and type guns.

Converted breech-loading rifles 27

Success of experimental 8-inch rifle. — Failure of 8-inch and 11-inch chambered rifles. — Trial of 8-inch chambered rifle with rounded angles in slot. — Rejection of steel forgings for 12-inch guns. — Unfavorable opinions of gun steel.

Sutcliffe 9-inch B. L. rifle.— Thompson 12-inch B. L. rifle 29-31

Field guns 31

Dean 3.5-inch mandrilled bronze gun. — Sutcliffe 3-inch B. L. rifle. — Moffatt 3-inch B. L. rifle. — Converted 3.2-inch B. L. chambered rifle. Review of the ten years ending in 1882 33

III. Boards and committees appointed by Congress 35

Their conclusions regarding forged steel for guns and Government gun factories. — Helpful legislation for the Navy. — Money expended by Army Ordnance Department for procurement of cannon during twenty years.

Recent plans of gun construction. — Systems recommended 37

The multicharge gun. — Mann breech mechanism. — Yates breech mechanism. — The slotted-screw breech mechanism. — Reason favoring its adoption.

IV. Cast-iron rifles 48

Rodman rifles made 1861 to 1869. — Tests and endurance of Rodman rifles. — Experiment to test effect of blows upon pressure gauge.

Atwater 12-inch rifle. — Wiard's cast-iron rifles at Nut Island 50-51

12-inch B. L. cast-iron rifle, model of 1883 51

Firing tests and endurance. — Erosions of the bore. — Claims to improvement in metal and methods of casting discussed. — Time required to make large gun castings. — Conclusions.

a i TABLE OP CONTENTS.

V. Page.

Combined cast-iron and steel guns 58

12-inch rifled mortars, steel hooped. — Tests of the M. L. mortar. — Preliminary firings with B. L. mortar. — Construction of the rifled mortars. — ' Steel hoops needed to give sufficient strength.

12-inch B. L. rifles 61

Cast-iron gun lined with half tube of steel. ^Steel hooped and tubed gun, with cast-iron body.

Wire guns of recent design 62

10-inch wire- wrapped cast-iron rifle. — 10-inch steel rifle, longitudinal bars, wire wound. — Merits of wire-gun construction not yet decided.

VI. Steel cast guns 65

Two 6-inch guns to be made. — Weights and special plant required for large gun castings. — Defects of castings. — Proposed methods of casting. — Elastic strength of neutral piece. — Utility of initial tension.

VII. Built-up forged steel guns. — Claims of American inventors 70

Amount of gun forgings procured by Army 71

Progress made in construction of guns. — Physical qualities of steel forgings. — Superiority as a metal for guns.

Elastic strength of guns 74

Relative strength of homogeneous guns. — Composite guns.

Experiments made by Army Ordnance Department 78

Superiority of oil- tempered and annealed steel. — Similitude of specimen and shrinkage tests. — Result realized in a complete gun cylinder. — Verification of formulas. — Effect of temporary exposure to high heat upon qualities of forgings. — Frictional resistance to longitudinal separation due to shrinkage. — Tests of forged trunnion hoop of American manufacture. — Efficacy of annealing in removing stains from forgings.

Firing tests of steel guns 86

3.2-inch B. L. field guns. — 5-inch B. L. siege rifle. — 7-inch B. L. siege howitzer. — 8-inch B. L. steel rifle. — Accuracy and high power.

Work done by the Navy 89

Amount of forgings procured and under contract with Midvale Steel Company and Bethlehem Iron Company. — Number of guns made or provided for. — Fabricating capacity of the Washington Navy- Yard. — Testa of guns. — Dimensions, weights, charges, and high power.

Replies to criticisms of construction of built-up steel guns 91

Commercial advantages of gun and armor-forging plant 93

The pneumatic dynamite torpedo gun 96

Appendix A. Steel forgings produced by Midvale Steel Company and the

Cambria Iron and Steel Works 97

Appendix B. Initial tension in gun construction, discussed for a steel cast gun. 98 Appendix C. Alleged failures of steel guns.— Reply to report of Chamber of Commerce, New York City, dated February 3, 1887 108

Illustrations.

Plate III. 8-inch B. L. steel rifle To face Preface.

Initial tension in cast-iron gun cylinder 16

Plate IV. Pressure apd strains in gun of solid wall 76

I. Shrinkage tests of steel gun hoop 79

II. Shrinkages in full section of a built-up gun 81

DISCUSSION.

Page.

Lieut. Commander F. M. Bakbek, U. S. Navy 115

Bvt. Brig. Gen. H. L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers 116

Bvt. Maj. J. B. Campbell, captain. Fourth Artillery 117

Joseph Morgan, Jr. , Johnstown, Pa 119

Theodoee Cooper, C. E. , New York 120

J. R. Haskell, Esq 121

Capt. Charles Shalbk, Ordnance Department 124

Lieut. E. M. Weaver, Second Artillery 124

William E. Woodbeidge, Esq : 126

Capt. O. E. MicHAELis, Ordnance Department 127

Prof. E. H. Thurston, Cornell University 129

James E. Howard, G. E., Watertown Arsenal 131

Commander K. D. Evans, U. S. Navy 133

Capt. John G. Butler, Ordnance Department 133

Lieut. William Ckozibk, Ordnance Department 137

Capt. Rogers Birnie, Jr. , Ordnance Department 140

8 INCH B.L.STEEL RIFLE.

WEIGHT 13 TOKTS.

» .y i .y ■iP inches.

PLATE III.

CaiVe of Actual Compreasion,

Scale of Compression Ten-tbousandths.

Vertical Scale for Compression per inch of Diameter of Bore Exaggerated 1000 Times.

Note. — This gun in now lioupcd to tlie muzzle and weighs 13i tons. The following are representative results obtained in experimental firing:

Powder charge 113 pounds.

Projectile (3^ ealibers long) 300 pounds.

Density of loading 1 (unity).

Muzzle velocity 1, 8o2 feet per second.

Muzzle energy 7, 333 foot-tons.

Pressure 36, 000 pounds ( 16 tons^ .

7733 — OS. (To face page 7.)