PART VI. ARMSTRONG GUNS. LAND SERVICE. AMMUNITION; WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR THEIR CARE AND USE." EXTRACTED FROM "OBSERVATIONS ON THE GUNS, CARRIAGES, AND CHAPTER I.-EXPLANATORY OBSERVATIONS UPON THE ARMSTRONG BREECH-LOADING GUNS FOR LAND SERVICE. 1. The different parts of the Guns, Weights, &c. 110-pounder. 40-pounder. 20-pounder. 12-pounder. 9-pounder. 6-pounder. cwt. qrs. lbs. cwt. qrs. lbs. cwt. qrs. lbs. cwt. qrs. lbs. cwt. qrs. lbs. cwt. qrs. lbs. Average Weight of Barrel 74 2 5 23 Breech Screw 1 102 DESCRIPTION OF THE ARMSTRONG GUN AND FITTINGS, WITH EXPLANATORY REMARKS ON THE USE, AND WORKING OF THE DIFFERENT PARTS. 3. Gun. The gun consists of the barrel, the breech piece, the trunnion piece, and the coils. 4. Barrel. The barrel contains the bore, the powder and bullet chambers. The bullet chamber and bore are rifled. The powder chamber is not rifled, but is of a larger diameter than the bullet chamber; and the latter is again larger than the bore. The barrel is made from wrought-iron bars, of a rectangular section. These bars are wound round a mandril, forming coils, varying from 18 to 30 inches in length; and are afterwards welded together until the required length of barrel is obtained. The barrel is then bored and turned, ready for the reception of the layers of coils. 5. Breech piece. The breech piece is a cylinder (made from a solid wrought-iron forging) bored, turned, and shrunk upon the end of the barrel. It contains an internal angular thread, in which the breech screw works. 6. Trunnion, Wrought iron.-The trunnion piece is made from a solid forging, and after being bored and turned, is shrunk in its place on the gun. 7. Coils. The coils are made according to their respective diameters and lengths, in a similar manner to the coils of the barrel; they are then bored, turned, and shrunk on the barrel, and the other coils, according to the various natures of guns. CHAPTER III.-EXPLANATORY OBSERVATIONS ON THE AMMUNITION FOR ARMSTRONG GUNS. 42. Cartridges.-These are made of serge, and are filled with R. L. G. A powder. The 40-pounders and smaller natures are made up with Boxer's lubricators choked in them, but the 64-pounders are made up with the lubricators separate, in order to economize magazine space as much as possible, paper sockets being fixed in the choke of the cartridges, for the purpose of attaching the lubricators. The quantity of powder in these cartridges is the same for shot and shell. Lubricator, Boxer's, consists of a disc of milled board, a thick felt ring, and an air-tight vessel of very thin copper, filled with equal proportions of grease and oil. TUBES. 43. Friction Tubes, Copper.-These tubes are used in all natures of Land Service Armstrong guns, as for smooth-bore ordnance. 44. Primers are used with the 64-pr. and 40-pr. guns, and are introduced into the horizontal portion of the vent in the vent-piece. Their service is to carry the fire readily from the friction tubes to the cartridge, the length and form of the vent holes being such that the friction tube alone will not readily ignite the cartridge. 45. Projectiles.-These are of three natures, viz., solid shot, common shell, and segment shell. The Solid Shot are simple iron castings, covered with a lead coating, of diameters suited to the bores of the various natures of guns. The Common Shell are hollow castings, prepared for the reception of a bursting charge of powder, and are open at the conical end, into which the plug or fuze is screwed. This nature of shell has a lead coating similar in every respect to that of the solid shot; the fuze holes of all common shells are of the General Service gauge. The Segment Shell consists of thin cast-iron cylinders, enclosing a series of segments of the same metal, cast separately, and built upon an iron disc, and the segments are held together by lead being run into the interstices between the segments. The form of the outer portion of the lead in this shell is the same as that of the solid shot and common shell. A small bursting charge is used with these shells. 46. The fuze holes of the 7-inch for G. S., 64-pr. and 40-pr. shells, as well as the 20-pr. common shells, are of the General Service gauge, and those of the other natures of guns are of a smaller diameter. The following is a tabular statement of the bursting charge of the shells: NOTE. The bursting charge of 20, 12, 9, and 6-prs. is contained in an iron cylinder, the weight of which is not here included. This, with the concussion and time fuzes, brings up the weight. 47. All the common shells, 7-inch, 64-pr. and 40-pr. segment shells, are filled with powder in the ordinary manner, viz., from paper bags P |