Abstract
AT the recent meeting of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the President, Mr. E. H. Carbutt, gave an address, in which he reviewed the progress made in the manufacture of guns during the last half century. The guns in use at the beginning of the present reign, in 1837, were principally the cast-iron, smooth-bore 24-pounder and 32-pounder with spherical shot. Now they are made of steel, and provided with mechanical appliances for every movement; accuracy of aim is insured by rifling, and the length of range increased by the use of an elongated shot of small cross-section, and by increased powder-charges. Breechloading has 1 d to increased speed of firing, and to the use of guns 35 and 40 feet long on board ship. The loading is self-acting in the smaller field guns, whilst on board ship the guns are made to revolve, load, return to position, and train to firing-point Joy hydraulic power. Such guns weigh 110 tons, fire shot 16¼ inches in diameter, weighing 1800 Ibs., and costing £190 each. The advance thus shortly chronicled is due to several workers, prominent amongst whom may be mentioned Sir Joseph Whitworth, Sir William Armstrong, and Sir William Anderson. The production of ordnance of such a character has been due to the introduction of steel, and the possibility of producing steel in large masses by means of the open-hearth steel process, with which the name of Sir William Siemens will always be connected. The quick-firing machine guns are known by the names of their inventors, as the Gardner, Nordenfelt, Maxim, Gatling, and Hotchkiss.
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The Institution of Mechanical Engineers . Nature 36, 114–115 (1887). https://doi.org/10.1038/036114b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/036114b0