Show BIG GUN GUNS the recent trials with the 81 ton gu gun n as de described 3 cr 1 bed 1 in n our co columns 1 u 9 will have given our readers some idea of the power of modern artillery iery lery yet it is not easy to form an att adequate conception of the enormous forces thus set sot in operation the ignition of three barrels of bf powder in the chamber of a gun Is productive of an explosion which might be expected to prove altogether uncontrollable but which is nevertheless employed to propel a ponderous on derous projectile along a rifled eore ioro bore the whole operation being conducted with all the nicety of scientific experiment the shot Is made to rotate ns us it proceeds and is sent ort out of the gun like a buirel fram arb m a i rw Is a distinct measurement of the vela city with which the tnie shot flieg as the pressure which the exploded powder exerts in the gun A pre pressure sure of twenty two or twenty three tons on the square inch Is not readily to be comprehended if a bar of iron an inch square were to be placed so as to rest upright on an iron plate this bar would have to be continued upwards for nearly two miles and three quarters before its entire length exercised a pressure of twenty two tons on the square inch of plate there is another way of looking at the fact which is worth notice taking the pressure of lot the powder gas as between twenty two and twenty three tons I 1 on the square inch the base of the poj boj pol projectile e atile in the 15 inch gun will receive a total pressure of nearly tous tons accordingly if the gun was fitted with a pis piston ton like a steam cylinder landwere and were placed with its muzzle muzzie upwards in a vertical position it W would be capable so far as mere force ia Is concerned of lifting such much a vessel as the houer hover an iron ton tor corvette completely out of fhe the he water the ship h haying vi RA all her engines guns stores and men on board pretty nearly the a ame m e t thing h i D could be done with the R ons a 1 A adelaide d glaide the pall datt pallas be readily lifted aft after erthe the mine frame fashion suppo supposing slug sing the po power could be brought bobear to bear or the entire armor of the inflexible weighing tons cou could id be heaved upwards two of the 81 ton guns guna could very nearly lift tho thu Hercule hercules 8 with all her weights on board three of these guns could lift the inflexible herself with her full fuli load hence we may say that the thel four guns guna which this will carry are tre capable of running away i with her big and abd weighty as she may maybe be of course our guns are intended nt merely to look big and make a noise but to perform certain work whenever it may be required what the 81 ton gun can do against 6 an armed target has not yet been practically demonstrated but some somo important results have been achieved with therun which so far fay as woolwich cli cil is concerned come next below it in magnitude and to these we would invite at te ution thas as a matter of fact thess hasben hassen has sent t its tile through the following combination A 12 inch luch plate an B inch pt plate te six ax inches 0 of lemk leak and two inches into a five inch plate or altogether ait alt oether more than twenty inches of iron and six of teak in another instance the projectile was sent through a target built up lu the following manner A 4 inch plate an 8 inch plate six inches of teak a 5 inch plate six inches of teak and an inner Inn erskin skin with angle iron irons making ul together altogether 18 inches of iron and 12 inches of teak granting that this casdone was done at close quarters still it ia is a wonderful performance for mance for a gun of 38 ton tona weight I 1 all that herr heri krupp kas has done towards the armor ef the inflexible has been to t 0 send sen een a a projectile through IS 18 luches of 0 iron a and nd hix nix of teak this was ce certainly ertain effected at a range of more than a mile but on the other hand the ii krupp rupp gun weighed 56 tons or half as much more as the woold woolwich leh ieh gun to which we have just referred an ab attempt has been made to show that the krupp gun ef of 56 0 tons tops is superior to aho tho fraser gun ef of 81 tons but this blew vew was evidently based on an erroneous assumption the krupp gun has developed an energy of rather less than tons whereas the 81 ton gun has ha very nearly reached tons and will in all probability considerably exceed that point before the exp eap experiments eri erl ments are at an end the novel expedient of d enlarging the powder chamber of the big muzzle loader is fit now being effected and in id another month we may see hie tie heme nome M e yet higher results 1 1 I he powder chamber we believe will undergo a an n enlargement to the extent of one inch in its diameter thus making it sixteen inches while the diameter of the boro bore where retho rethe the thu shot abor travels will still remain at flate fifteen ri inches when the gun appears in this thia bew new form forni it will be capable cabbie of taking ga a larger charge of powder poder and if the preg pressure sure does not prove too great we may see its pre eaf enormous cartridge enlarged by another half halt barrel so as to make up a total of pounds of powder even if so high a point as this be I 1 not reached we may expect to see bee ee a 1 material advance in the force of ithe the projectile much interest at lachus laches to the progress rp ess which is bel ib moli g lare ma ther at eds ETs I 1 iw wrel waal I 1 W 11 nytta shw e I 1 loo 00 ton guns gung intended for the italian navy I 1 the rifling of the first ot of aliese these enor enormous moun weapons is going steadily forward but is necessarily harily a long iong process in a few weeks wo we may ex expect act to hear that the huge piece is on its ita way to espezzia on board the large italian transport the europa isu JSu topa ropa the length of this gun is thirty two feet with a diameter of six feet and a half the caliber being seventeen inches and the rifling uniform on the system the projectile is fa to weigh 2000 pounds and will be propelled by pounds of powder an immense pontoon has been designed by sir W armstrong angs firm nirm and will be used for floating and nd firing the gun in ili italian waters the arran arrangements geme ants are such as to test not only the gun but also the hydraulic machinery provided for working i it As the guns when on board bo ard ship will be fired in turrets very little room will be allowed for their recoil the hydraulic presses chare to receive the shock will we believe only allow the gun to recede something like two feet the strain must be tremendous and there is obviously as much need to prove the machinery as the gun concerning the qualities of the gun there can be no doubt that they will be such as to ti sustain the reputation which sir WA W armstrong has long possess possessed td a as an artillerist the relative merits of df the woolwich and the elswick monsters will be a matter of some interest but the real contest is with the krupp for the present we cannot see that essen esben Is gaining any victory or is doing anything more than producing good guns ata at a greatcoat great cost por for safety nothing can compete with the guns that are produced at woolwich and elswick El swick awick and un question unquestionably ibi ibl this is a consideration to which great weight must be att attached abbed the breech loading question oti is losing its importance daily though considerable efforts are made to press iton it on theno the notice tipe of the public london standard standards |