Ordnance

(õrd'nănz.) (Mil.) Aname applied to the guns and munitions of an army generally, and in particular to the great guns. Descriptions of the various sorts of O. will be found under CANNON, MORTAR, RIFLE, . We therefore purpose to confine ourselves in this article to a description of the Gatling battery-gun, which is the type from which has sprung the French Mitrailleuse, first introduced into practical use in the Franco Pru ian war (1870-1), and now adopted with modifications by several other European powers. The Battery gun or American mitrailleuse, invented and lately perfected by Richard Jordan Gatling (born in North Carolina, 1818), consists (Fig. 508) of10 barrels (the French, Belgian, and Italian mitrailleuses have 37 barrels) in combination with a grooved carrier and lock-cylinder. All these several parts are rigidly secured upon a main shaft. There are as many grooves in the carrier and as many holes in the lock-cylinder as there are barrels. Each barrel is furnished with one lock, so that a gun with ten barrels has ten locks. The locks work in the shots formed in the lock-cylinder parallel to the axes of the barrels. The lock-cylinder, which contains the locks, is surrounded by a casing which is fastened to a frame, to which trunnions are attached. There is a partition in the casing, through which there is an opening, and into which the main shaft, which carries the lock-cylinder, carrier, and barrels, is journaled. The main shaft is also, at its front end, journaled in the front part of the frame. In front of the partition, in the casing, is placed a cam, provided with screw surfaces. This cam is rigidly fastened to the casing, and is used to impart a reciprocating motion to the locks when the gun is revolved. There is also, in the front part of the casing, a cocking-ring, which surrounds the lock-cylinder, is attached to the casing, and has on its rear surface an inclined plane with an abrupt shoulder. This ring and its projection are used for cocking and firing the gun. This ring, the spiral cam, and the locks Fig. 508.-THE AMERICAN MITRAILLEUSE. make up the loading and firing mechanism. On the rear end of the main shaft, in the rear of the partition in the casing, is located agear-wheel, which works to a pinion on the crank-shaft. The rear of the casing is closed by the cas cable plate. There is hinged to the frame in front of the breech-casing a curved plate, covering partially the grooved carrier, in which is formed an opening through which the cartridges are ſed to tho gun from feed-drums. The frame which supports the gun is mounted upon the carriage used for the transportation of the gun. The operation of the gun is very simple. One of the feed-drums filled with cartridges is placed upon the gun as shown in the engraving; aman then turns the crank, which, by the agency of the gearing, revolves the main shaft, carrying with it the lock cylinder, carrier, barrels, and locks. As the gun is revolved, the cartridges, one by one, drop into the grooves of the carrier from the feed-cases, and instantly the lock, by its impingement on the spiral cam surfaces, moves forward, pushes the cartridge into the chamber, and when the butt end of the lock gets on the highest projection of the cam, the charge is fired, through the agency of the cocking device, which at this point liberates the lock, spring, and hammer, and explodes the cartridge. As soon as the charge is fired, the lock, as the gun is revolved, is drawn back by the agency of the screw surface in the cam acting on a lug of the lock, bringing with it the shell of the cartridge after it has been fired, which is dropped on the ground. Thus, it will be seen, when the gun is revolved, the locks in rapid succe ion move forward to load and fire, and return to extract the cartridge-shells. In other words, the whole operation of loading, closing the breech, discharging, and expelling the empty cartridge-shells, is conducted while the barrels are kept in continuous revolving movement. It must be borne in mind that while the locks revolve with the barrels, they have also, in their line of travel, a spiral reciprocating movement; that is, each lock revolves once and moves forward and back, at each revolution of the gun. The feed-drum has been lately applied to the gun by Mr. S. W. Broad well. It takes the place of the feed-cases previously used. The feed-drum is a cylinder, containing four hundred cartridges, and by its use, four hundred shots can be fired, one man only being required to work the gun -that is, to attend to the feed and turn the crank -and all of these shots can be fired in one minute. The ammunition is carried in the drums, and as soon as one is emptied, it is removed and replaced by a full one, the change only requiring a few seconds. At the great trial made at Shoe bury ne , England, Sept., 1870, the smaller improved Gatling gun, with ab ore of about 34 of an inch, throw three-ounce ball sto a distance of 2,100 yards, making no le than 165 hits in 2 minutes, out of 348 fired. [s. 667] IMG:p0712_0.jpg:Gravür