12-pounder gun

“ The 18-pounder field-gun makes a most ear-splitting crack for those who stand in front of the battery, and, moreover, the sound seems to come from only a few yards away. The sniper’s bullet will strike the parapet with a resounding crack, followed by the whirr of its passage through the air, and a new-comer might easily imagine that one of our own men had fired from the next traverse. ”

“ The impossibility lies in the marksman and in human vision.
In comparing the effects of rifles, then, we shall suppose them, as in government trials and long-range shooting-matches, to be fired from a "dead rest,"—the only way in which the absolute power of a rifle can be shown. First, for the gun itself. There are two laws of gunnery which must be kept in sight in comparing the results of such trials:—1st, that the shape and material of two missiles being the same, the heavier will range the farther, because in proportion to its momentum it meets less resistance from the atmosphere ”

“ The old, smooth-bore field-guns of the enemy would be completely disabled before they could be brought within cannon-shot of the ten thousand. As soon as the enemy came within rifle range, the ten thousand would open on them with their thousand automatic machine-guns and magazine-rifles. As an automatic machine-gun fires at the rate of 600 shots a minute, a thousand would fire at the rate of 600,000 shots a minute. The magazine shoulder-rifles would fire aimed shots at the rate of twenty-five a minute, and the quick-firing field-guns would each fire shrapnel at the rate of forty a minute. ”

“ The superiority of gunpowder guns as a means of throwing projectiles to great distances with accuracy is well known, and their capacity for safely and efficiently projecting shells filled with gunpowder has long been demonstrated. It was obvious that as the superior destructive power of dynamite, gun cotton, and other high explosives became known and their commercial manufacture was assured, attempts would be made to employ them as bursting charges for shells. ”

“ This accuracy may be obtained to 30 or 40 yards provided that the bullet is sufficiently large to enter the chamber, but a size too large for the muzzle. It will accordingly squeeze its way through without the slightest windage, and will shoot with great precision, with a charge of 4 1/2 drams of powder and a ball of pure soft lead. A No. 12 is exceedingly powerful, and if 7 lbs. in weight, it can be fired with one hand like a pistol. This is an immense advantage, as the shooter can hold tight by the howdah rail with his left hand, while he uses his gun with the right. ”

“ Holding a thirty-two-calibre pistol in his right hand and aiming it at the target, Kennedy picked up a large piece of coarse homespun from the table and held it loosely over the muzzle of the gun. Then he fired. The bullet tore through the cloth, sped through the air, and buried itself in the target. With a knife he pried it out.
"I doubt if even the inspector himself could have told us that when an ordinary leaden bullet is shot through a woven fabric the weave of the fabric is in the majority of cases impressed on the bullet, sometimes clearly, sometimes faintly." ”

“ Modern machine-guns and quick-firing guns, with bullets and shrapnel and canister, are so deadly that troops in mass form cannot live for a minute in front of them, but as opposing armies with modern war machinery line up at the present greater tactical distances, and throw out their men in long-extended battle-lines, and spread them over correspondingly wide areas, the fight becomes one largely of gun against gun, engine against engine, with the result that not nearly so many lives are lost as there would be if the fighting were done by hand, and hand to hand, in close order. ”

“ And yet, we make absolutely no effort to keep deadly weapons out of dangerous hands. We do attempt to forbid their concealment. Practically this attempt is a failure and, in effect, we permit men to carry deadly weapons which may be successfully concealed until the very moment they are brought into use.
A great deal of the lurid literature has grown up around the pistol. The cowboy with his gun play has always been an attractive character in fiction. No doubt there is a time in the pioneer life of a community when there seems to be some excuse for the use of the revolver. ”

“ The spin of the bullet keeps its nose pointing forward. If it were not for the rifling, the bullet would tumble over and over, every which way, and it could not go very far through the air, to say nothing of penetrating steel armor. To gain the spinning-motion the bullet must fit into the barrel snugly enough to squeeze into the spiral grooves. Now there is another American machine-gun known as the Hotchkiss, which was used to a considerable extent by the French Army. It is a gas-operated gun, something like the Colt, and it is air-cooled. ”

“ No matter how perfect the gun, men, in the heat and excitement of battle, will hardly be deliberate in aim, or effective enough in firing to stop a charge of determined men; the bayonet, with the most of mankind, will always be the queen of weapons in a pitched battle; only for skirmishing, for sharp-shooting, and artillery, will the rifle equal theoretical expectations. Men, not brought up from boyhood to such constant use of the rifle as to make sure aim an act of instinct with them, will never repel with certainty a charge of the bayonet by rifle-balls. ”

“ The men handling the “Betsy Baker” having run out of ammunition, a messenger was hastily despatched to the boats for more and returned on a run with several bags of bullets. One of these was stuffed into the muzzle and the little gun was trained on the Malays who occupied every foot of the aerial retreat. When the smoke cleared away it was seen that the bag of bullets, fired at such close range, had created awful havoc among the defenders, for dead and dying men were scattered everywhere. ”

“ An Adirondack hunter would not thank the best English rifle-maker for one of his guns any more warmly than a sea-captain in want of a chronometer would thank his owners for a Swiss lepine watch.
The gun which we thus eulogize we shall describe, and compare the results which its use shows with those shown by the other known varieties of rifle, and this without any consideration of the powers of American marksmen as compared with European. The world is full of fables of shooting-exploits as absurd as those told of Robin Hood. ”

“ The rising sound of the reports told plainly of the swinging muzzle, and officers and men dropped flat in the mud and waited till the sweeping bullets had passed over their heads. Men may work on and 'chance it' against rifle fire alone, but the sweep of a machine-gun is beyond chance, and very near to the certainty of sudden death to all in the circle of its swing. ”

“ During the last few days the enemy have brought into action from a position within three miles of us a 6-inch gun throwing a 100-lb. shell, which is setting fire to our buildings and is daily causing death among the population. As you are aware, the military guns here are totally inadequate to cope with this new gun. The only weapon which gives any help is one of local manufacture. Under these circumstances, as representing this community, we feel that we are justified in asking whether you have any immediate intention of instructing your troops to advance to our relief. ”

“ The groans of the wounded and dying on the battle-field, and the lamentations in the desolated home, are music to the ears of those who supply the war-materials; for, with every shot from a rifle, fifty grains of gunpowder are burned, while bullets enough miss their mark to equal the weight of each man they kill. Consequently, there is substantial profit to the cartridge-maker and the gunpowder-manufacturer for every man killed with a rifle ball.
But it is in shrapnel and the ammunition for the big guns that the greatest profit lies. ”

“ Gunpowder, though astonishing in its effect, and tremendous in power, may nevertheless be controlled within a limited sphere, and bounds put upon its destructive energy. The following curious experiment, first tried at Woolwich on a small scale, has since been carried out to a great extent. Screw into each end of the breech part of a gun-barrel a well-fitted plug; drill a communication, and put in a nipple; having filled the barrel with powder, screw in the breech, and fire a cap on it, and the [48] explosive fluid will escape by the small orifice like steam from a pipe. ”

“ We believe that the generality of gunpowder used by our Government is vastly inferior in strength to some made by private makers; yet it is not advisable to jump from one extreme to another. What is wanted is the proper blending of the qualities; an addition of a quantity of Harvey’s quick powder to a charge, when it has driven the ball up three-fourths of the tube of a gun, and probably had acquired a velocity of 2,000 feet per second, might so aid it, that it would leave the muzzle with a velocity of 3,000. ”

“ Most of their guns were out of action, their ammunition was nearly all expended, they were under a rifle fire that scourged the guns with whips of steel and lead, that cut down any man who moved from the shelter of his gun’s shield. Such guns as were left, such men as could move, continued to fire as best they might at ranges that kept getting still shorter and shorter. ”

“ After the explosive preparation is ready for use, the smallest portion explodes when struck on an anvil with a hammer, like fulminating-powder; when kindled with a glowing body, it takes fire just like gunpowder; and, when used in a gun, its operation, though in a far greater proportion to its weight, is similar to that of gunpowder. Gun cotton is employed in the same manner as gunpowder: a piece of it is rammed down the barrel, then a bit of wadding, and after that a ball; a copper cap ignites and explodes the cotton. ”

“ Beware of the muzzle of the gun being kept hanging downwards; when so carried, the shot is apt to force its way from the powder, especially in clean barrels; if it happens that a space of sixteen or eighteen inches is thus obtained, and the gun fired with its point below the horizon, it is ten to one but the barrel bursts. There are other perilous consequences besides those that generally accompany the disruption of a barrel, for the men, horses, and dogs, are in perpetual danger of being shot when a gun is carried in the before-mentioned pendent manner. ”

“ No one would think of hunting quail, ducks, or rabbits with a rifle, and even if you were an excellent rifle shot at a still mark you might not be able to hit moving game at all. A shot-gun is less dangerous for the reason that its range is limited to a little over a hundred yards, while a rifle may carry a mile. A cheap shot-gun is far more dangerous than a cheap rifle. Until it is possible to buy a good one it is better to have none at all. A good American-made gun can be bought for about twenty-five dollars. A gun suitable for its owner should fit just as his clothing fits him. ”

“ Old guns which have been laid by will not uncommonly be found spiked, by having a common nail driven into the vent. If efficient tools are at hand this may be drilled out, if not, put a charge of powder in the gun, bore a gimlet hole in one of your wooden wads, through which pass a loosely-twisted string well impregnated with dissolved gunpowder, and afterwards dried. Cut the end of your prepared string just at the muzzle of the gun, light it, and get out of the way, when the explosion, which soon takes place, will not unfrequently expel the spike. ”

“ Never, under any circumstances, point a gun at any one, whether loaded or not, whither in pieces or ready for use. If it is never pointed at any one, it cannot very well kill or wound any one. In like manner you can never succeed in shooting yourself unless you have already pointed the muzzle at yourself. I have seen many a crack shot and old-time sportsman shudder as he saw a green hand hold up the detached barrel of a shot-gun while cleaning it, and point it at some one. ”

“ We have before observed, that, with very short guns, fine gunpowder produces the greatest result, inasmuch as there is no greater column of air in the barrel than the explosive fluid is equal to displace; or, in other words, the charge leaving the muzzle of the gun at the very moment when the explosive force is strongest, all the power is thus obtained of which it is capable ”

“ It's the kind of accident ye read about in almost any paper ye pick up in any part of the world, and I'd make a bet with ye that the weapon the other fellow 'didn't know was loaded' since the invention of gun-powder has caused more deaths and serious accidents than have the aimed shots in actual warfare. ”

“ In former days, when daggers only were used, a man avoided a stronger foe, and waited for a chance to stab him in the back. But guns are now so common that any man with a grievance finds it easy to take the life of an enemy. Guns are seen everywhere. The shepherd guards his flock with a gun on his back; the travelling pedlar slings one over his shoulder; the driver of the diligence would as soon forget his whip as his gun. Small boys save up the odd coppers that they can earn or beg in the big towns, and carefully hoard them till they can afford to buy a gun, or at least a pistol. ”