Artillery projectile

“ The retardation caused by forcing the oil in the piston rod out through the small clearance between the buffer and bore of the piston rod eases the return to battery without jar to the gun, which has been forced back by the counter recoil springs.
The physical law that action and reaction are equal has a peculiar emphasis when applied to the firing of a piece of high powered artillery. The force exerted to throw a heavy projectile 7 miles or more from the muzzle of the gun is toward the breech of the weapon in its recoil. ”

“ This gun is provided with various kinds of projectiles, the ones usually carried being shell, shrapnel and cannister, and are known as Krupp prepared ammunition, which can be used in the same manner as an ordinary rifle cartridge. The shrapnel for this, as well as all field guns, is the projectile mainly depended upon, and like all field guns, the main work for them is to fire at the personnel of the enemy.
It is a common error amongst military men and others not well versed in the use of Artillery, to suppose that a field gun is intended for the purpose of making breaches in walls. ”

“ It is well known that, with the most powerful pieces of artillery that can be forged, a projectile can be launched with a speed of about half a mile per second. If the cannon were pointed vertically upwards the projectile would soar to a great elevation, but its speed would gradually abate, the summit of its journey would be duly reached, after which it would fall back again on the earth. ”

“ With all muzzle-loading rifles, the projectile had to be pushed close home to the powder charge; otherwise, the blast would not fully expand its rotating band, the projectile would not take the grooves, and would "tumble" after leaving the gun, to the utter loss of range and accuracy. Incidentally, gunners had to "run out" (push the gun into firing position) both smoothbore and rifled muzzle-loaders carefully. A sudden stop might make the shot start forward as much as 2 feet. ”

“ In taking up the study of materiel, the Field Artillery student should know something of the history and development of ordnance and the reasons for the various changes which have taken place from time to time.
The sole use of a gun is to throw a projectile. The earliest projectile was a stone thrown by the hand and arm of man—either in an attack upon an enemy or upon a beast that was being hunted for food. ”

“ Both of these uses of thrown projectiles persist to this day, and, during all time, from prehistoric days until the present, every man who has had a missile to throw has steadily sought for a longer range and a heavier projectile.
In ancient times the man who could throw the heaviest stone the longest distance was the most powerfully armed. During the Biblical battle between David and Goliath, the arm of David was strengthened and lengthened by a leather sling of a very simple construction. ”

“ A BATTERY AT CLOSE QUARTERS. Being the Story of the Eleventh Ohio Battery At Iuka and Corinth.
During the Civil War artillery projectiles were divided as to structure into solid, hollow and case shot. The solid shot were intended to batter down walls or heavy obstructions. Hollow projectiles, called shell and shrapnel, were for use against animate objects; to set fire to buildings and destroy lighter obstructions. Under the head of case shot we had grape and canister. Grape shot is no longer used; being superseded by the machine gun. ”

“ The jacket covers the breech end of the gun and extends forward to the center of gravity. Built-up guns of larger caliber have one more layer of hoops in addition to the jacket, one layer of hoops usually extending to the muzzle.
The bore of the tube forms the powder chamber, the seat for the projectile and the rifled bore. Rifling consists of a number of helical grooves cut in the surface of the bore. The soft metal of the rotating band of the projectile is forced into these grooves causing the projectile to take up a rotary motion as it passes through the bore. ”

“ Experiments have been made towards producing a “H.E. shrapnel,” which combines the characteristics of both types (see, for a description, Ammunition) . For the projectiles used in attacking shielded guns, see section on “field howitzers” below. Case shot is now rarely employed. In the war of 1870-71 Prince Kraft von Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, who commanded the Prussian Guard artillery, reported the expenditure of only one round of case, and even that was merely “broken in transport.” The close-quarters projectile of to-day is more usually shrapnel with the fuze set at zero. ”

“ Sabots were sometimes made of paper, too, or of compressed wood chips, to eliminate the danger of a heavy, unbroken sabot falling amongst friendly troops. A big mortar sabot was a lethal projectile in itself!
ROCKETS
Today's rocket projectiles are not exactly new inventions. About the time of artillery's beginning, the military fireworker came into the business of providing pyrotechnic engines of war ”

“ Rifling, by imparting a spin to the projectile as it travels along the spiral grooves in the bore, permits the use of a long projectile and ensures its flight point first, with great increase in accuracy. The longer projectile, being both heavier and more streamlined than round shot of the same caliber, also has a greater striking energy. ”

“ For artillery practice of every kind, whatever the weight of the projectile, gunpowder of a granulation suited to the weight of that projectile is essential, if we would produce the greatest possible effect by the least expenditure of means. ”

“ For this purpose the artillery has at its disposal two types of projectile, common (or rather, high explosive) shell and shrapnel, and two fuzes, “time” and “percussion” (see Ammunition) . The actual process of coming into action may be described in a few words. The gun is, at or near its position in action, “unlimbered” and the gun limber and team sent back under cover. Ammunition for the gun is first taken from the wagon that accompanies it, as it is very desirable to keep the limbers full as long as possible, in case of emergencies such as that of a temporary separation from the wagon. ”

“ Even allowing a liberal deduction for imperfect distribution of bullets, we may feel certain that nothing but shielded guns could live long in the fire-swept zone. This is, of course, a rate of fire which could not be kept up for any length of time by the same battery. A French battery, firing at the maximum rate, would expend every available round in 13 minutes.
33. Projectiles Employed.—“Time shrapnel,” say the German Field Artillery regulations, “is the projectile par excellence ... against all animate targets which are not under cover.” ”

“ The general estimation of the use of cannon in campaigning was for long discredited by reason of the manifold imperfections of the weapons, the frequency of their capture by the enemy, and the dangers attending their discharge; they were for long employed simultaneously with the more ancient projectile engines, and the latter were preferred by many commanders to the former; but the dawn of the sixteenth century saw such manifest improvements that artillery then began to take214 the first place among projectile weapons. The petard was an invention of the Flemings in the sixteenth century. ”

“ If it be required to act as a canister-shot upon an enemy close to the gun, the regulation of the time-fuze must be turned to the zero of the scale, and then the shell will burst on leaving the gun. The Armstrong projectiles for the muzzle-loading guns have rows of brass or copper studs projecting from their sides to tit into the grooves of the gun, which are constructed on the shunt principle. The projectile is made of wrought iron, or low steel, with very thick sides. ”

“ In spite of every precaution at Government proving grounds, big projectiles do sometimes glance out of the butts or heaps of earth into which they are fired, or from the face of armorplates against which they are directed, and finally land in most unexpected quarters.
One day, while a thirteen-inch gun was being tested at Indian Head, a projectile glanced out of the butt, mounted high into the air, and then came down through the roof of a building, where there were engaged a number of officers and book-keepers. ”

“ Rifle projectiles especially are easily deflected from their course in earth, hence their penetration is variable. Unless a shell be very large in proportion to the mass of earth penetrated, its explosion will produce but little displacement,—generally, a small opening is formed around an exploded shell by the action of the gas in pressing back the earth. Time-fuzes, being liable to be extinguished by the pressure of the earth, are inferior to percussion-fuzes, which produce explosion when the projectile has made about three-fourths of its proper penetration. ”

“ The projectiles now in use are solid shot, shells, strap-shot, case or canister-shot, grape-shot, light and fire-balls, carcasses, grenades, and rockets.
Solid shot are now almost invariably made of cast iron, [35] formed in moulds of sand or iron. This projectile is used under almost every circumstance, whether in the battle-field or in the attack and defence of places, and is the only one that is effectual against the stone walls of forts. Hot shot are used against shipping and wooden structures of every description. ”

“ The trajectory of modern rifled guns is so exceedingly flat that the angle of descent of the shot or shell is practically nil. Were the sides of the Royal Sovereign to fall back like those of the Marceau or Magenta, we seriously doubt whether any projectile, however pointed, would effect penetration at all. ”

“ The vent is in the axis of the gun through the block. The gas-check used is the Broadwell ring (which see) . The powder for all the large guns is the prismatic. (See Gunpowder.) Both steel and cast-iron projectiles are used. The steel projectiles for armor piercing have their points water-tempered. Rotation being communicated by compression, the projectiles belong to the soft-jacketed class. The projectile is turned smooth in a lathe, pickled in dilute acid, and then put in sal-ammoniac to remove oil. ”

“ Their object is to scatter bullets about a ship's deck and clear it of men, rather than to sink the ship.
A projectile is useless, provided it is of the solid kind, if it breaks in pieces when it hits its target. The energy of the gun and powder is all used up in breaking itself to pieces. If it passes through armor without injuring itself at all, the full energy of the gun is sent against the target, and the projectile does its complete work. ”

“ The character of the projectile has changed altogether from the old-fashioned round shot to a missile which is in itself a gun, carrying its own exploding charge and small projectiles within itself. The range of the modern gun is limited only by the necessity to make the gun mobile in the field, and by the range of human sight or power to judge the position of the target. ”

“ Previous to an assault, the artillery ought to support the other troops by a combined fire of guns, howitzers, and small mortars, so that, if possible, the fire may be simultaneous, as such a diversity of projectiles would tend to distract the defenders and prevent them from extinguishing any fire among buildings, besides throwing them into confusion at the moment of assault. ”

“ At times their descriptions are so meagre that it is difficult, if not impossible, to decide whether certain projectiles were incendiary or explosive. At other times they abound in tropes and figures of speech which amount to an unintentional suggestio falsi. “The missiles spread themselves abroad like a cloud,” says a Spanish Arab; “they roar like thunder; they flame like a furnace; they reduce everything to ashes.”1 A projectile full of blazing Greek fire appeared to Joinville to be of portentous bulk. ”

“ There are guns in existence which at their maximum elevation will hurl a projectile weighing not far short of three-quarters of a ton a distance of 25 miles, and the projectile itself contains an explosive charge more powerful and destructive than the heaviest charge which could be placed in the heaviest gun which was fought in the Battle of Trafalgar. ”

“ Nevertheless, the first improvement in guns and projectiles that followed the advent of the armor-clad, gave the gun the lead, and the gun has kept the lead ever since.
Today, the long-range, high-power naval gun, charged with smokeless powder, and throwing a projectile made of tempered steel inconceivably tough and hard, and charged with high explosive, is the most powerful dynamic instrument ever produced by man. A 12-inch naval gun throws a projectile weighing half a ton, at a velocity nearly three times the speed of sound. ”

“ There is much more secrecy in the way the projectiles are made. In fact, so secret is the process by which these enormous bullets are made that not even the naval officers, who are stationed at the factories where they are produced to see that each projectile answers the requirements, are allowed to witness the process of manufacture. The naval officers are not supposed to know what goes into the make-up of these bits of steel, except in a general way, nor how they are hardened so that they may pierce thick plates of toughened steel. ”

“ The shock to the explosive is, of course, greater than in the full-sized projectile, but the increase can be calculated, and so far a dangerous limit has not been reached. From the fifteen-inch gun with a pressure of 1,000 pounds per square inch and a velocity of about 800 f.s., a range of 4,000 yards has been obtained at an elevation of 30° 20, with a ten-inch subcalibered projectile, about eight calibers long and weighing 500 pounds. ”