Quick-firing gun

“ The firing mechanism of the machine gun has always an automatic character, but the rifle has acquired this feature, so that it cannot be made a distinguishing mark: on the other hand, since machine guns have been made to discharge projectiles of such weights as 1 lb. or 3 lb. there is nothing to separate them from quick-firing ordnance unless it be the automatic firing. ”

“ It is difficult to say what will be the further development of quick-firing guns. One thing seems to me probable, that all charges will be contained in copper cylinders, instead of being enveloped in silk cloth, by which moisture will be excluded, and the explosive guarded against rough usage. [2] Greater rapidity of fire with heavy ordnance then becomes more dependent upon improved training and practice than small details of mechanism in the guns. ”

“ The base of rapid-fire work is the bringing together in one cartridge of the primer, powder, and shell. When the limit of weight of cartridge, easily handled by one man, is reached, the limit of rapid-fire action is also reached; and, although the quick-moving breech mechanisms have been applied abroad to guns of as large as eight-inch caliber, such guns would rank as quick, rather than rapid firing, and would require powder and shot to be loaded separately. ”

“ Each barrel has its own breech-plug, striker, spring, and extractor, and each fires independently of the rest, so that all are not out of action together. The gun has a swivelled mount easily elevated and trained, and the steel frames take up the force of the discharge. In rapid firing one gunner [Pg 99] can work the firing-handle while another lays and alters the direction. The firing is operated by a lever working backwards and forwards by hand, and the gun can be discharged at the rate of 600 rounds per minute. ”

“ Guns of this class are capable of firing service small-arm ammunition at the rate of 800 shots in one minute, but this very high rate of fire is obviously undesirable for several reasons—the principal, from a military point of view, being that, however skilfully the gun is handled, a great waste of ammunition must ensue, and hundreds of shots be wasted in space, however accurate the fire. ”

“ In delivering a rapid fire, the soldier must keep his eyes fixed upon the mark and, after each shot, begin a steadily increasing pressure on the trigger, trying at the same time to get the sights as nearly on the mark as possible before the hammer again falls. The great difficulty in quick firing with the pistol lies in the fact that when the front sight is brought upon the mark, the rear sight is often found to be outside the line joining the eye with the mark. This tendency to hold the pistol obliquely can be overcome only by a uniform manner of holding and pointing. ”

“ A smooth-bore gun is much easier to use than a rifle from a howdah, as it is unnecessary to squint along the sight, but the shot is taken at once with the rapidity usual in ordinary shooting at flying objects. Care must be taken, when firing only with one hand, that the wrist should be turned to the left, so that the hammers of the gun are lying over in that direction instead of being erect. ”

“ Many patents have already been taken out for rifles on this principle, and several patterns have actually been constructed, in which a merely momentary contact of the breech-piece with the end of the barrel is sufficient; the recoil of the barrel with the reaction of a spring performs all the requisite movements with such rapidity that an amazing speed of firing has been obtained. It is said that such an automatic gun can send forth bullets at a perfectly amazing rate. ”

“ If within three, four or five inches from the muzzle, the portion so destroyed can be sawed off, the barrels squared up and it will not always seriously affect the shooting of the gun.
In loading a gun be careful that there be no air space left between the charge and the ball or shot cartridge. In double guns, frequent firing the right [138] barrel, which is the one fired the most, the recoil will often cause the ball or shot charge in the left barrel to be thrown forward from the powder, and when it is fired may either strain or burst the barrel. ”

“ There are several other types of machine guns, but the most ingenious, and perhaps the most effective, is the Maxim automatic gun. This has a single barrel, about two thirds of which, from the muzzle towards the breech, is surrounded by a water-jacket into which water is automatically injected at each discharge, thus rendering overheating impossible. The mechanism for operating the gun is at the breech, covering the remaining third of the barrel. All that is necessary is to draw back the trigger to fire the first shot ”

“ The automatic rifle is a light machine gun. In appearance it resembles an ordinary service rifle, with rather a complicated and swollen-looking magazine. It is not water-cooled like the machine-gun, but air-cooled, and is therefore not absolutely reliable for long usage, as it inevitably becomes heated after much firing. It will fire, however, up to 300 odd shots a minute, and can be regarded as the ideal weapon for beating down German machine-gun fire and checking the advance of bombers while the heavier but more reliable machine-guns are coming up. ”

“ There has never been anything like so many guns used in battle, and never have they been capable of such rapid fire. The field gun can fire consistently eight or ten shots a minute, thanks to its modern recoil cylinder and to the steadiness of aim, and literally establish a "curtain of fire" with its torrent of bullets shot down from the air and the cataracts of earth shot up by the bursting of high-explosive shells in the ground, which no infantry can pass. ”

“ Within effective range, however, machine guns, if concealed, should inflict considerable loss on hostile artillery. Engagements with their lines of skirmishers should be avoided, for the risk of disclosing the position of the guns and the heavy expenditure of ammunition involved will rarely be justified by results. Since the gun is not well adapted for keeping up protracted fire, it may be often expedient to withdraw it from action, move it elsewhere, or hold it in reserve for a more favourable opportunity. ”

“ These were, that they should be fired off-hand, while the shot-guns were allowed a rest, the distance being equal; or that the distance should be one hundred yards for a rifle, to sixty for the shot-gun, the mode of firing being equal.
But this was a match of rifles exclusively; and these are by far the most common at this time. [Pg 673]
Most of the competitors fire at the same target; which is usually a board from nine inches to a foot wide, charred on one side as black as it can be made by fire, without impairing materially the uniformity of its surface ”

“ The gun’s narrow frontage in action renders it easy to conceal, and when discovered it presents a very small and difficult target to the enemy’s riflemen; on the other hand, when once discovered if it cannot be moved unseen to another position it is liable to suffer a prolonged and concentrated fire from the widely scattered riflemen of the enemy, to which it cannot effectively reply, and which must in time cause loss. Again, its range being limited, it is powerless against artillery except under special circumstances at effective rifle range. ”

“ A ruse that may sometimes be successful where guns are really well concealed is to bring up the gun horses and retire at a gallop by a pre-arranged signal all along the position, but leaving one gun of each section still in position but flat on the ground, where it will be completely concealed even from glasses. This is almost certain to draw a hot pursuit, especially if the artillery and infantry have retired previously, and if fire is reserved till close range a severe check may be administered to the enemy. “Skilfully laid ambushes will cause the enemy to move with caution in pursuit.” ”

“ Rapid firing is not always an advantage, of course, but when after ducks, the third shot is often wanted in the interval that is required to load the double-barreled gun.
The Shells are Started About One-Quarter Inch in the Regular Way Before the Ejector Kicks Them Out
The automatic, or self-loading, shotgun is the logical development of the repeater, and while its mechanism is necessarily more complicated, it has some merits peculiarly its own. ”

“ The rate of fire of the Maxim gun is 600 rounds per minute. Deliberate fire means about 70 rounds per minute; rapid fire will explode 450 rounds in the same time. As the barrel becomes very hot in use the barrel-casing contains seven pints of water to keep it cool. About 2000 rounds can be fired at short intervals; but in continuous firing the water boils after some 600 rounds, and needs replenishing after about 1000. A valved tube allows steam, but not water to escape.
The operator works this gun by pressing a firing-lever or button. ”

“ Although both guns will fire together before the collision, their subsequent action must be made in mutual support, one gun firing while the other races to a new position from which it can overtake and flank the retiring enemy, so that, if possible, one gun is always firing at effective range while the other is moving. ”

“ The machine gun, on the other hand, is unaffected by even 50 per cent. of loss, while it can suffer 80 per cent. of loss without diminishing its fire effect, though such a loss would of course cause it to lose its mobility and seriously affect the morale of the gunners. A machine-gun detachment consists of from 16 to 24 men, but only two of them actually work the gun, and one man alone can fire the gun once it is in action, the second man merely assisting him with the ammunition, etc., but he is not absolutely necessary to the firing of the gun. ”

“ They may also be used to reinforce threatened points, when their mobility will enable them to arrive at a distant part of the battlefield with the rapidity of cavalry. They should rarely be used in the firing line, where their fire, being dispersed, is less effective than an equal volume of rifle fire, and where they are at once the target for every rifle. Machine guns can never engage artillery, and should avoid engaging other machine guns or firing on a line of skirmishers. ”

“ At the decisive stage of the attack, fire of the greatest intensity should be continued as long as is compatible with the safety of the advancing firing line. In the event of the attack succeeding, the guns should be pushed forward at once in order to pursue the retreating enemy with their fire. In the event of failure, every effort should be made to cover the retirement of the firing line. They will assist in repelling counter-attacks to which the firing line may suddenly become exposed, and in the protection of the flanks against cavalry or counterstroke. ”

“ The rapid-firing gun which has since been introduced is now a formidable weapon; but it may be questioned whether its effects upon the unarmored portions of modern war-ships would be so serious as those resulting from the shell-fire of heavier guns, and therefore it cannot with certainty be concluded that it would be advantageous to make arrangements for keeping out the projectiles from the rapid-firing guns now in use at the ends of the Admiral class. ”

“ When the object is to kill the greatest number possible, they are permitted to alight among the stools and collect together before the gun is fired; then the first discharge is followed rapidly by the second, which tears among their thinned ranks as they rise; and, if there be a second gun, by the third and fourth barrel, till frequently all are killed. The scientific and sportsmanlike mode is to fire before they alight, selecting two or three together and firing at the foremost. ”

“ It first must be understood that all modern guns on ships-of-war are breech-loading and rifled, and that the smooth bore exists only as a relic, or to be brought out in an emergency for coast defense, when modern guns are not available. From the thirteen-inch down to the four-inch, the guns are designated by their caliber, the diameter of their bore, and the shot they throw, while from that to the one-pounder they take their name from the weight of the shot. Everything below the one-pounder is in the machine-gun class. ”

“ This will give a feeling of confidence, and if need be help to check a counter-attack. When advancing under fire, it is often a good plan to move one gun at a time. Battery commanders report good results when firing at long ranges—that is, between 1,200 and 1,800 metres. One thousand five hundred shots per gun is the greatest number I heard of being fired in one hour. These guns were sometimes attached to outposts. The loss among men serving machine guns is usually great, and this requires that a large number be trained [262] in each regiment to use them. ”

“ On land a rigid carriage is used. This carriage has a spade at the end of the trail, which is forced into the ground by the recoil and holds the gun and carriage in place. The principal rapid-fire guns are the Hotchkiss, Driggs-Schroeder, Nordenfelt, Krupp, Canet, and Armstrong, which fire from five to ten shots a minute, and use either shell or shrapnel. Experiments are now being made in different armies with a view to adopting rapid-fire guns for field artillery. ”

“ Their power of all-round traversing and their great effect against deep targets make machine guns specially suitable for position on a flank, whence they can bring enfilade fire to bear. A position in the firing line is rarely suitable, as the fire of the guns may be masked and the enemy’s fire drawn on the firing line. ”