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PNEUMATIC GUN

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 868 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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PNEUMATIC See also:

GUN

GUN . See also:

Air as a propellant has in See also:

RECENT

recent years been applied to guns of large calibre, in which its comparatively See also:

GENTLE (through the Fr. gentil, from Lat. gentilis, belonging to the same gens, or family)

gentle See also:

ACTION

action has proved advantageous when high See also:

EXPLOSIVES

explosives contained in their shells are employed as projectiles. In 1883 Mr Mefford of See also:

OHIO

Ohio utilized an air pressure of 500 lb per sq. in. in a 2-in. gun, and succeeded in propelling a projectile --2100 yds. The arrangement was of the simplest See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form—a See also:

HOSE (a word common to many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch, hoes, stocking, Ger. Hose, breeches, tights; the ultimate origin is unknown)

hose with an See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary See also:

COCK, EDWARD (1805-1892)

cock by which the air was admitted into the gun behind the projectile. The question was then taken up by Capt. E. L. Zalinski (1849–1909) of the See also:

UNITED

United States See also:

ARTILLERY (the O. Fr. artiller, to equip with engines of war, probably comes from Late Lat. articulum, dim. of ars, art, cf. " engine " from ingenium, or of artus, joint)

Artillery, who in 1888 reduced the so-called " See also:

DYNAMITE (Gr. S6eaµis, power)

dynamite gun " to a See also:

PRACTICAL

practical shape and obtained excellent firing results. The See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal features of his See also:

SYSTEM

system are: (1) An extremely ingenious balanced See also:

VALVE (Lat. valva, a leaf of a double or folding door, allied to volvere, to roll, as of a door on its hinges)

valve admitting the air pressure into the gun. This valve is opened and closed by a See also:

SIMPLE

simple See also:

MOVEMENT

movement of the firing See also:

lever, and is capable of See also:

ADJUSTMENT (from late Lat. ad juxtare, derived from juxta, near, but early confounded with a supposed derivation from justus, right)

adjustment so that the propelling force, Dynamite gun, mounted at Sandy See also:

Hook, New See also:

York See also:

HARBOUR (from M.E. hereberge, here, an army; cf. Ger. Heer and -beorg, protection or shelter. Other early forms in English were herberwe and haiborow, as seen in various place names, such as Market Harborough.. The French auberge, an inn, derived through

Harbour. and consequently the range, can be regulated. (2) A See also:

LIGHT

light See also:

STEEL, FLORA ANNIE (1847– )

steel projectile carrying the bursting See also:

charge, and provided with a tail to which vanes are attached in See also:

order to give rotation.

(3) Electric fuses of entirely See also:

ORIGINAL

original See also:

DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design. Each See also:

shell carries a wet See also:

BATTERY (Fr. batterie, from battles, to beat)

battery, the current from which fires the charge on impact with any solid See also:

OBJECT

object, and a dry battery which becomes active after the shell has dived below the See also:

SURFACE

surface of the See also:

WATER

water, and ignites the charge after delay capable of regulation. For safety all the electric circuits are made to pass through a disconnector, which prevents them from being completed until the shell has been fired. The gun is a built-up smooth-See also:

BORE

bore See also:

TUBE (Lat. tuba)

tube, 15 in. or less in See also:

DIAMETER (from the Cr. &a, through, µErpov, measure)

diameter. The full-calibre shell weighs l000 •lb, and carries a bursting charge of 600 lb of See also:

BLASTING

blasting gelatine, cut into the form of cheeses, fitting the steel envelope, and provided with a core of dry gun-See also:

cotton as a primer. See also:

CUSHION (from O. Fr. coisson, coussin; according to the New English Dict., from Lat. coxa, a hip; others say from Lat. culcita, a quilt)

cushion and is brought to See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest without injury or See also:

SHOCK, or COLLAPSE

shock. The Sub-calibre projectiles, 10 in. and 8 in., can also be used. In their cy See also:

case. rotation is given by vanes or fins attached to the See also:

BODY

body of the See also:

CARRIERS

carriers are thin steel cylinders closed at the front end by a shell. Air at moo lb pressure is stored in tubes See also:

close to the gun, See also:

CONVEX

convex disk of the same material carrying a buffer of See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt and 1 and is supplied from See also:

PRIMARY

primary reservoirs, to which it is directly pumped at a pressure of about 2000 lb. There is always, there fore, a considerable reserve of See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power available without pumping. Pneumatic guns of this description (see figure) have been mounted for the See also:

PROTECTION

protection of New York and See also:

San Francisco. With a full-calibre shell (See also:

I000

i000 lb) these guns have a range of 2400 yds.; with a sub-calibre 8-in. shell (25o lb) the maximum range is 6000 yds.

The See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official trials showed remarkable accuracy. At 5000 yds. 75% of the projectiles See also:

fell in an See also:

AREA

area of 36o X 90 ft. When the gun was tried at See also:

SHOEBURYNESS

Shoeburyness the accuracy was far greater than could be obtained with See also:

HOWITZER (derived, through an earlier form howitz, and the Ger. Haubitz, from the Bohemian houfnice = catapult, from which come also, through the Ital. obiza or obice, the French forms obus = shell and obusier = howitzer)

howitzer shells propelled by explosives. On See also:

account of the power of exploding the shell under water, and thus securing a See also:

TORPEDO

torpedo action, a See also:

DIRECT

direct See also:

hit upon a See also:

SHIP

ship is not required, and the See also:

target offered is largely in excess of the See also:

DECK

deck See also:

plan. The gun is, in fact, capable of replacing systems of sub-marine mines with See also:

ECONOMY

economy, and without the See also:

GREAT

great objection of interfering with a waterway. The only employment of the dynamite gun afloat has been in the case of the U.S. gunboat " See also:

VESUVIUS (also Vesevus in ancient poets)

Vesuvius," carrying three in the bows. These guns are fixed at a See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant See also:

ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

angle of See also:

ELEVATION

elevation, and the range is regulated by the air valve, training being given by the helm. Thus mounted on an unstable See also:

PLATFORM (Fr. plateforme, i.e. ground plan)

platform, the accuracy of See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire obtainable must evidently be much less than on See also:

SHORE

shore. The " Vesuvius " was employed during the See also:

SPANISH

Spanish-See also:

AMERICAN

American See also:

War of 1898, when on several nights in See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession she approached the defences of See also:

SANTIAGO, or SANTIAGO DE CHILE

Santiago under See also:

COVER (from the Fr. convert, from couvrir, to cover, Lat. cooperire)

cover of darkness and discharged three projectiles. Fire delivered under such conditions could not be sufficiently accurate to injure See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast defences; but the shells burst well, and made large craters. A small dynamite gun on a See also:

field-See also:

CARRIAGE

carriage was used in the See also:

LAND

land operations above Santiago in the same war.

End of Article: PNEUMATIC GUN

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PNEUMATICS (Gr. Irveiiµa, wind, air)