Identifier: railroadengineer63newy (find matches)
Title: The railroad and engineering journal
Year: 1887 (1880s)
Authors:
Subjects: Railroad engineering Engineering Railroads
Publisher: New York : M.N. Forney
Contributing Library: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Digitizing Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

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ermansystem of guns, settles the whole question in their ownlavor by saying, the question of breech-loading steelguns is finally and forever set at rest as far as England isconcerned. The question was not settled, however, and in 18S4 weread that the first issue of the new 12-in. breech-loadingguns was being made in fLngland. Since that time themuzzle-loader has been relegated to the scrap-heap, so tospeak, and no gun-maker to-day would think of buildinga gun on this system any more than he would seriouslyconsider the casting ot a smooth-bore. III. —GUN MATERIAL. Lp to the time of the appearance of rifled artillery,bronze and cast-iron were the cannon inetals the worldover. It was a long time before the fact that these well-tried metals were unsuitable for guns under the changedconditions of strains and powder-pressure would be ac-cepted by metallurgists and military experts. Even to-day i6o THE RAILROAD ANt) (April, iitt). ■ ntkU-f ..,•. ir.jjni(MuiH«iinMnitnLi«uiMuiiL^r^OLik
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Vol. LXm, No. 4.) ENGINEERING JOURNAL. i6i there are not wanting advocates for cast-iron as a materialfor rilled ordnance. This battle of the metals has been quite as long and bit-ter, and the dead and disabled even more numerous thanin the contest between breech-loader and mu/zle-loader,as the scrap-heap and repair-shop of any ordnance prov-ing-ground will show. The first experiments with rilled guns were made withcast-iron pieces, both from motives of economy and fromlack ot knowledge of the capabilities of the metal. England began with her cast-iron Lancaster gun, butwith results so unsatisfactory that under the leadershipof Armstrong a system of built-up guns, wholly ofwrought-iron, was begun and has been persisted in up toa very recent period, yielding only under the pressureof costly experience some years ago to the substitution otsteel for wrought-iron for the inner tubes. The guns oflatest pattern and those now in course of fabrication arewholly of steel. Prussia began the con

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