The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

218 MESSRS. SCHNEIDER AND CO.’S WORKS, it comprises a large variety of guns and mountings of the ; usual calibres, which hâve been délivered by the Creusot i and Havre Works, ami placée! in regulär service in several fleets. The guns themselves are of a uniform type, and have al ready been described; the breech-blocks work by one action, with the interposition of toothed pinions or of a rack, The mountings are of two principal types : The first, developed from the mode] with oscillating slides, is charac- terised by a movable gun-housing fittecl with the trunnions, and consists mainly of two beams which form a sliding [ path with their top flange, and which are joined at the iront and in the rear by two short rings which insure j absolute stiffness to the system. The gun is not fitted with trunnions, but carries a jacket shrunk on it, provided | with lateral shoes which slide on the upper and lower Hanges of the gun-housing beams during recoil and run- ning ont. An hydraulic brake and a recuperator, in connection with eaeh other, complété the system. top surface forming a roller path ; it is also fitted with the circular rack for the training. The traversing plat- form consists mainly of a lower bed, in continuation of which are two brackets, made almost vertical and suitably stayed ; the central part eontains the vertical pivot ring. The lower surface of the bed is trough-shaped where it rests on the roller balls. The whole system is held clown during firing by two clamps, fixed, one in the front and one in the rear of the traversing platform, and which grasp the edge of the bolster. The rear clamp is fitted with a catch, which serves to fix the mounting in any firing position ; it is, moreover, made of a suitable heightto allow for the lowering of the breech end, and the recoil of the gun when firing takes place at an extreme angle of elevation. On the right-hand bracket is a pump for filling the brake cylinders, the firing mechanism being on the left. The traversing platform is provided at the top with trunnion-plates, in which the housing trunnions fit. /L0U6J Mounting for 10-Centimetre Quick-Firing Gun. The second type, derived from one of the models already described, comprises a complété housing with trunnions, in which the gun is made to slide ; it lias a hydraulic brake, and an independent spring-recuperator. Mounting with Lateral Beams and with Brake and Recuperator Connected (Fig. 742).—A typical example of this mounting is that for 10-centimetre (3.937 in.) 55-calibre Schneider-Canet guns ; it is of small dimen- sions comparée! with the vis viva of the gun. Weight of gun 2200 kg. 4848 Ib. ,, mounting ... 3740 kg. 8242 Ib. ,, shield 2450 kg. 5400 Ib. ,, projectile ... 14 kg. 31 Ib. ,, service charge (smokeless powder) 3.4 kg. Ib. Muzzle velocity 780 ni. 2559 Ib. Elevation + 15 deg. + 15 deg. — 10 deg. - 10 deg. Training 360 deg. 360 deg. The bolster is circular, and is bolted direct on the firing platform. It is fitted around its circumference with a ring which holds the traversing platform clamps, the The movable housing consists mainly of two U-shaped beams ; the left-hand beam carries the sight support, the scale casing, and the curved rack for elevating the gun. The beams are joined in front and in the rear by two I rings lined inside with gun-metal for bearings, in which I the gun slides smoothly during recoil and running out. i On the front ring are the stops against which the buffers I strike. The gun is made with a jacket, in one piece, witli ' which is cast the hydraulic recoil cylinder ; the jacket has slides on each side, which clasp the top and bottom flanges ; of the beams, along which they travel during recoil and I running out. The gun, therefore, slides along the beams I of the housing during firing, while the housing can only turn on its trunnions during the action of elevating or lowering the gun. On the top part of the jacket are the rings for lifting the gun in and out, and the slide i lubricators. The brake cylinder placed below is provided ; with two projections, which form abutments for the i Belleville springs of the recuperator. In front of the j cylinder is the piece which carries the guide of the I recuperator bars. The hydraulic brake is on the