QUICK-FIRING FIELD GUNS AND MOUNTINGS.
LO
^3
headplate is placed a support which forms the slides, and is
provided with the hydraulic recoil cylinder. The support
is mounted on a pivot, and can be inclined at varions
angles. A cast-steel cradle in one piece, with two vertical
supports, the top of which forms the trunnion rests, is
made to slide on the gun-metal guides, and is held by
lateral damps. In the central part of the cradle is a lug
to which is fixed the reeoil piston-rod. The recoil cylinder
contains a piston, the rod of which is grooved out along its
centre, for receiving a regulating counter-rod. A number
of ports establish communication between the front and
rear of the cylinder. The gun runs out by gravity alone,
the slide resuming its former position gradually, and with-
out any shocks. Owing to the spade being placed beneath
the carriage axle, the rising of the gun and carriage was
still too great. The hydraulic cylinder acted well, but the
general working would have been much more satisfactory
had the travel of the piston been greater.
8o-Millimétré (3.149-In.) Gun on Carriage with
Trail-Spade :
Weight of gun 425 kg. 936 Ib.
,, carriage 495 kg. 1091 Ib.
,, projectile ... 5.6 kg. 12 Ib.
Muzzle velocity 490 ni. 1608 ft.
Striking energy of projectile 68.5 t.-m. 228 foot-tons
The carriage is the same as that first described—for
the 80-millimetre gun—but the trail is fittecl with an
elastic spade.