The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

SCHNEIDER-CANET FIELD GUNS, 1898 PATTERN. 297 Thousands of rounds have been fired with this device. No tools are required for taking apart the breech-block and firing device, and this can be done in less than one minute. The carriage is fitted at the rear with a rigid trail- spade ; it carries the cradle in front on horizontal trun- nions. The axle runs through, the carriage. The cradle in which the gun recoils is of forged gun-steel in one piece ; it contains the trunnions, slides, recoil cylinder, and the cylinder and reservoir of the air recuperator. The slides are lined with brass, and are so arrangée! that recoil is always insured, wbatever be the state in which the sliding surfaces happen to be, whether damp, or rusty, or covered with sand or ni ud. On the left-hand side of the cradle are fitted the scales and sight, and to the rear of these is a small guard-plate. The hydraulic recoil cylinder (on the left-hand side) is very simple in design ; the piston works in the cylinder. The inside surface of the latter is made in such a way that the liquid, by flowing through ports of variée! sections, opposes a constant résistance to the force of recoil. The piston-rod gland is made tight, and a hydraulic buffer counter-rod does away with all shocks on return of the gun. The recuperator cylinder contains compressée! air, which acts on a piston, the head and rod of which are fitted with tight linings, to prevent air escape. The middle cylinder acts as an air reservoir, and is in communication, at the rear, with the recuperator cylinder. To the air reservoir are fitted the valve and joint for the charging pump. The recoil and recuperator piston-rods are symmetrical ; they are joined together by an elastic joint formed of Belleville springs. They are completely down when the gun is not in action, and run out during one second only, at each round. The recoil cylinder requires no attention, and, like the other parts of the meehanism, it is well protected against hostile fire. The joints and bushes are taken apart only in exceptional cases ; this is easily effeeted with the help of the tools carried with the battery, by ginners under the supervision of a non-commissioned officer. The body of the carriage is made with two brackets. joined together by top and bottoin plates and stay bars. A cast-steel headpiece is fitted with a cylindrical jacket, which slides on the axle for giving lateral training. The carriage trail is fitted in the rear with a strong spade, the top part of which is bent horizontal, and prevents the trail from ploughing up the graund. A trail ring, trail levers, and all tbe other requisites are provided for the service in tlie rear. The axle is of tempered gun-steel ; it is round, and is fitted at its central part with a rack for lateral training; the journals are lubricated automatically. The wheel rims are in three parts, and are made of bent wood ; they are joined to the nave by 12 spokes cut with the grain. Tlie nave is of brass ; steel plates are inter- posée! between the spokes and tlie rim to prevent the yielding of the wood. The naves are fitted with friction brake. The e'un and cradle, which oscillate round trunnions, rest, with a slight prépondérance, on tlie top of the eleva- ting rack. The latter is in tbe carriage plane, and slides in a brass guide ; it is worked by means of a crank keyed on an entliess screw, which gears with a lielicoidal wheel on the elevation shaft. On this same shaft is a pinion which engages the rack. Each revolution of the crank gives a variation of 26 minutes in the angle, corresponding to a variation in the range of about 175 metres (574 ft.). The entliess screw, lielicoidal wheel and rack are cased round to protect theni from dust. For transport, the gun is elevated to its maximum positive angle, and strapped to the carriage, a slight prépondérance of muzzle being allowed. For training the gun, tlie rack on the axle engages a pinion, the axis of which carries at one end a lielicoidal wheel worked by an endless screw driven by a handwheel. Tlie pinion, by turning in the rack, displaces the carriage on the axle over 80 millimétrés (3| in.) on each side, the wheels turning on the brake ; this produees a rotation of the carriage round the trail-space as centre, through 4 deg. When the gun is being transported, the lateral training meehanism is held fast by a small chain. The brake used in firing consists of two arms fitted with shoes, which can turn round the axle or be displaced lengthwise over about 100 millimétrés (4 in.) ; the arms are joined by a cross-piece. The shoes, the top surface of which are flat, are fitted at their lower part with spades made parallel with the carriage axis; the cross-piece is joined to the trail by two tie-rods, at the end of which is a balancée! lever and a slide. A key fixes the slide in the firing position. When the material is shifted, the cross- piece is held up under the carriage. The fore-limber and caisson are practically similar to those of the preceding models.