Mr. Nordenfelt and Mr. Hotchkiss have also both contrived quick firing guns for 1–lb., 3–lb., and 6–lb. projectiles, and these, it has been thought, will be of great service in naval warfare as against torpedo boats.
Though the automatic mechanism, whereby the breech operations are all performed by the force of the recoil of the barrel, which is allowed to slide backwards, and is then returned to its place by a spring, is too complicated for illustration here, mention may be made of a quite recent device by which the recoil action is dispensed with, and the mechanism so far simplified that scarcely more than half the number of parts in the lock mechanism are required. Imagine a closed tube beneath the barrel, parallel to it, and communicating with it only by a small boring near the muzzle; through this opening the expanding gases will pass, in a degree depending on its size and position, and by their action on a piston near the breech, impulses are supplied that will actuate the lock mechanism so long as cartridges are supplied, as they may be in a continuous band. A weapon of this construction has been already tried, and its discharges are so rapid that the sound of them is described as being quite deafening. This plan appears to be equally applicable to small arms, and to machine or field guns. A very effective gun of the kind, which fires ordinary rifle bullets, has been contrived by Mr. Hotchkiss, and is represented in Fig. 105_e_. It is capable of sending forth as many as 1,000 shots in one minute.
Modern ordnance has required certain modifications in the making of gunpowder, so that the original name of _powder_ would now hardly be applicable at all. The large charges now used, if introduced in the form of fine powder, would certainly shatter the guns from the suddenness of the exploding force. Hence the material is made up into larger or smaller masses, generally rounded like small pebbles. The explosive used for the huge 110–ton guns presents itself in the form of chocolate-coloured hexagonal prisms, two or three inches long and about an inch in diameter. These are obtained by compressing the specially prepared material into moulds with a hydraulic press. The reason for this process is that, in order to obtain precision and uniformity in the effects, not only must the composition of the powder be always the same, but the size, shape, weight, and number of the several portions that make up the charge must be invariable. It has not been found possible to fire one of these monster guns many times without such signs of deterioration as would suggest a short “life” for each of them. But the greatest necessity for modern fire-arms is a smokeless powder or other explosive. It is obvious that the advantages of quick firing, whether of large or of small fire-arms, are greatly reduced if the soldier or gunner is prevented by smoke from taking aim. The invention of a smokeless gunpowder has several times been announced, and great advances have, indeed, been made towards its realization. Certain compositions, which appeared to meet the requirement of being practically smokeless, have, however, been found liable to chemical changes, or to corrode the bore, or to possess other objectionable properties. In this country the explosive coming into use as best adapted for quick firing guns, etc., presents itself in appearance like whitish or grey strings, and has hence received the name of _cordite_. The composition and mode of manufacture of these new substitutes for gunpowder are not readily disclosed, each military authority jealously guarding its own secrets. The problem of smokeless powder has, however, been almost completely solved, for at a military review that took place on the Continent in 1889, the discharge of the rifles (loaded with blank cartridges, of course) is said to have been attended with no more smoke than the puff of a cigar. The new invention will cause some changes in military tactics, for the manœuvres formerly executed under cover of the battle smoke will no longer be possible. Some particulars as to the nature of smokeless powders will be found in the article on “Explosives.”