Hotchkiss and Nordenfelt Sliding-wedge Quickfiring Guns
From the mid-1880s Hotchkiss and Nordenfelt introduced 47-mm and 57-mm guns which loaded ammunition as a single cartridge with projectile, cartridge case and primer in a single unit as with modern rifle cartridges. The cartridge case sealed the breech on firing and a vertical sliding wedge (block) locked it in place. These new guns incorporated recoil control devices which facilitated consistency of aim, allowed single-motion loading and fired as soon as the cartridge was inserted and ejected it after firing : hence the name quick-firing. This set a new standard for artillery, and made firing cycles measured in seconds rather than minutes possible.
Read more about this topic: Rifled Breech Loader
Famous quotes containing the word guns:
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)