Rifled Breech Loader - Krupp Sliding Block

Krupp Sliding Block

Krupp in Germany during this period (1864 - 1880s) in contrast adopted "Horizontal sliding block" breeches, rather than screw breeches, for all artillery calibres up to 16 inch naval guns. This was similar in some ways to the original "Armstrong screw" : the shot and powder cartridge were inserted through the open rear end of the breech into the gun bore, and a steel block was slid home into a horizontal slot cut through the breech to close the rear end of the breech. However, unlike Armstrong, Krupp loaded the powder propellant in a metal cartridge case much like a large rifle cartridge, which expanded against the chamber wall on firing and effectively sealed the breech. The sliding block, in both horizontal and vertical forms, and metal cartridge case continued to be the preferred German breech system until after World War II, and is still used by some modern artillery.