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The Old Rifleman's Corner.
CExtracttd from the Morning Chronicle of
May 22, ISlO.y
Woo!«ich. May 21. IS10.
" Experiments were carriodnn in the marshes
on Tursduv and Wednesday, with a new pattern
bnll Tor rifles, the invention nf Mr Lancaster,
and the result appeared favorable, compared
with any previous experiment« of shooting from
rides nt long ranges. Thc hall weighs upwards
of one ounce and three quarters, and is formed
in tho shape, or nearly so, of a siijf.ir loaf, with
projections for thc groove of the rill'. A stand
was erected yesterday, from which twenty-four
rounds were fired, at a range of 1200 yard«,
and live balls out of that number went thrnui/h
the target, and all the others the entire dis-
tance.''
Such is the extract; and on my referring tn
thc" Mechanics' Magazine," vol. ii., p. 557, I
( find that Mr Lancaster's elongated shot ls sugar
loaf shape-but it Is useless to enlarge on it
j until I çet u wood-cut drawing ; but I will give
the writer's remarks verbatim : -
! .' Of the nature of the algebraic curve em
: ployed, nothing as yet has been published by
j Mr Lancaster, or any one else, that I havo heard
! of. lt appears to me tangential to the parallel«
; that coincide witli the sides of the barrel of the
gun, and there is reason lo believe that the ex-
pression, for the length of the axis is a function
of the velocity. The length of the axis admits of
small variations from the figure of it, without
detracting from the accuracy of the tire. A
i minute increase of length by no means dete
j riorates from the perfect effect.
" lt has been shown by repeated experiments
[ that the solid which passes most freely tluoiifr'i
j water, approximates in form to the pirobolic
¡ conon). But water may be regarder! as a non-
elastic medium, and the velocity of any body i
j through ¡t may be considered ns slow in com- j
parison with the passage of a body impelled by
; gunpowder through the air, which is a medium
highly elastic. A high velocity or low velocity
-an elastic or non-elastic medium - involves
very different data, and certainly very durèrent
j curves.
" The curve depends on the law of resistance.
C'onvnrsly, the law of resistance may be in
j ferrell from the curve."
The lower part of Mr Lancaster's shot is a
' cylinder fitting the barrel nf the gun. Above
; the cylinder a conoid arises, which lins hitherto
been determined by experiments alone. If it is
a solid of revolution upon th« axis major of an
ellipse, it is n figure proposed by the writer in
Iiis paper printed in the " Mechanics' Maga-
zine" in 1810. (vol. xllv. p.-130.) If not, il is
a transcendent curve, dependent for the form of
the law of resistance of the air. Experiments
are in progress that will ultimately decide this
point ; and as the law of resistance enunciated
by Professor Davies in a late number of the
" Mechanics' Magazine," (xlvii. p. -110,) liss
attracted a good deal of attention, I am not
without a hope that something decisive, both as
to thc mathematical details, »nd a comparison
between the results of his theory and experi-
ments, carefully conducted, may bo laid before
the public at a period not far distant. The pre-
cision that can b» obtained by this shot might
be found valuable in testing any theory.
" It is a known pri neiple, that all bodies mov-
ing in a fluid have a tendency to revolve upon the
shorter axis. This would prevent any great in-
crease in the lenmh of the axis of revolution."
" The centre of gravity is obviously nearer to
the base than to the vertf x of this figure, and
perhaps may he marked without any great in-
accuracy at about one-third of thu length of Hie
axis from the base."
The writer then alludes to tho shot for the
two grooved rille, and informs us that Lancaster
uses a felt wad, double concave, to be rammed
gently on tho powder, and states that the felt
wad assists materially In keeping the shut
straight, und preventing any irregular friction
between the lead and the barrel ; and In loading
with this w>id much of the soot is carried down
the barrel by the roughness of the felt, lu each
sureessive charge.
Now, we rillemrn in this colony, nt least those
who belong to the Sydney Hille Club, had to
guess at the meaning of the sugar huf shot, and
Mr Anderson, of Penrith, was tho first that
made tria', nut of a sugar loaf or coiivnhl shape,
but u true cone, mid Instead of the lead imping-
ing on the barrel with a cylinder three part» the
length of the axis, it barely was more than one
sixteenth of the tengtti of it, and that has been
and stilt is the shape which is used by inuit
of us,
I believe it is satisfactorily proved that every
cone which has been fired by us, loaded pro-
perly, has never In ono instance gune broad-
side on.
lt is is to bo regretted that the gun-makers
here cannot make a mould similar to Linens
tot's, fur want of the proper tools. .
It Is my Intention to write some further re-
marks appertaining to the subject.
Tun Oin RIFLBUAN.
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