HOW BIG GUNS ARE MADE
The inside tube, known as the lining, is cast roughly to shape, then it is bored out, after which it is forged by the blows of a powerful steam-hammer. Of course, while under the hammer, the tube is mounted on a mandrel, or bar, that just fits the bore. The metal is then softened in an annealing furnace, after which it is turned down to the proper diameter and re-bored to the exact caliber. The diameter of the lining is made three ten-thousandths of an inch larger than the inside of the hoop or sleeve that fits over it. This sleeve, which is formed in the same way, is heated up to 800 degrees, or until its inside diameter is eight tenths of an inch larger than the outside diameter of the lining. The lining is stood up on end and the sleeve is fitted over it. Then it is cooled by means of water, so that it grips the lining and compresses it. In this way, layer after layer is added until the gun is built up to the proper size.
Photograph from Underwood & Underwood
A Long-distance Sub-calibered French Gun on a Railway Mount
Instead of having a lining that is compressed by means of sleeves or jackets, many big guns are wound with wire which is pulled so tight as to compress the lining. The gun-tube is placed in a lathe, and is turned so as to wind up the wire upon it. A heavy brake on the wire keeps it drawn very tight. This wire, also, is put on in layers, so that each layer can expand considerably without exceeding its elastic limit. Our big 16-inch coast-defense guns are wound with wire that is one tenth of an inch square. The length of wire on one gun is sufficient to reach all the way from New York to Boston with fifty or sixty miles of wire left over.
Courtesy of "Scientific American"
Inside of a Shrapnel Shell and Details
of the Fuse Cap
Search-light Shell and
one of its Candles