To clean the recoil springs.—Dismount to clean. All rust should be removed and the springs well oiled before assembling. When the springs are dismounted the interior of the cradle should be cleaned and examined for defective riveting, missing rivet heads and scoring. The condition of the spring support guide should be noted and all burrs or scores carefully smoothed off.
To clean, lubricate and care for the elevating and traversing mechanism.—The contact surfaces between the cradle and the rocker should be kept clean, thoroughly oiled, and free from rust. If indications of rusting, cutting, or scoring of these surfaces appear, the cradle should be dismounted, the rust removed, and rough spots smoothed away. The elevating and traversing mechanisms should be dismounted for thorough cleaning and overhauling. They should be kept well oiled and should work easily. If at any time either mechanism works harder than usual, it should be immediately overhauled and the cause discovered and removed. In traveling, the cradle should be locked to the trail by means of the elevating and traversing lock, so as to relieve the pointing mechanism of all travel stresses.
To clean, lubricate and care for the wheels.—The wheel and wheel fastenings should be dismounted periodically and the fastenings, hub boxes, axle arms, and axle bore cleaned and examined. All roughness due to scoring or cutting should be smoothed off. The hollow part of the axle acts as a reservoir for the oil to lubricate the wheel bearings. Experience will show how much oil is needed, but enough should be used to insure that the oil will pass through the axle arms to the hub caps. The nuts on the hub bolts should be tightened monthly during the first year of service and twice a year thereafter. The ends of the bolts should be lightly riveted over to prevent the nut from unscrewing. When the hub bolts are tightened, the hub band should be screwed up as tightly as possible against the lock washer at the outer end of the hub ring.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CARE AND
MAINTENANCE OF MATERIEL
Assembling and Disassembling.
(a) Cradle mechanism, cylinder, springs et cetera.
All work upon recoil cylinders, sights, and other optical equipment should be done in the presence of a commissioned officer. The recoil cylinder should never be clamped in a vise, but when necessary to hold it from turning, a spanner applied to the front end of cylinder should be used. Never remove the cylinder end stud nut when the piece is at an elevation. See that proper kind of oil is used in cylinders and for lubrication. Strain the oil used in filling the cylinders through a fine clean cloth and be sure that the receptacles used in handling the oil are clean. Take every precaution to keep the interior of the cylinders clean and to prevent the entrance of foreign particles. In assembling the gland be sure that at least four threads of the gland are engaged with the threads of the cylinder head. Lash parts with copper wire to prevent unscrewing. Close down the ends of the recoil-indicator guide to avoid loss of the indicator. Prevent possible injury to cannoneers by causing them to stand clear of the counter-recoil spring column in assembling or dismounting. Remove cylinder end stud screw before trying to unscrew cylinder end stud.
(b) Gun
In moving the gun on or off the cradle, provide ample support for the breech end, so that the gun clips are in prolongation of the cradle guides; if this is not done the cradle guides may be ruined.
(c) Elevating and traversing mechanism.