Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/702

* MACHINE GUN. 622 MACHINE GUN. mechanism and the pieces are loaded from a belt; in this 3-pounder the annnunition is placed in a hopper over the breech fnmi ^vhich the cartridjies fall into place by gravity, when the breech is open and empty, and are driven for- ward into the breech' by a hi.;; on the loading types, the ilaxiiu-Xordcnfeldt, Driggs, Arm- strong, etc. Of these the first is by far the best known. It is adopted in the United States Navy and is the only semi-automatic gun used in any naval service. After the gun is fired the barrel recoils, compressing certain springs by which it is jmslied to the front again. As it moves to the front the breech-loeU is forced downward and the extractors eject the empty cartridge case and then hold the breech-block o])en : the loader in- serts the fresh cartridge, which trips the ex- tractors as it slips into (he bore and allows the breech-lock to rise and close the breech ready for firing. This semi-automatic mechanism is ap])lied to guns which are considered too heavy for machine-gun mechanism ; in the United States Navy it has been adopted for use in .3-inch (13- pounder) and 6-poun(lcr (2.'24inch) guns. Jlachine guns are used on all modern men-of- war, but the importance of the smaller ones has decreased with the imjjrovement in the rate of fire of larger pieces, the probable increase of battle ranges, and the improvements in tor- aceurate shooting and compel a resort to single shot firing. The general question of the method of employ- ment, organization, etc., of machine gun units is one of the ]>roblems of modern military science. Unlike the field gun and heavy ordnance gener- ally, the machine gun cannot be used against field works, fortifications, etc., and only in a limited sense and under rare eireumstances against the defenders of such defenses. Since the Franco-tJerman War of 1871 the French have constantly fostered the machine-gun arm of their services liolh naval ami military, al- though the practical results of the mitrailleuse in the campaign mentioned were not by any means what French military opinion bad been led to expect. Machine guns were used by the English in their various Egyptian and Indian frontier expeditions with considerable advantage, although in the earlier EgA'plian campaigns their value was sometimes a doubtful quantity, owing to the ease with which the guns became jammed, whether through defective feed, a too delicate mechanism, or the presence of sand, dust, etc. In the British-Boer War of 1899-1(102 every mod- ern form of machine and automatic gun was em- ployed, but the conditions were such that nothing very definite could be arrived at regarding their future method of employment. It was found. H0TCHKIS8 KIFLE-CALIBRE AUTOMATIC GDN, LONGITUDINAL SECTION. pedoes and torpedo boats. To stop a torpedo boat, or to so disable her as to render it impos- sible to proceed with the attack, is beyond the proljable [lower of even a <J-pounder. Shrapnel from guns of 3-inch calibre and over are con- sidered by many authorities the best defense against tor|)edo-boat attack. In shallow-draught vessels and boats operating at close range in rivers and contracted waters, machine guns of small calibre do great service. In several cases during the Philippine insurrec- tion machine guns in lioats and on the small gunboats have driven olT the enemy and pre- vented the lo.ss of many men. The value of the larger calibres is less pronounced. The efl'ect of the bursting of a l-poun<lcr shell is very slight — against a ship it is nothing. The idea that an automatic gun can be iiandled like a hose' is fallacious. The jerk of the recoil is so rapid and violent that aiming the smallest automatic pieces is well-nigh impossible, while the automatic 1- pounder jumjjs so powerfully that good slioot- ing even at the shortest ranges is out of the question. The larger machine guns, however, are so fitted that they may be fired singly at the will of the operator, and this is probably the best way to use them. Very rapid-firing machine guns of large calibre must have the weights and moments of the moving parts balanced about the" axis of the bore; if not, the jump ^^ ill prevent however, that although they had not the moral value with an enemy that the regular field gun and shell seemed to have, yet they exercised a moral influence peculiar to themselves. It fre- quently happened that the noise of the Pom-pom (q.v. ) in action had. if anything, a more de- moralizing influence than the bursting of shrap- nel shell. The organization of machine-gun details differs in nearly every country. In America and England they are attached to regi- ments of cavalry and infantry, while in Ger- many there is a machine-gun attachment f<ir each army corps with a personnel of 3 ollicers. commissioned officers. .58 privates, and 43 horses. The detachment consists of guns and 2 ammu- nition wagons which are grouped in Imttery. Whether this system is preferable to the delailinu' of one or more guns with each regimental unit had not, in 1903, been finally settled. The ad- vantage of machine guns to an army in the field lies in the fact of their great mobility. At the best they are an auxiliary to. and not by any means a substitute for. the regular field battery. For further information, consult: Annual Re- ports of flic Office of Nnvnl IntclUffpnce, V. S. Na'y Department ; Proceedinfis of the United States Xai^al Institutcf Annual Reports of the Chiefs of Ordnance, U. >S'. Xary : Annual Reports of the Chiefs of Ordnance, United States Anni/ : Ingersoll, Text-book on Ordnance and Gunnery i