On the Ordnance Continuation Page 1:
  MORE ORDNANCE APOCRYPHA (Moved from Ordnance Page 2 on 12 Feb 2002).

On the Continuation Page 2:
  RAILROAD GUNS.
  SMALL ARMS.

On the Continuation Page 3:
  CALIBER (Calibre).
  Anzio Annie.
  SMALL ARMS.
  Ordnance BIBLIOGRAPHY
  Russian Armor.
  HELP!

On this Ordnance Continuation Page 4:
  MISFIRES, HANGFIRES, and JAMS
  Drake Gun/Cannon
  Coastal Defense Guns at Fort Casey (06 Oct 07)

Ordnance Models Page:
  {unindexed}

Comet Metal Products Authenticast Models Page.

MISFIRES, HANGFIRES, and JAMS

A "MISFIRE" occurs when a piece is fired but the projectile fails to exit the barrel because the powder does not ignite.  A "HANGFIRE" occurs when the powder does ignite, but burns incompletely and the projectile still doesn't exit.  A "JAM" occurs when everything else happens properly but the round gets stuck somewhere in the barrel (assuming, of course, that the barrel doesn't simply explode from the overpressure).

1.  In the "olden days", when unrifled barrels fired round shot, a misfire could often be overcome by repriming and firing again.  If that failed, the muzzle of the tube could be tilted below the horizontal and, with luck, the ball would roll out and the tube could be tilted up and water poured in to soak the powder so it could be extracted with a scoop (which in itself could be a projectile if the powder still ignited).  Should that also fail, a weird double corkscrew (called a "WORM") on the end of a rammer was inserted into the barrel through the muzzle and rotated to bite on the outer hemisphere of the ball and pull it out.  The slightest spark, from friction or residual heat or embers, could ignite the charge.

2.  15-40mm and up (through 120mm) brass cartridge weapons use a centerfire primer.  In case of a misfire, one waits a long while (I forget just how long) and then ejects the cartridge and, assuming the round is still in place, loads another cartridge and tries again.  Up through 76mm (possibly 90mm), the base of the round is inside the neck of the brass cartridge (just like in a .22, .30, .45; or .50 cal.).  90s and 120s have a tompion (a plug) in the mouth of the brass (to hold and protect the powder) and load the round and then the brass separately.

3.  For 155mm and larger pieces, the round is rammed and a bag (or bags) of powder, in increments for rough ranging, are placed in the breech.  A primer very much like a 30-30 cartridge, is placed in the back of the breechblock and ignited manually or electrically to fire the piece.  In case of a misfire, the first recourse, after waiting the requisite (very long) time, is to eject the primer, insert a fresh one, and try again.

Hydraulic rammers can push a jammed round out of the barrel; one sure doesn't want to pound on a live, fused round from the muzzle end!

So much for my memory; who out there can provide authenticated detail beyond this?

DRAKE (the gun/cannon) - [I had this posted under "HELP" oj the preceding page but it has long-since ceased to be a matter for help - moved here on 19 Dec 2006).] (19 Dec 06)

A message asked about a DRAKE as being a cannon, yet not found on an extensive Web search, to which I replied that it was a correct artillery usage but that "I am 'shot down' to discover that there is no such listing in the indices of either my 1961 Britannica nor my 1911 "Scholar's Edition"!  It's not even in my Webster's Collegiate (my 2nd Edition Unabridged was still packed away then) nor in Roget's Thesaurus as a synonym.  Natheless, the word, to my recollection, is from 'draaken' (dragon, i.e. - fire-breathing) and I seem to recall it being primarily applied to Naval guns although I could be dead wrong there.  Some models actually had a muzzle (mouth) shaped like a dragon's (like some gargoyles).  I am reasonably sure I saw one (a gun, not a dragon or gargoyle) in the park outside the White Tower at the Tower of London."  [Mirror of question on my Naval and Maritime page.}

Now, I fully expect to be "shot down" by some true expert but would really like to get provenance and have the noted references (save the 11th Edition) amended.  O.K.; I did it myself, digging out both my 2nd and 3rd editions of the Webster's "Unabridged", in both of which "¹drake" ("1archaic: DRAGON"), has a second meaning, "2 : a small piece of artillery of the 17th and 18th centuries." (of course I could have long-since gone to the public library to have found this!).

More to the point, however, is this from the Librarian at Fort Nelson, who doesn't "know the derivation of the term drake, but it hasn't anything directly to do with dragon mouth guns.  We do indeed have a 'dragon gun' on show at Fort Nelson that used to be at the Tower.  It is Burmese.  Western late medieval guns sometimes had dragon muzzles.  But for the meaning of the term 'drake' as a technical identification for a distinct type of gun you might like to read the attached note.", which reads, "The term drake has confused many students of artillery.  This is largely because, like much of the old terminology of arms and armour, the same word could have different meanings in different circumstances or dates.  The first reference [quoted in Blackmore, H L 1976 The Ordnance, London, HMSO p228] is from 1622 in the army of Prince Maurice of Nassau, with the first being brought to England in 1625.  They were subsequently made here {England} and an example of a culverin drake (5½ inch calibre) was acquired by the Royal Armouries in 1984.  This cast iron gun was probably lost at the battle of Scheveningen in 1653 near to where it was recovered.  It bears the arms of the Commonwealth and was probably on board the Oak, which was sunk.  The gun is now on show at Fort Nelson.  There is a detailed account of it by Guy Wilson in Guns from the Sea in the International Journal of Underwater Archaeology 1988 Vol. 17.  The chief characteristic of the drake was that it was lighter than its typical name version.  It could be shorter but not necessarily and it could be 'taper bored' but not necessarily.  Taper bored (the alternative was 'home bored' meaning that the bore was a cylinder) described a bore that ended in a taper or conical form.  This could be seen as a good thing in a gun that was lighter than a 'normal' gun in that it would give a thicker wall at the breech where the powder ignited.  Drakes generally though, had to be fired with smaller powder charges in view of their lighter weight.  The advantage of the drake was the reduction of weight on board ship while for most purposes the reduced range was acceptable.  Their main period of service seems to have been about 100 years from about 1625." [For which I must be exceedingly grateful!]

More on this on the Naval and Maritime page.

Coastal Defense Guns at Fort Casey - (06 Oct 07)

On Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, at Fort Casey, a naval coastal installation from before World War I, there are gun emplacements from 1912.  My sister and brother-in-law were the in late Sep 2007 on their way back on a motor home trip to Alaska,  She reports that there are tunnels everywhere to move ammunition, that it was much like being on the beaches of Normandy and looking up at the German breastworks.  It is situated up on a high bluff and guarded Puget Sound.  Fort Casey is now a historic park and the barracks and other buildings are part of a local college and used as a conference center.

(Sep 2007 photos by P. B. Ottens - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed pictures for larger images]