Bracebridge Field Gun

[rob love]

Looks like someone had to spike their gun. That's got to be demoralizing.

[John McGillivray]

Originally Posted by rob love

Looks like someone had to spike their gun. That's got to be demoralizing.

Or they had a premature.

[Grant Bowker]

The war museum used to claim (decades ago, not sure if they still say it) that the split barrel was the result of a freak hit by an enemy shell that entered the barrel before exploding. Your choice whether you go for myth or truth

[James P]

Take whatever the CWM says with a HUGE grain of salt as they are full of something.

[David Dunlop]

When a Browning .50 cal HB MG is worked hard, there is a risk of a 'cook off' when a round sits in the chamber.

Can the same thing happen with artillery if the crew is pushing rounds through their gun as quickly as possible during a heavy barrage, and can this be much more catastrophic?


David

[Lynn Eades]

Any m.g. that fires from a "closed bolt" can "cook off" If I recall correctly....
A cook off would just fire it with no damage to the gun, because the cook off is the result of the primer / propellent being set off from heat from the chamber.
I don't pretend to know much about this stuff, but if Rob wasn't right about spiking the gun, then I would suspect that this artillery piece was firing H.E. that for some reason prematurely exploded before the projectile exited the muzzle.
How far up the barrel will the shell primer push the projectile before it stops in the barrel? (no charge in shell?) What happens then if the projectile has had its fuze set? What determines when the fuze starts running?
Can an Arty guy educate me a bit?

[Dave Mills]

We had to report to the CP "Gun Loaded Gun Hot" when the No1 felt that the barrel was to hot and we had the gun loaded and "At my Command" in force. The fuses would only activate after the projectile completed 6 full revolutions; on a 105mm Howitzer M2A2 the projectile completed 1.5 rotations between the breech and the muzzle so would be at least 30 metres from the barrel when it armed for a timed fuse. A different ball game when working with the proximity fuse as you would set the time on the fuse to arm in its "time of flight" and it would detonate 20 metres above the ground showering the ground dwellers with plenty of red hot steel.