| Ragbones | 21 Jul 2016 9:19 a.m. PST |
I was going through my box of unpainted lead when I happened across this 25mm field piece. I'm sure I bought it when I began my Boxer Rebellion collection many years ago. I just can't for the life of me remember what it is and I can't turn up anything on the web. If anyone could tell me what this is I would be very grateful. link |
| Generalstoner49 | 21 Jul 2016 9:28 a.m. PST |
I believe it is a Sims-Dudley 4 inch Dynamite gun. |
| David Hinkley | 21 Jul 2016 9:29 a.m. PST |
Looks like a Sims-Dudly Dynamite Gun. It was used by the US Army in the Spanish American War. |
| Ragbones | 21 Jul 2016 9:33 a.m. PST |
Wow, that was fast! Thanks, guys, very much! |
| brass1 | 21 Jul 2016 9:56 a.m. PST |
Apparently the dynamite gun, which used compressed air rather than nitrocellulose as a propellant, was very prone to jamming. In one of his dispatches from Cuba Richard Harding Davis mentions running into a dynamite gun crew whose gun had jammed; the sergeant was standing on the trail and banging on the breech with an ax. Harding decided very quickly to report from some other part of the battlefield. LT |
| Col Durnford | 21 Jul 2016 9:57 a.m. PST |
I would say the same from Old Glory's Spanish American war line. link |
| David Hinkley | 21 Jul 2016 1:12 p.m. PST |
Brass1
Do you know which breach? The Sims-Dudley had two one for the projectile and one for the "propelling charge". The latter pushed a "piston" down a separate curved tube to compress the air used to "fire" the gun. |
 ColCampbell  | 21 Jul 2016 2:16 p.m. PST |
Here's the Wiki article with a nice explanation of how it worked and a good picture, which can be expanded by clicking on it. link Jim |
| Henry Martini | 21 Jul 2016 6:02 p.m. PST |
It was also used in the Mexican Revolution by revolutionary forces. |
| brass1 | 21 Jul 2016 9:01 p.m. PST |
Do you know which breach? I don't think Harding was that specific in his description. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd go with the air-compression mechanism, there being so much more that could go wrong with it.
LT
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