Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian McCollum, and I am here today at the Morphy Auction Company taking a look at
one of the cannons that they are going to be selling in their upcoming April of 2019 firearms auction.
This is a Driggs-Schroeder [Mark IX] 37mm, aka 1 Pounder, Naval Quick-Firing Cannon.
The Navy bought a total of 15 of these guys in the ... mid-1890s. This is in a fact an 1897 dated gun.
This gun was developed between 1883 and 1889 by a team of two United States Navy officers.
A Lieutenant William Driggs, who's name is on the gun, and a Commander, later to become Admiral, Seaton Schroeder.
They spent a fair amount of time developing and tuning the design,
and when they were done they had something that was actually really competitive.
This is a type of gun, like a single shot, quick-fire 37mm gun, there were a fair number
of different types of these out on the market at the time, we are talking of course the late 1800s.
Well, think of it like Browning style pistols today, or AR-180 style based rifles today.
There are a lot of different variations of them, but at their mechanical core they are all pretty much the same.
So, if you want to be competitive, you have to ... make the most efficient design.
Little fine tuning sorts of features are more important than having some sort of completely innovative different mechanism.
Well, this gun is basically the same as the Hotchkiss that was the overall market leader at the time.
But it's a really well done take on ... the basic Hotchkiss action.
And in fact it was so well done that this really did force Hotchkiss to make a number of improvements
on their own [gun] if they wanted to maintain their position of market leadership.
Which they did, by the way, the Driggs Ordnance Company, which was set up in 1889
to start making and selling these guns, they only ended up selling 125 of them total.
Driggs also made 3 pounder and 6 pounder versions of this same thing,
It's worth pointing out here of course that 3 pounder I believe is about a 47mm version, and the 6 pounder is rather larger than that.
So, I actually have one of the cartridges here, this particular gun
(If it looks familiar by the way, it probably is. This gun was in one of seasons of Top Shot,
the TV show, they used it for one of the shooting competitions there.),
and so they have, this is not original ammo, it is actually 1917 Navy production brass, which is pretty cool.
But this is ... a modern lathe-turned projectile and modern hand loads.
And the gun actually comes with a bunch of these, so whoever buys this thing is going to be able to do some shooting with it.
Operating this thing is, like most guns of this type, quite easy. We have a breech lever here,
when you pull that back the breech is actually going to drop down and then rotate backwards.
So you can see that more easily when I close it.
It pivots up kind of like a rolling block, and in this position you've now got the cartridge loaded in the chamber,
and then pushing the lever the rest of the way forward is going to lift this breech block up,
which locks it in here, and makes the whole thing safe and sealed up and then ready to fire.
The trigger is this lever down here at the base of the breech block, you would traditionally ... put a lanyard on that.
Pull it, the firing pin drops. This is a centrefire type of cartridge, so it's not one of the more exotic,
you know, separated components type of artillery shell, it's just a really big overgrown cartridge.
And of course once you've fired, ... the whole thing is going to reciprocate back,
it's going to use a cam to drop the breech block open, there is an ejector right in here.
So you can see the ejector right there. As the breech block tips all the way down, it's going to kick that [backward]
which is going to throw the empty cartridge case fiercely out the back of the action.
Taking a look up here, you can see the cut outs in this brass trunnion where the whole barrel assembly,
really the whole gun, reciprocates backwards.
The moving parts are again pretty clear right up here.
You note that there is a big cut out in the middle to reduce friction,
so you have less surface area in contact as the thing has to cycle.
And then this cylinder on the top is what is going to slow down and stop the ejection,
and then pull the whole assembly forward again after it's ejected. Just like a semi-automatic rifle function.
So eject the case out and then reset the whole thing ready for you to load a cartridge in,
lift up the breech lever, and then fire.
We have a cool brass data plate here on the gun from the Driggs Ordnance Company of New York City,
identifying this a 1 Pounder Slide Gun Mark IX, right there. Inspected by the Navy.
Specifically inspected by J.B.S. of the US Navy, Navy anchor.
Weight of just 79 pounds, which is remarkably light for a gun like this.
This is in fact the light version of the gun. They also made a heavier version,
like the Marks I and II were a substantially heavier version. Manufactured in 1897.
And then there is also a data plate on the carriage.
Interesting that it's the exact same data plate, so the gun one has to specify that it is a gun being identified,
where this one is a 1 Pounder Carriage, also Mark IX.
We have two locking levers on here, one right there which I've already got loosened,
and one right here, which I will loosen right now.
With those unlocked this whole gun pivots freely, and that's why you have got the shoulder stock here.
This rubber is obviously modern, but this would have had a bit of padding on it, probably wood actually at the time.
And then you can lean into that, aim the gun, using your sights right here. Let's take a closer look at those.
The sight doesn't actually have an aperture, it actually has two blades. So there is a blade in the back here,
and then we can adjust this with this continuous screw for adjusting our windage.
And then there is an elevation dial here which allows you to adjust for elevation
(well, distance really), out to a substantial distance, out to 3,500 yards.
You can see the bottom of the scale there.
So there's your sight picture.
If we transition over to the front blade. Got the front blade there, and you've got a rear blade back here.
So these guns were used by the Navy for defence primarily against torpedo boats.
... Different navies around the world, during this couple of decades around this time period, would use a variety of different guns.
Some of them of the school of thought of this: a small, quick-firing, single shot, explosive type cartridge.
There would be some navies that would adopt guns like the Gatling for ship defence.
You'd have larger guns of this type, 3 pounder and 6 pounder projectiles.
And this is the sort of role that guns like the Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon would also fill quite well.
So if you are interested in getting something awesome like this yourself,
there is one additional cool little detail. You noticed earlier this is an 1897 dated gun.
That means that it is actually considered an antique under US law,
and despite being over .50 calibre it is not legally considered a destructive device.
So this transfers without needing any sort of NFA involvement, which is pretty cool.
So, if you've got a space in your living room for a Driggs Mark IX Quick-Fire 37mm Cannon,
this might be just the thing for you. If you take a look at the description text below,
you'll find a link to ForgottenWeapons.com. From there you can click over to Morphy's catalogue page on this gun,
you can see all of their pictures, which include all the accessories that come with it, price estimate
and the ability to bid right there on-line for it.
And if not that, take a look at everything else they have in the catalogue.
Thanks for watching.