Gun Carriage

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gun carriage

[′gən ‚kar·ij]
Mobile or fixed support for a gun; sometimes includes the elevating and traversing mechanisms.

Gun Carriage


a stand to which the barrel of an artillery gun is secured.

The purpose of the gun carriage is to set the barrel in the necessary position before firing (by means of laying mechanisms), to absorb (by antirecoil devices) the recoil energy during firing and transmit the forces arising to the ground (or the foundation of the mounting), and to move the gun. There are mobile carriages (on field guns, with wheels and tracks), semipermanent carriages (on a mobile base, for tank, self-propelled, ship, aircraft, and other guns), and permanent carriages (on an immobile base, for fortress and shore guns). The carriages of recoilless guns are secured to the barrel by rigidly fixed pivots.