gun carriage

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A frame or structure upon which a gun is mounted for firing or maneuvering.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The carriage or structure on which a gun is mounted or moved, and on which it is fired. Naval gun-carriages formerly consisted of two sides or brackets of wood, mounted on wooden trucks and controlled by tackles; but the requirements of modern gunnery have caused wood to be replaced by brass and iron or steel, and simple tackles by powerful gearing and machinery. In the case of a field- or siege-piece the carriage unites, for traveling, with a fore part fixed on a pair of wheels, called a limber, to which the horses are attached, so as to form a single four-wheeled carriage. In action it is unlimbered or detached from the fore part, and then rests on its wheels and on a strong support called the trail. The protected barbette gun-carriage, also called the Moncrieff gun-carriage (after its inventor Major Moncrieff), is designed to store up the force of recoil on firing, and apply it to the work of raising the gun to fire over a high parapet. When fired the gun descends under cover by its own recoil, assuming at the same time the loading position, in which it is retained by a toothed wheel and ratchet. When reloaded, by releasing the ratchet, it is brought by a counterweight, which the force of the recoil has elevated, back to its original position. The carriage moves laterally on a circular rail laid on the platform, and can easily be turned in any direction. The same inventor has also designed a hydropneumatic carriage, in which the force is stored up in the form of air, highly compressed in a strong iron cylinder. Also called artillery-carriage.

Wiktionary

1. n. A metal frame on which a piece of ordnance is mounted for firing or transportation.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. the carriage on which a gun is mounted or moved.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a framework on which a gun is mounted for firing