238 Mr. F. J. BramiceU [June 13, 



be introduced with their points between the shot and the gun, and be 

 rammed hard home. The second purpose, and the imusual purpose 

 for which a wad is requii'ed in the case of the 3S-ton guns of the 

 ' Thunderer,' is to make sure that the projectile shall not return down 

 the inclined bore of the gun on the withdi'awal of the rammer. 



I have told you that the muzzle of the gun is inclined downwards 

 when loading, but I have not vet stated the angle: it is 11^^^, and I 

 may say that yery careful experiment on board the ' Thimderer ' 

 proved that this angle is as nearly as possible the angle of repose of 

 a projectile lying on the bore of the gun. 



In several cases the rammer on being very quietly withdrawn, was 

 not followed by the projectile ; in other cases it was ; but in no 

 instance were more than some 7 or 8 lbs. needed to uphold the 

 projectile with absolute certainty. As regards the cartridge, the 

 inclination must be much greater before that will commence to slide 

 down the bore ; we made careful experiments with cartridges put in 

 loosely and with cartridges rammed home, and we found, speaking 

 roundly, that some -45 to 50 per cent, of the weight of the cartridge 

 was needed in direct pull to keep the cartridge moving down the bore 

 at this inclination. The suggestion that the cartridge has at any time 

 slipped down the bore when once rammed home, or even when once 

 placed home loosely, is entirely imwarranted, as the makers of such a 

 suggestion would very soon find if they were to perform the simple 

 experiment of trying to pull the cartridge down the inclined bore. 

 But although there is not the slightest ground for fearing that the 

 cartridge would slip down, there is great probability that the pro- 

 jectile would do so, and therefore it becomes necessary, irrespective of 

 the question of the ship rolling, to use a wad. Assuming as some 

 have done that one of these guns can be bm-st by means of a wad, 

 I would ask you which of the two wads is the more dangerous, 

 the old wooden wedge wad, where the points of the wedge are driven 

 in between the projectile and the walls of the bore, or the papier- 

 mitche disc wad, which is not inserted between the projectile and the 

 walls of the bore at all, but is merely retained in the gim by the 

 pressure around the edge of the disc. The effect of this pressure 

 can be overcome (as we ascertained by direct experiment) by nothing 

 short of the force of 8 to 10 men pulling directly at the wad. 



That which I have had to say about the wad has been so lengthy 

 I fear you may have forgotten that we left the cartridge in the loading 

 tube, and the projectile elevated in a line with the bore waiting to be 

 rammed in ; this ramming in is effected by a similar movement of the 

 lever to that which was employed in the sponging. The telescope 

 again shoots out and the head goes into the gim ramming before it the 

 wad, the projectile, and the cartridge. You will have remarked that 

 owing to the larger plunger of the two moving fii-st and then coming 

 to a stop when the ramming home is by no means complete, that it is 

 impossible to see from any mark on the rammer how far the head has 

 advanced into the gun after the first joint of the rammer has come to 



