ON RECOIL. 189 



Field on the 5th of June, 1858, in support of some previous 

 statements of opinion made by me on the same side of the 

 argument. He says : 



"Being one of those who deny that great recoil in 

 the gun is any test whatever of great velocity in the shot, 

 I beg to offer a few practical remarks in support of my 

 opinion, drawn partly from lectures delivered by me at 

 the United Service Institution previous to the report of 

 your gun trials. 



" In transcribing these remarks, I have little hope of being 

 able to change the opinions of those who are wedded to 

 other principles ; but, as the law of action and reaction seems 

 tome to be. misunderstood, or rather misapplied, by many 

 with respect to fire-arms, I trust to be able to induce the 

 unbiassed to re-examine the subject, and judge for them- 

 selves. I trust also to be able to show that my opinion is 

 not at all inconsistent with your idea of a model gun 

 (Field, April 17) namely, that 'it is one with which the 

 greatest execution can be done upon the object shot at, 

 without such a severe recoil as to make its use disagreeable 

 to the sportsman.' 



" ' Gunpowder, when ignited,' says a high authority, ' ex- 

 pands with equal forces in every direction, and, consequently, 

 it acts equally on the bottom of the bore and upon the ball 

 during the passage of the latter along the cylinder, supposing 

 it to fit tightly. Hence, neglecting the allowance which 

 should be made for the frictions of the ball and the guii- 

 carriage, the velocity of the recoil will be to that of the shot 

 inversely as the weight of the gun to that of the shot. Thus, 

 supposing the initial velocity of a 241b. shot to be 1600 feet 

 per second, and the weight of the gun with its carriage to be 

 57 '7 cwt., or 64621bs., we shall have 5 '9 feet per second for 

 the velocity of the recoil.' ' The proportion,' says another 

 military writer, ' which the velocity of the recoil bears to 

 that of the ball is inversely as their weights, due allowance 

 being made for friction.' 



" Such is the formula which is employed for computing, 

 from the recoil, the velocity of the shot at the instant of its 

 leaving the gun. This theory has been a recognised doc- 

 trine lor more than a century. It is now spoken of as an 



