TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 945: 
In discussing our modern ordnance I only alluded to quick-firing guns, because 
in their case the gun and mounting are so closely connected, the efficiency of the: 
system depending as much upon the one as the other, that a separate description 
of either would be incomplete, and they are more easily described together. The 
great success which attended the small Hotchkiss and Nordenfelt three- and six-- 
pounder guns led me to consider whether the same principle could not be applied 
to large guns, and we designed and made at Elswick the 4°7 inch and 5°65 inch 
quick-firing guns which were so successfully tried by the Zvcellent at Portsmouth.. 
Subsequently, with the co-operation of Mr. Vavasseur, various improvements were 
made, and for the sake of uniformity in calibre a 6-inch was substituted for the 
65-inch gun. 
One of the peculiarities of these guns is in the form of the breech-screw, which, 
while on the principle of the interrupted screw, is made conical, so as to simplify 
the action of opening and closing—the principle of the ordinary rifle cartridge 
has been extended to the ammunition for these guns. This not only allows ex- 
tremely rapid loading, but secures safety from premature explosions in rapid firing. 
The cartridges are fired electrically, and, not having their own ignition, there is no 
danger of exploding them either when stowed in the magazine or if accidentally 
dropped in the handling. 
To follow the rapid movements of a torpedo boat it is essential that there: 
should be the most perfect control over the gun and mounting, and the most 
effective mode of rapid fire is to keep the gun always ou the object aimed at, allow- 
ing the gun itself to fire as the breech is closed. ‘The captain stands at the side of 
the gun, shielded by a guard-plate from the recoil, his shoulders braced against a 
shoulder-piece which is unaffected by the recoil; his eye aligns the sights; with 
one hand he works the elevating or training wheel, and with the other grasps the 
firing-trigger, or, for rapid firing, the training-wheel may be thrown out of gear 
and direction given by the shoulder-piece alone. The mounting is a centre pivot, 
and, being on live rollers, turns with the least effort. The gun has no trunnions, 
but slides in a carriage which enyvelops it like a sleeve. The trunnions are on 
this carriage, so that the two are together pivoted like an ordinary gun in a fixed 
lower carriage. There is no preponderance when the gun is in the forward posi- 
tion, and the recoil lasts for so short a time that the disturbance of the centre of 
gravity is not felt on the elevating-gear or shoulder-piece. The lower side of the 
carriage is formed into a recoil press, the piston-rod of which is attached to a horn 
on the rear of the gun, 
There is also a spring-box, with rod attachments to the horn, by which the gun 
is instantly run out as soon as the recoil is expended. Efficient shields are pro- 
vided to protect the crew. The revolving weight of the gun and mounting is 5 
tons, yet, with the shoulder against the shoulder-piece, it can be swung through 
90° in 2 seconds, and with the gear can be trained through the same arc in 5. 
seconds. It is possible to fire from this gun at the rate of 10 to 12 rounds per 
minute, and on one occasion 10 rounds were fired in 47 seconds; but perhaps the. 
most striking experiment with the gun was made at Shoeburyness, when 5 rounds. 
were fired in 31 seconds at a 6’ x 6’ target at 1,300 yards, all of which struck the 
object aimed at. 
A trial has also been recently made between two cruisers, the one armed with 
ordinary breech-loading, the other with quick-firing artillery, from which it. 
appears that when firing at a target the latter, in a given time, was able to dis- 
charge about six times the quantity of ammunition fired by the former. I need 
not impress upon you the significance of these facts or the importance of quick- 
firing armaments, especially if firing shell, possibly charged with high explosives, 
against the unarmoured portions ot cruisers or other vessels, 
The accuracy and the shell power of rifled guns have naturally had their- 
effect upon the mountings for the land service, experiments havirg conclusively 
shown that batteries armed with guns placed in ordinary embrasures would soon. 
be rendered untenable. Among the expedients that have been adopted or sug- 
ae to meet the altered conditions, the system of making the gun disappear 
ehind a parapet or into a pit, with which the name of Colonel Moncrieff has been. 
