314 
SILVER MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1898. 
for from the quick firer. It has been shown that a 12-pr. Q.F. admits 
of quite as rapid a rate of fire as a 6-pr. Q.F., and it seems therefore 
fair comment to assert that if a heavier type of field Q.F. gun could be 
produced, say a 14-pr., the rate of fire would be just as rapid. To 
men of ordinary physique the somewhat heavier ammunition would be 
as easy to handle as the lighter, and the absence of recoil would be as 
great a saving of time in one case as in the other. 
We may safely assume that any Q.F. gun adopted by us would not 
be less than a 12-pr., and for Field Artillery probably greater; but 
whatever its calibre may be, the results of the experiments quoted 
show that an Artillery thus armed would have the power of developing 
on the battle-field, should occasion arise, a rate of fire which we may 
take to be from about six to possibly eight rounds per gun per minute. 
The value however of this rate of fire depends entirely upon its relation 
to that obtainable from ordinary field guns. How far the quick firer 
may excel in this respect can only be ascertained after the perform¬ 
ances of the Artillery with which we are at present armed have been 
considered. If existing guns are as effective no change would be 
beneficial. Again we must resort to practical experiences for infor¬ 
mation on this point. 
Some years ago the Germans attained, in a trial for rapidity of fire, 
a rate equal to two rounds per gun per minute,* * * § and the same rate 
was obtained in 1893 at Okehampton, where a battery fired 12 
rounds of shrapnel in a minute.f Also in the same year and at the 
same practice camp a long continued fire trial took place from a 6-gun 
battery, with the result that a slightly greater rate of fire was obtained 
(13*4 rounds shrapnel per minute, fuze set at 2) ; but even this per¬ 
formance has been eclipsed. Perhaps the most rapid rate of fire that 
has ever taken place from Field Artillery guns is that recorded in the 
“ General Report on the Practice carried out by the R.A. in India, 
1897.” It is there stated that “the three best batteries in the Punjaub 
Command achieved in the magazine fire practice at a target advancing 
nearly directly at the battery an average rate of 19*4 rounds a minute.” 
This was shrapnel fire. With case shot the rate { was slightly quicker 
(19*76 rounds per minute). In other words, each battery fired on an 
average at a rate of rather more than three rounds per gun per 
minute. But this very exceptional rate of fire cannot be counted on. 
The Germans hold that 15 rounds per minute is the maximum that can 
be expected from a 6-gun battery,§ and the results of the practice of 
most of our batteries point to this as being a very liberal estimate. 
We may therefore assume that if we take two and a half, or from two 
and a half to possibly three rounds per minute, as the maximum that 
can be expected from an equipment that is allowed to recoil, we are 
conceding to the gun the greatest amount of rapidity of fire it is ever 
likely to attain. This however falls far short of the effect which we 
* ‘-The Field Gun of the Future,” by General Wille, R.A.I, Proceedings, September 
1894 page 6. 
f “ Report on Practice carried out by R.A. in India, 1897,” page 27. 
j “ Report on Practice carried out by R.A. in India, 1897,” pages 7 and 29. 
§ •• R.U.S. Institution Journal,” January 1898, page 110. 
