494 
MINUTES OE PROCEEDINGS OE 
will scarcely be necessary in firing at troops; but it may be required in 
certain cases where great accuracy is desirable—such as firing at a 
single gun, at the pillars of a house, or the voussoirs of an arch, &c. 
The tangent scale is set in at an angle of 1° 30' to the left of the vertical, 
to correct the deflection or drift up to 1500 yards due to the pitch of 
rifling and velocity. 
The venting is that of the smooth-bore guns, excepting that the vent 
is vertical, striking the axis of the piece at O’6" from the bottom of the 
bore. The object of a return to the old venting, is to ensure the whole 
of the cartridge bag being blown out at each discharge. The Indian 
Committee tried several patterns of sponges calculated to fetch out debris 
of cartridge; but this venting left them nothing to do in this respect. 
19, The gun-carriage is chiefly of iron the trail is composed ot 
two plate-iron brackets, stiffened with angle-iron, connected by through 
bolts, and ending in the trail-eye. The axle-arm is not steeled so as 
to be suited to the gun-metal pipe-box of the nave. 
The wheels are of the Madras pattern, so well known as not to need 
description. 
The fittings of the ammunition boxes are of the simplest nature, and 
are so contrived that when the lid is closed, each shell is held fast in its 
place by wooden compressors in contact with the lid. 
Right and left of the gun are two boxes, the lids of which can be 
made available as seats for two gunners with the field batteries, while 
two are carried on the limber, and two more on the off horses of the 
team; so that the gun can go into action independently of its wagon, 
with its gunners fresh for their work. 
In the near box are three case shot and three charges, with priming 
irons and tube-pouch. In the off* box it is proposed to place a range¬ 
finder and one round of case shot. The limber contains 30 rounds, but 
accommodation is provided for 36. 
The weight dragged by the gun-team, with men dismounted, will be 
about 33-| cwt .; that is, 1J cwt, heavier than the Royal Horse Artillery 
9-pr. breech-loader, and about the same weight as the 6-pr. smooth¬ 
bore of Royal Horse Artillery in India. 
The wagon and limber contain 96 rounds, or 128 filled up, the latter 
being interchangeable at will with the gun-limber. The weight behind 
the team is about the same as with the gun, 33 cwt. 
The forge wagon differs little from that formerly in the service, with 
the exception that iron is brought into use as much as possible. 
With regard to the endurance of the carriages in firing, one has had 
fired from it some 4000 rounds. For 500 rounds, the wheels were 
lashed to posts to stop the recoil. The carriage at this moment appears 
to be as good as when new. 
The gun-carriage has met with the highest approbation of all who 
have used it, and I believe all who have seen it. It was designed in 
the Royal Carriage Department, at Woolwich, and appears to me to 
reflect the greatest credit on its designer. 
* Vide Eig. 6; 
