368 
MINUTES OF PEOCEEDINGS OF 
In unlading the gun carriage, No. 2 takes off his cartouche; Nos. 2 and 
4 unbuckle the straps and cast loose the recoil-ropes, take off the wheels 
and lay them aside on the ground, No. 2 hands the wheel bearer and wanty 
to the mule leader ; Nos. 2, 4 and 5 lift off the carriage; No. 2 lets the trail 
end fall to the ground; Nos. 4 and 5 take out the linchpins, ship the wheels, 
and put in linchpins. 
In unlading the piece, No. 1 takes off his cartouche, unbuckles the 
tompion and buckles it under the muzzle, pulls the handspike partly out of 
the bore ; Nos. 2, 3, and 5 lift the piece over the mules* croup, turn the piece 
on its. axis until the vent comes upwards, and lay the piece on the carriage 
which has meanwhile being brought close by Nos. 2 and 4 ; finally, No. 2 
keys on the capsquares. 
The ammunition boxes are packed in pairs on the mules and are hung, one 
on the right, the other on the left side of the pack-saddle, by the suspending 
chains mentioned under the head of “ Harness the wanty is then buckled 
to the rings attached to the bottoms of the boxes. Tig. £2 shows the 
packing of the ammunition boxes. As a protection from rain a canvas water- 
deck is put over both boxes. 
Loading . 
13. To load with common shell for firing at low angles, No. 1 enters the 
cartridge, tie outwards, into the bore, then the common shell bottom inwards, 
the short sides of the ridges in contact with the corresponding sides of the 
grooves, the nose drifts being just inside the bore. No. 2 fits the slots on 
the rammer head over the nose drifts and then rams home cartridge and 
shell. When home No. 2 turns the staff with a short sharp pressure to the 
right, thus turning the shell so that the broad surface of the ridges bears 
against the broad surface of the grooves, and so centering the shell in the 
bore. The rammer is then sprung out of the bore without turning it; 
meanwhile No. 3 pricks the cartridge. 
The tin-foil band round the neck of the concussion fuze is not removed in 
loading. 
In slow firing the cartridge and shell are rammed home separately. 
In loading for firing at high-angles with common shell the cartridge is 
always set home by itself and the shell subsequently; to prevent the 
cartridge from turning over, the rammer head is adjusted over the tie end of 
the cartridge. 
Shrapnel shells have their fuzes set to time before loading. To set the 
fuze No. 1 puts the base of the shell on the left cheek of the carriage, tears 
off the cap of the fuze, fits the studs of the fuze-spanner into the two 
recesses of the fuze cover and turns the plate and composition ring until the 
division of the scale corresponding to the range comes opposite the index on 
the fuze-body. The cartridge and projectile are entered in the same way as 
above described for common shells firing at high angles, with the exception 
that the shrapnel shell is put into the bore with the tin-foil covering over 
the priming of the fuze to the left and downwards. 
Case shot, after the cartridge is put into the bore, are entered with the 
handle on the cover outwards; the cartridge and case shot are then rammed 
home together, the cartridge is pricked, and the rammer sprung. The 
