ARMOUR AND ITS ATTACK BY ORDNANCE. 
97 
September 22nd (Monday). 
The different classes of designs under trial may be grouped in more 
than one way, but are fairly included under the following heads :—• 
(1.) Mountain and field quick-fire guns. (2.) Fortress guns on case¬ 
mate carriages. (3.) Fortress guns in shielded mountings. (4.) Naval 
gans. (5.) Turrets. These are taken in the order followed by Gruson 
in his printed list. The special use of a mountain or field quick- 
fire gun is to pour in a fire of extraordinary rapidity at any required 
moment; its relation to an ordinary field gun being in fact, the same 
as that of a magazine rifle to a single loader. This valuable power 
is obtained at the cost of the additional weight, inconvenience, and 
expense entailed by the use of fixed ammunition, in which projectile, 
charge, and detonator are held in a copper case, which can be 
thrust into the breech with great speed, and which itself acts as an 
obturator at the breech joint. The scope for this action is limited 
in the field by the power of stopping, or very nearly stopping, the 
recoil ; for if it is necessary to run up and relay the gun, the 
quick-fire speed in entering the charge is of little use. Hence it 
naturally follows that in the field, where carriages with hydraulic 
buffers cannot conveniently be used, quick-fire guns will be of very 
limited size, their value depending on the efficient action of their 
brakes. It is well to be clear on this point, in order to avoid any 
false application to quick-fire guns of what would be sound reasoning 
in considering the value of field guns. Quick-fire, to be efficient, must 
not be interfered with by recoil, and it is obvious that even a moderate 
recoil repeated every few seconds must interfere most seriously with it. 
At a supreme moment, however—as in the case of a rush at the bat¬ 
tery, when accuracy is not necessary—a small recoil may be disregarded. 
A very fair instance of this was seen in Tuesday’s firing, September 
23rd, at Tangerhiitte, when a 5*7 cm (2*24-inch) gun fired case at cavalry 
targets at 1800 m , discharging 11 rounds in 51 seconds. At the end of 
the 11 rounds the piece had run back 6i m ; but the gunner firing had 
been able to keep close to the trail, and to see that the gun pointed 
fairly enough in the desired direction, so that the cavalry targets were 
well riddled, and more careful firing with shell on any special point 
might be carried out with a field piece with less recoil. This rapid 
discharge at a critical period is a function of sufficient importance to 
have secured the adoption of quick-fire guns; and, keeping this in 
view, there is a value in a maximum rate of speed such as may other¬ 
wise appear to be unnecessary and unpractical. JSlo doubt such speed 
will seldom be called for, but when called for it will be at a moment 
when everything may depend on it. The same provision for rapid 
continuous fire is carried out in fortress and naval guns by recoil and 
automatic recovery of position between each round, or by absolute 
absorption of recoil on a rigid mounting, and to correspond to the 
critical moment of a sudden rush of an enemy on field guns may be 
taken, the case of assault of a fortress, or at sea of torpedo-boat attack. 
In the case of heavy shielded mountings and turrets, whether with 
quick-firing or ordinary guns, the main consideration is protection 
against heavy fire. In fortresses there exist points where in limited 
