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EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT 
BY THE 
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON RIFLED FIELD GUNS AND HIGH ANGLE FIRE 
OH THE 
ARTILLERY EXPERIMENTS AT OKEHAMPTON, 
IN 
AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 1875. 
[The following extracts from the Eeport of the Special Committee on Eifled Field Guns and 
High Angle Fire on the Experiments at Okehampton, in 1875, are published for the information 
of such of our members as have not been able to obtain copies of the Eeport itself. A limited 
number of copies of the Eeport are in the library of the Institution, and will be issued to members 
on loan, on application to the Secretary.] 
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1. With reference to War Office Papers _s_ the Special Committee on 
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Eifled Eield Guns have now the honour to submit a Eeport on the artillery 
trials which were carried out by them at Okehampton in August and 
September 1875. 
Before entering upon a detail of their proceedings, they deem it desirable 
to give a short account of the origin of these experiments. 
On the introduction of the muzzle-loading field equipment, a difficulty 
was experienced in the production of an efficient percussion shell for muzzle¬ 
loading rifled guns, so that the Special Committee on Eield Artillery 
Equipment for India (1869), on whose recommendation the muzzle-loader 
was introduced for that country, did not include this nature of projectile in 
the proportions recommended by them, although they considered “ the 
question of segment shells and concussion fuzes one of great importance,” 
and strongly recommended that it should be carefully worked out by a 
Special Committee. 
Experiments with 9-pr. muzzle-loading segment shells, similar in character 
to the Armstrong breech-loading segment shell, and fitted with percussion 
fuzes to burst on graze, were subsequently carried out at Aldershot, with 
only partial success, by the Committee on Muzzle-Loading versus Breech- 
Loading Eield Guns (1870). 
In January 1870, the question of the provision of a trustworthy percus¬ 
sion fuze for field artillery was handed over to a Special Committee, who 
were subsequently directed (November 1870), in conjunction with the 
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