7 C ITALIAN FIELD GUN. 
395 
5*58 ft. long and of the same width as above, the targets being spaced 
out at l‘64ft. apart, and the ranges being 547 yds. and 1531 yds., the 
effects were 2’9 and 2’1 hits per round. 
Firing at 2 field pieces unlimbered, limbers with teams hidden in a 
hollow behind the guns, 1 officer and 1 trumpeter visible between the 
pieces, the range being 1094 yds., 3 men and 2 horses hit per round, 
and at 1969 yds. 3 men and 3 horses hit every 2 rounds. 
The conclusions come to as to the efficacy of the fire were as 
follows:— 
1. That the shrapnel fire of the 7 C gun may be expected to give 
most efficacious results against men and horses, provided that the 
battery has had the necessary practice to execute it with that discern¬ 
ment which is indispensably necessary. 
2. That against troops in the open, the maximum effect is obtainable 
by bursting the shell from 6 to 10 ft. above the plane, and at a distance 
of from 30 to 50 yds. .short of the target. 
3. That against troops under cover, it is desirable to burst the shell 
above the ridge of the covering mass, and at such a height as to 
prevent the lowest shots striking the mass before explosion : the eleva¬ 
tion of the piece being that due to a range of 50 yds. greater than the 
distance of the object fired at. 
4. That the system of getting the data for firing with shrapnel by 
means of a few rounds of common shell, meets the object in a tolerably 
satisfactory manner; but that that system will be efficacious in the 
direct ratio of the skill of the officers in the practical execution of this 
special system of firing. 
Common Shell. 
This projectile differs from that in the -British service only in so far 
that the inside is scored with weakening grooves. It bursts on the 
average into 24 pieces, nearly regular in form, weighing at the lowest 
limit 3J ozs. each. 
Range Tahle> Common Shell. 
Distance 
of object. 
Elevation. 
Hits per cent, 
in a target 
yds. 
degs. 
5-9 x 196 ft.' 
547 
0-8 
100 
1094 
2-0 
83 
1540 
3-6 
45 
2187 
5-4 
23 
2734 
7-6 
— 
3281 
10-0 
— 
3828 
12*6 
— 
The elevations for the shrapnel shell are one-fifth greater, the table 
extending to 2515 yds. 
