THE .ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
159 
bore of tbe gun to such an extent as to render the gun unserviceable 
from this cause alone, this is a matter of some moment. It would espe¬ 
cially be an advantage with a very strong and heavy gun, such as the 
one I propose, for, as a rule, the bigger the gun the greater the scoring; 
and if the strength of the gun were such that it would wear out in this 
manner before bursting, this would be the point most requiring to be 
attended to. No doubt, with breech-loading, greater facility would be 
given for stopping the windage than in muzzle-loading guns, by using 
a tight-fitting wad between the powder and shot; but it would not do 
this so effectually as lead coating. 
At present, windage has one advantage, owing to the difficulty of 
providing a suitable fuze for breech-loading guns. It is not probable, 
however, that this will long be a serious objection, now that attention 
has been directed to the difficulty. Captain Nolan and myself have 
proposed a method of using muzzle-loading fuzes with breech-loading 
guns, by making a channel through the projectile, so that the flash of 
the discharge may pass through and ignite the fuze.* 
Construction. 
I have dwelt at some length on these principles, because it is on 
them that I depend for the success of my gun. The mechanical details 
are merely the means of carrying them out, and may possibly have to 
be modified. They seem very simple and natural when embodied in 
this model, with which I was furnished by the kindness of Sir William 
Armstrong and Company, while employed at their works at Elswick* 
It took me fourteen years, however, to arrive at this result. What 
puzzled me most was to provide for the elevation. I first thought of 
having a joint between the plug which closes the breech and the 
weight which absorbs the blow; but that would soon have been smashed 
to atoms. The next idea was to butt the plug against a dead weight; 
but, from the varying elevation, the force would not have acted through 
the centre of gravity, which is a necessity with such an enormous 
pressure. The present idea is to make the plug and weight in one 
piece, and let it slide along bars which are rigidly attached to the sides 
of the gun. 
When loaded, the gun is balanced on the trunnions with only a slight 
preponderance, sufficient to cause the breech always to rest on its car¬ 
riage. Elevation or depression is given by running the breech carriage 
backwards or forwards. 
When the gun is fired, the shot and breech move in opposite direc¬ 
tions, with velocities inversely as their weights. The shot will thus 
have left the bore long before the breech is opened. The method of 
preventing any escape of gas at the breech is shown in Eig\ 15, where 
a steel disc fits on to the front of the plug, and has a paper wad in 
front of it. This will become tightly jammed so long as the pressure of 
gas acts on it, and will afterwards be withdrawn by the momentum of 
* This experiment has since been carried out successfully at Shoeburyness. 
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