MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
162 
Captain Noble asked if the breech would act as a rammer ? 
Captain Morgan said it might be so adapted. 
Captain Browne said he understood Captain Morgan to say that 
there would be no windage at the breech; in fact, that there would be 
no room for escape of gas until the shot had left the muzzle. How, 
then, he would ask, would he contrive to effect this ? How tight would 
he make the piston to fit ? 
Captain Morgan said the plug would have from one-tenth to one- 
quarter inch play. A steel disc would be screwed on to the face of it, 
having less play, and in front of that he would put a paper wad. By 
this means he had every confidence that any escape of gas would be 
prevented. The recoil of the breech would be about 3 ins. during the 
discharge, but the plug was in point of fact a foot and a half long, so 
that there was at least 9 ins. to spare before there could be any danger. 
In reality it would be a safety-valve, escaping only when a shot got 
jammed in the bore, and thereby preventing the destruction of the tube. 
Even in case of such an escape of gas, the breech would be so con¬ 
structed that the gas would be thrown forward. 
Captain Browne said that, under those circumstances, it would seem 
that there was danger from the gas escaping at the breech; and he 
asked if it was not saving the gun at the expense of the gunners ? 
Captain Morgan said the gunners would be protected behind the 
breech, which would direct the flash against the turret. 
Colonel Shaw asked what was proposed to be the battering charge of 
powder ? 
Captain Morgan. —About 200 lbs. 
Colonel Shaw. —And would a breech of that size resist the explosion 
of such a charge ? 
Captain Morgan. —Yes; it is the strongest form for resistance I can 
think of. 
Colonel Shaw. —How would the gun be sighted ? 
Captain Morgan explained, by reference to the model, that it might 
be done by means of a small hole in the face of the turret. He added, 
however, that he should prefer having the gun and carriage to rise and 
fall, on something like the Moncrieff principle, having already prepared 
a model for that purpose. 
Captain Harrison asked if the extra 10 tons in the weight of the gun 
was an absolute necessity ? Ten tons of dead weight, in comparison 
to the weight of a service gun, seemed a very heavy addition. 
Captain Morgan replied that, with good compression, it might be 
possible to keep within what would be the service limit—60 tons, but 
he would not recommend it. He calculated that about one-sixth of the 
grnfls weight would have to be added as a sacrifice for this arrange¬ 
ment of the breech. Thirty tons, however, are cast-iron. 
Captain Harrison. —You do not think your arrangement is possible 
without sacrificing that weight ? 
Captain Morgan. —I do not say that. What I mean is, that I would 
not risk my gun by trying experiments to reduce the weight; but I 
think it might possibly be reduced. 
Captain Harrison said he did not recommend such a reduction if the 
