THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
407 
A 
FLYING VISIT TO TURIN ARSENAL, 
9th NOVEMBER, 1873. 
LIEUT. IL. GEAKV, R.A. 
Having occasion to pass through Turin in November lash, I 
took advantage of the kindness of Captain Biancardi, of the 
Italian Artillery, and Director of Experiments, to visit the Arsenal 
under his guidance. 
My stay in Turin being but of a few hours, the time available 
for inspection was proportionally brief; yet one could not fail in 
being astonished at the marvellous activity and progress displayed 
since a previous visit in 1868. 
Although the British artillery authorities are doubtless well 
aware of the various improvements in materiel made in foreign 
arsenals, yet to the bulk of the officers of the regiment the 
archives of the department are practically inaccessible. 
The following short notes, it is hoped, may consequently prove 
of some interest. 
The heavy ordnance claimed the first and principal attention. 
The heavy guns in the Italian service are breech-loaders, on a 
system modified from that adopted by the French marine. The dif¬ 
ferences are only slight; the swinging breech and sliding breech¬ 
block remaining the same as in the French guns. They are all 
made of puddled steel, founded in France by “ Petit r Gaudet,” at 
“Five de Gier,” and at St. Etienne; but, for the future, steel 
manufactured from Elba ore, at Piombino in Tuscany, will be the 
sole material employed. A large coal field has recently been 
discovered in the vicinity of Piombino, and with it a prospect of 
great manufacturing activity. 
It would be as well to give a few details of the principal gun 
yet manufactured. 
Heavy ordnance. 
Breech-loaders. 
Piombino steel. 
Coal available on 
the spot. 
