64 
OKEHAMPTON EXPERIENCES, 1893 . 
some considered that marks should have been deducted for using it. 
Pointing Out the Target. 
The old difficulty of making Section Commanders and gun-layers 
pick up an indistinct target by word of mouth was often very ap¬ 
parent. 
A few Battery Commanders used pointers, as recommended in 1890. 
They certainly made it much quicker, but they were not generally 
liked or used, it being considered that, as they are only needed on 
special occasions, it is not worth while to carry an extra store. Now, 
however, that batteries are to carry pickets for auxiliary laying points, 
this objection can easily be overcome ; a very slight cross head to the 
pickets would make them serve as pointers should one be required. 
When the direct occupation was employed, the quickest and surest 
way was for the Battery Commander to indicate the target to the 
nearest Section Commander only (if necessary pointing the nearest 
gun), and then let the centre Section Commander obtain it from him, 
and so on. By thus making one Section Commander receive it from 
his neighbour, the rush of officers through the battery was prevented, 
and fire commenced directly the Section Commander nearest the 
Battery Commander knew the target. The other Section Commanders 
always had plenty of time to pick it up before their turn came to fire. 
It was, as a rule, easy to find the target by observing the pitch of the 
first round, and when this failed, the second almost always indicated it. 
Rate of Fire. 
Deductions as to rate of fire, made from the ordinary Service Practice, 
are often rather misleading: on the practice ground, series are so short 
that the rate often depends more on the ability of the Battery Com¬ 
mander to find the range and fuze quickly than on the working power 
of the battery. 
The experiment, however, on the 29th of June, when from 50 to 60 
rounds were fired in each series, affords a fair test. On this date the 
rate at standing targets varied from 6 rounds a minute to 2*6, the 
average being 4*2. 
This seems to show that, though on occasions 6 rounds a minute can 
be maintained for some time, the average for a long period will only 
be 4, which agrees very accurately with foreign estimates, the German 
regulations laying down 4 rounds a minute for a 6-gun battery. 
For a short time at the cavalry target, on the 29th of June, the rate 
ran up to 13'5; the average at Okehampton of the 6-gun batteries 
being 9’8. 
Ranging. 
Ranging at a near infantry target was often very slow, this was 
especially the case when finding the length of fuze, most Battery 
Commanders waiting to observe the first pair before giving out the 
next length. In some batteries the Commander gave out at once three 
lengths, one for each section. At a short range one of the three should 
be right, the others would probably do some damage, and the Com- 
