68 
OKE HAMPTON EXPERIENCES, 1893 . 
safe, it was suggested that targets to represent them should be placed 
at various distances in rear of the gun targets. Unfortunately, only 
the following short trial could be made :— 
Three 9 feet targets were placed 200 yards behind the 6-gun battery, 
on the slope of Yes Tor, range, 3200 yards. They were in position, 
while about 120 rounds were fired at the battery, and during that time 
received 1 through, 4 lodges, and 12 strikes. The results would 
probably be interesting if limbers could be represented behind each 
gun target and left in position for the season. 
On the 29th June the ammunition supply was worked from the rear 
to the front, that is to say, the officer in rear had to keep himself 
informed of what was going on in front and offer the ammunition as 
required. 
The supply from the line of wagons to the battery worked smoothly: 
the average time between the arrival at the guns of three full wagons 
and departure of the three empty ones was 4 min. 20 sec. The fact 
that the Division Ammunition Column has only two ammunition 
wagons per battery to send up, entailed a lot of shifting of ammunition 
and was a source of delay; the time from the arrival of the empty 
wagons back at the column to their being ready to start again was 
45 min., but most of this was taken up counting returned stores, &c.; 
the actual time to fill a wagon being 9 rain. 
Competitive. 
The general opinion was that the conditions were very fair, but that 
the qualifying marks were too low, and that a better standard would 
have been 300, 270, and 240. Reducing the ranges by 500 yards, and 
leaving out the intervals in Series II. and III., increased the vulner¬ 
ability of the latter targets more, probably, than had been expected. No 
harm, however, was done by this, as the prizes are not now class prizes. 
It was the almost universal opinion that marks for Fire Discipline 
should be retained, for although the standard of drill is now very high, 
they make every man on parade take an interest in the Competitive, 
and feel he is doing something for the common good. A few Com¬ 
manding Officers thought 4-gun batteries had a slight advantage in this 
respect, as there are fewer chances of errors occurring with 4-gun than 
with 6. The plan of 4-gun batteries having an extra minute worked 
well, and is much more satisfactory than last yeaFs, when 4-gun 
batteries certainly had the advantage. 
The results show that there is not much to chose between 4 and 6-gun 
batteries, either in time, ammunition used, or effects. 
The average number of rounds fired has not reached the full allow¬ 
ance ; the time, therefore, appears about right, since it enables a quick 
battery to reap the advantage of its extra rapidity. 
It is interesting to notice that, at Okehampton, Glenbeigh, and 
Shoeburyness, the order of vulnerability of the targets, reckoned by 
dummies disabled in the time allowed, appears the same, viz., II. Series, 
III. Series, I. Series. It is almost the same even if allowance is made 
for the extra shell fired in the 2nd and 3rd Series. The laying at the 
column being evidently slower than at the lines. 
