140 Q.F. FIELD EQUIPMENTS ON THE CONTINENT. 
extremity is hooked on to a ring on the breech block and it remains hook¬ 
ed as long as the gun is in action; it is laid across the back of the axle 
seat when not actually being held by the firing number. There is a 
safety bolt by which the breech can be locked; and when the breech 
is so locked^ the striker cannot fall. This bolt serves to keep the breech 
closed during travelling. On opening the breech, the fired cartridge 
is drawn back automatically, but it is not entirely ejected; it is 
removed by hand and thrown outside the left wheel. The opening at 
the breech end of the gun is cut away on the left hand side to facilitate 
loading. The calibre of the gun is 3*03 inches. The rifling has an 
increasing twist, the final twist being one turn in 25’6 calibres. There 
are thirty-two grooves. The gun is twenty-seven calibres long. The 
shot chamber is rifled and slopes off in rear into the powder chamber. 
The sight’socket is at an angle, to compensate for drit. There is 
only one set of sights and that is on the right of the gun. The gun 
is made of nickel steel; instead of ordinary trunnions it has a vertical 
pivot underneath, which fits in a kind of cradle, which is connected 
to the carriage by trunnions; this allows of the gun being traversed 
in the carriage. The muzzle velocity is stated to be 1,525 f.s.,* and 
this agrees approximately with another statement made, namely that 
the highest point of the trajectory at a range of 2,187 yards is 118 
feet. The new gun has a flatter trajectory than the old one and its 
maximumjrange is said to be 8,750 yards. 
Carriage .—This is a rigid one, i.e. there is no hydraulic or other buffer, 
the recoil is checked by means of (1) a rope brake on the Lemoine 
principle; (2) a folding spade. The rope brake is similar to that on 
the old German equipment and also to that used by the French. It 
consists of a rope twisted round the inner flanges of the naves and 
connected to a cross shaft which carries brake blocks on its ex¬ 
tremities. It can be used as a travelling or firing brake. As in the 
* Militar Zeitung, 10.12.’98. 
