148 
Q.F. FIELD EQUIPMENTS ON THE CONTINENT. 
The fuze setter is an instrument with graduations on it correspond¬ 
ing to the graduations on a fuze. When it has once been set, it 
can be rapidly applied to any number of fuzes and brings them to the 
same graduation as itself. 
Fig. 4* (lit) SbowinglappavatuB fov’putting spade 
in gear oi* out of gear. 
The obturator of the old (1875) gun has been altered to enable it 
to fire smokeless powder. A metallic cartridge case is not used. 
Although the Austrians have thus made considerable improvements 
in their old materiel, they have continued their experiments with new 
equipments.* In the first half of 1898, four gun equipments were 
under trial. Their calibres varied from 2*95 to 3’07 inches. The 
guns were of bronze with an inner tube of steel. Two guns had 
hydraulic buffers; one had a chain arrangement, and the fourth had 
no buffer attached to it. The breech mechanisms were either of the 
wedge type, opening to the left, or of the Nordenfelt type.f Both 
mechanisms had safety arrangements to guard against premature 
firing, and included a percussion arrangement which was automatically 
cocked on closing the breech. 
The carriages allowed of a certain amount of traverse and had 
travelling brakes. The carriage with the gun which had no buffer 
* Revue Militaire Suisse, May, 1898. 
f Presumably this means the Maxim-Nordenfelt type, as the Nordenfelt mechanism, as used 
in the service 3-prs.. does not appear to have been applied to Q.F. Field guns by either the 
Maxim-Nordenfelt Company or by the Nordenfelt Company of Paris. 
