SIEGE TRAINS. 
153 
carriages, and not sufficiently accurate* for breaching purposes. 
They will be removed to the category of rifled mortars; and for 
the first will be substituted a howitzer of 70 cwt., to be mounted 
on a bed, fitted with transporting axle and wheels, and for the 
second, a longer piece of about 35 cwt., suitable for the carriage 
of the 40-pr. M.L. gun. 
It now becomes a serious question, whether some portion of 
our vast and valuable supply of Armstrong breech-loading guns 
should not be made available for siege-train purposes. The 
objections to the system have to a great extent disappeared with the 
introduction of pebble powder, and there can be no question that 
their remarkable accuracy would render them extremely useful at 
a siege for dismounting guns and destroying works at long ranges. 
For more advanced positions, where every inch of cover for 
gun and detachment is of vital importance, and the use of 
embrasures out of the question, the muzzle-loader, traversed by 
side-tackle from under the parapet, and loaded with a rope or 
telescopic rammer, is better protected than a breech-loader, and, 
considering its simplicity, may be taken as the better gun of the 
two, for close quarters. 
There is practically no more difficulty in working one than the 
other, and it may be taken for granted that the gunners of the 
Royal Artillery are equally handy at either. Under these circum¬ 
stances, a proportion of 7-inch, 40 and 20-pr. B.L. guns, with 
their equipments, should form part of the siege-train reserves, in 
the event of their being required at any time for the service of 
the country. 
The accompanying table shows how greatly the strain on the 
different siege-train guns is reduced by using pebble powder, and 
points to the possibility of greatly increasing their battering effect 
by “ chambering” them. By adopting carriages with slides and 
compressors, the addition to the charge would be limited only by 
the capacity of the gun to consume it. 
GUNS. 
Weight 
of 
Shot. 
Charge. 
MeanMuzzle 
Velocity, 
feet per 
second. 
Maximum 
Pressure in 
Tons, per 
R. L. G. 
Pebble. 
square inch 
on bottom of 
bore. 
lbs. 
7-inch, M.L. 
115 j 
14 
17 
1205 
1213 
143 
9-0 
64-pr. 
64 | 
12 
16 
1450 
1500 
22-0 
8-9 
40-pr. 
40 | 
7 
ib 
1301 
1495 
27-0 
8-3 
7-Inch, B.L. 
90 | 
11 
14 
1225 
1188 
17-4 1 
5-0 
* The rifling of the 6-3 inch howitzers has lately been changed, and their shooting 
greatly improved, but both the present howitzers are too light, and in reality are only 
fit to be classed as mortars. 
Proposed con¬ 
version to 
Mortars and 
substitution of 
new patterns. 
Breech-loading 
Armstrong 
guns, their 
great accuracy. 
Advantage of 
muzzle- 
loaders for 
more advanced 
positions. 
Addition of a 
proportion of 
7-in.40-pr. and 
20-pr. to the 
reserves. 
Table showing 
how the bat¬ 
tering powers 
of siege guns 
may be in¬ 
creased. 
