196 
SHEAPNEL FIEE.„ 
With the same range and gun, using time fuzes, the angle of descent 
is 6°. By bursting the shell rather high, a larger angle of descent is 
obtained for the lowest effective bullets. With this view, suppose 
one-fourth the diameter of the cone of dispersion is made to strike the 
parapet; the following will then be the heights above plane at which 
the shell opens:— 
ft. 
10 yds. short . 5’0 
20 „ „ 7*2 
30 „ „ 9-5 
40 „ „ 11-7 
50 „ „ 14-0 
and at the same gun pit the portions of the detachment exposed to 
fire would be— 
Burst. 
Nos. 2 and 3. 
ft. 
Nos. 4, 5, and 1. 
ft. 
10 yds. 
. -93 . 
.... 1-83 
20 „ . 
. *67 . 
.... 1-34 
80 n . 
. -59 .. 
.... 1T9 
40 „ . 
. -55 . 
.... 1-09 
50 „ . 
. *52 . 
..., T04 
These amounts are supposing the parapet does not suffer, and that 
the bullets which strike even close to the crest have no effect. In 
practice, however, the parapet is found to suffer* and many bullets, 
when they have the descending angle due to time shell* pass through 
it, having remaining velocity sufficient to make them effective. 
It may fairly be assumed, therefore, that time are more effective 
than percussion shrapnel at such an object; and the correctness of 
this view is fully confirmed by the practice at Okehampton (vide 
Report, p. 82), in which the effects of the two were compared. 
Before the percussion shrapnel were fired, the parapet had already 
had two direct hits and 22 rounds of common and water shells. 
Twelve rounds of percussion were fired, with the following result:— 
50, 65, 55, 65, 85, 15, 25, 8, and 2 yds. under; 2 direct hits, and one 
shell 45 yds. over. This, considering the size of the object, may be 
taken as fair practice. 
'Result.-— Face of work much damaged. 1 dummy disabled (No. 2)* 
hit in 3 places. 
The work was then thoroughly repaired, and 12 time shrapnel fired. 
The following was the range report. The whole burst short with one 
exception:— 
6 above plane ... 100, 8, 200, 100, 90, 40yds. 
4 oil plane . 20, 160, 40, 6 yds. 
1 blind . 50yds. 
1 on plane . 10 yds. over. 
Only six effective shell out of twelve cannot be called good practice 
the increased damage is, however, very marked. 
