198 
SHRAPNEL EIRE. 
it—good ground, in fact, for percussion fuzes. The results of 8 rounds 
of each nature were as follows :— 
Shell. 
Disabled. 
Hits. 
Detachment. 
Gun. 
Wheels. 
1st target. 
2nd target. 
Percussion. 
2 
Nil. 
Nil. 
1 
1* 
Time . 
8f 
1 
22 
17 
18 
* Direct hit of shell. f Whole detachment, 
mins. 
Time of firing rounds, | 
Part of the diminished effect produced by the percussion shell may 
be due to another cause, which has already been pointed out (p. 192). 
It has been shown that to obtain good effect the shell must at ordi¬ 
nary ranges be burst close up. By the time the cone arrives at the 
target, therefore, it has only a small diameter and this necessitates 
very careful shooting—a matter of difficulty when either the ground is 
rough, the wind strong, or the object moving. In addition, every 
irregularity of ground which tends to deflect the point of the shell 
must have a disturbing tendency. 
In the case just quoted, for instance, the best distance of burst 
would have been about 18 yds. short. This gives a spread of only 
7*5 ft.; the entire effect of a shrapnel 8’5 ft. to the right or left of the 
muzzle of the gun would have been lost. 
In this last experiment and that described at p. 197, the difference in 
effect on the rear of the object is very marked; and this leads to the 
consideration of the different results produced with time and per¬ 
cussion shrapnel respectively when the object attacked has depth. 
Percussion, since they must burst on plane with an ascending angle, 
cannot possibly do more than produce a comparatively small effect 
immediately in front; they cannot distribute their fire over the whole 
target from front to rear as time shell do. They may, at times, 
seem to do so, when such a target is used as in Series Q, and R., 
Okehampton Report (9-ft. x 9-ft. x 2-in. targets, representing a regi¬ 
ment of cavalry in quarter-distance column, the squadrons having 
36 paces of front, 5 paces between ranks, and 11 paces between 
squadrons). Here, by bursting through targets in different positions 
in the column, the effect seems spread over the whole; but this is due 
to a number of shells acting partially, not by each shell, if it is well 
aimed, distributing its effect over the whole object. 
Compare, for instance, the 9-pr. at this target (Okehampton Report, 
p. 74). 4 time shells are given as “good” out of 6 fired. Range, 
3540 yds. All the squadrons suffer, with a result of 60 dummies dis¬ 
abled ; the effect being fairly distributed. 
At p. 75, on the other hand, with 12 percussion shells from the same 
