GOLD MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY; 1879 . 
513 
an impossibility; but there can be little doubt as to the capability of 
our Gun Factories to produce such a weapon. Improvements in 
powder, and a better understanding of the conditions of its com¬ 
bustion, have conferred on us to an extraordinary degree the power 
of obtaining a high muzzle velocity with a small maximum pressure. 
We have discovered the advantages to be obtained from the use of 
enlarged powder-chambers, the greatest of which is that we are 
enabled to use an air-spaced cartridge (say 34 or 35 cub. ins. to the 
lb., or even more) and yet retain a comparatively short cartridge. 
We have also discovered the advantage of length of bore; together 
with the fact that, by having suitable appliances on the gun-carriage, 
long guns are not so inconvenient to handle in the field as we used to 
imagine. The much vexed question then arises, Is our gun to be a 
breech-loader or a muzzle-loader? We decidedly prefer the breech- b.l., ad- 
loader, for the following reasons ™ gesc 
(1) The B.L. is much more handy to work, especially when very 
long in the bore. 
(2) The B.L. gives more cover to the gun detachment. 
(3) The B.L. can now be made almost as simple and quite as strong 
for practical purposes as the M.L., and there is not that danger of a 
shell jamming in loading which exists in a M.L. gun to some extent. 
(4) With very long shells, such as would be those of the guns 
above described, the B.L. has the advantage of requiring a less rapid 
twist to give accurate shooting, on account of its perfect centring ; 
and also some system of rotation, such as by copper rings, can be 
adopted, which supports the walls of the shell against the setting-up 
strain caused by discharge. This is especially valuable in the case of 
the shrapnel shell. 
(5) The B.L. system adapts itself more readily to the use of an 
enlarged powder-chamber. 
(6) The old objection that the time fuze cannot be lighted by the 
flash we regard rather as an advantage; the quickmatch method of 
lighting leading to irregularities of burning. Cap composition, such 
as is now used in our B.L. fuzes for detonators, seems to act very 
certainly and well. 
The calibre of the heavy gun above proposed is, we see, no larger 
than that of the 16-pr., while the shell is half as heavy again. The 
gain in velocity due to diminished retardation is very great, as we see 
by the following table :— 
Gun. 
Calibre. 
M.V. 
V. 
1000 yds. 
V. 
2000 yds. 
V. 
3000 yds. 
V. 
4000 yds. 
ins. 
f.s. 
f.s. 
■ f.s. 
f.s. 
f.s. 
16-pr. 
3-6 
1350 
1010 
867 
763 
682 
24-pr. \ 
3-6 
1350 
1092 
955 
867 
795 
L 
3-6 
1600 
1268 
1C42 
928 
846 
66 
