172 
MINUTES OE PROCEEDINGS OE 
Opinion of the Committee . 
The experiment with the Horsfall gun, which was to test the endurance 
of this piece of ordnance, shows that solid wrought-iron guns of great size 
may be manufactured capable of bearing large charges of gunpowder; 
although this gun had several flaws in the breech, one 13-in. deep, as before 
described, yet these flaws have been very slightly altered by the firing. 
The smashing effect of a spherical shot of 280 lbs. weight, fired with a 
charge of 74 lbs. of powder, was what might have been anticipated, and the 
accuracy of the gun was as good as that of any well-made smooth-bore piece 
of ordnance. 
The experiments with the Whitworth guns were extremely satisfactory. 
The 12 lbs. solid shot, fired with a charge of 1 lb. 14 oz., at a range of 
200 yds., penetrated a 2j-in. wrought-iron plate, and remained unbroken. 
A shell, with a bursting charge of 6 oz., was next fired from the 12-pr. 
gun, with the same charge and at the same range, at 2-in. of wrought-iron 
backed by 12-in. of wood; it passed completely through the target, buried 
itself in the sand-hill in the rear, and has since been dug up, when it was 
found not to have burst. 
The charge was then reduced to 1 lb. 12 oz., and one fold of the flannel 
covering the bursting charge taken off, and the second shell passed through 
the target and burst in the rear. 
The 70-pr. Whitworth gun was next fired at 200 yds. range. A shell from 
this gun, weighing 68 lbs. 7 oz., with a bursting charge of 2 lbs. 6 oz., was 
fired with 12 lbs. of powder at an iron case presenting a front of 7 ft. x 4 ft., 
covered with a 4-in. wrought-iron plate on a backing of 9-in. of wood, the 
rear of the box consisting of 4 in. of wood covering a 2-in. iron plate. 
The shell passed unbroken through the 4-in. plate, the 9-in. of wood and 
the 4-in. of wood, indented and cracked the 2-in. plate, and then burst, 
shattering the box into fragments. 
The 120-pr. Whitworth gun was fired from a 600 yds. range, at a target 
representing the side of the “ Warrior.” A solid shot weighing 129 lbs., 
and fired with a charge of 23 lbs. of powder, penetrated the armour-plate 
and wood backing, and fractured, but did not pass through, the skin. 
A shell weighing 130 lbs., with a bursting charge of 3 lbs. 8 oz., was fired 
with a 25 lb. charge at the same target. It penetrated the armour plate, 
and burst while passing through the wood backing, injuring and penetrating 
the skin in a line with the axis of the shell. 
It must be remarked also that these projectiles, though flat-ended, were 
fired with great accuracy, and were much truer in their flight than any flat- 
ended projectile which the Committee have hitherto seen fired. 
The results above recorded were obtained partly by using a larger charge of 
powder in proportion to the weight of the projectile than has hitherto been 
used in any rifled ordnance; but the great merit due to Mr Whitworth on 
this occasion .seems to be in the successful manufacture of a metal possessing 
such hardness and temper as to be capable of penetrating wrought-iron 
plates, yet at the same time so tough as not to crush or break on striking 
the target. On no previous occasion have the Committee seen a shell of any 
description penetrate more than one inch of iron without breaking up on impact, 
