THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
403 
EEPORT 
03 ? 
ORDNANCE SELECT COMMITTEE. 
No. 3730, dated 1st May, 1865. 
COMPETITIVE 7" WROUGHT IRON MUZZLE-LOADING GUNS. (2nd Report). 
[Communicated by direction of tbe Secretary of State for War.] 
1. The Committee have now the honor to report in continuation of their 
former Report, No. 3575, Minute 13,652, 
1st, The completion of the competitive trial between the Scott, Lancaster, 
Britten, Jeffery, and the so-called French gun ; 
2nd, The results of an independent trial between the above mentioned 
French gun, and one of the same calibre rifled on the shunt plan in 
accordance with a design submitted by Sir William Armstrong. 
2. It will be remembered that the former report brought down the 
history of the competition as far as the conclusion of the solid shot trials 
with the system named in the first paragraph, and that the results were on 
the whole in favour of the so-called French gun, whilst the systems of 
Messrs Jeffery and Britten were condemned as unsuitable for heavy charges. 
Drawings of shells were then called for from Commander Scott and Mr 
Lancaster; the weight of the loaded shell, and the minimum thickness of metal 
were fixed by the Committee, but full latitude upon other points was left to 
those gentlemen. Fifty shells were made for each gun. The Committee added 
a like number for the French gun, which were identical in form, except as to 
their studding, with those of Commander Scott. The practice with these 
shells is recorded in the following table; the results are again in favour of 
the French gun, and thus confirmatory of the shot practice. 
[vol. IV.] 
53 
