RANGING A BATTERY. 
3 
been made, as under every scheme they will be made, he must wait till 
the proper gun to fire corrects its mistake. No other gun is concerned. 
The Commander or the N.C.-O., usually an observer, working with 
him, must keep a table on blank form and fill in the ranges as ordered, 
so that if the Commander is shot the table is on the spot to guide his 
successor. In like manner Sectional Officers should keep a record. 
They may possibly perform all their work in their heads, because after 
the first range, it is purely a see-saw between the windward and centre 
sections. I, however, consider they should all have blank tables ruled 
out in their pocket-books and fill in the ranges as they go along. 
Among many other aids which it will afford, it will give them at a 
glance (if by any chance anything distracts them) what every gun is 
doing, and will leave a distinct record for the man who takes their place 
if they become disabled. 
A succession of doubtful observations would undoubtedly have 
caused trouble under Captain Horne’s proposal, but I trust it can be 
shewn that this difficulty can be overcome. 
On the whole, although Captain White has pulled Captain Horne’s 
efforts to pieces, his paper only contributes to the general result—a 
prophesy of what may happen in the future, which unfortunately in no 
way assists us. 
Captain Buckle, on the other hand, points out several facts which 
must receive consideration in any scheme for ranging. 
Five guns out of six may possibly only get into action ; one or 
possibly two of these may be disabled before range can be found, 
leaving the Battery Commander four or perhaps only three guns to 
complete his ranging with. I trust it can be shewn (see Table D.) 
that so long as three guns remain to the Commanding Officer the 
system proposed can be adhered to with the result of an increase in the 
rate of fire. Below three guns it is not necessary to go; for such 
exceptional occasions, special provision must be made. 
Rounds will also be " Doubtfulthis is best met, as will be seen 
from Table C, by allowing the section getting a doubtful result to 
continue its fire at that range until a decisive judgment can be given ; 
all others meanwhile “ Stand fast.” 
It is undoubtedly important that a number of heads and hands in a 
battery should not be working ahead (independently) of the Command¬ 
ing Officer. 
This is guarded against by the Commanding Officer calling out the 
number of yards or the elevation at which he wishes a gun fired ,* the 
proper gun under the scheme then fires ; none are ahead of the Com¬ 
manding Officer but the two guns taking the arms of the Bracket. 
Captain Buckle then suggests a modification of Captain Horne’s 
proposal, and owns that in many cases the Commanding Officer must 
know before firing many of the rounds, exactly the range that will next 
be required, or that it will be one of two. 
This, the Sectional Officers know as well as he does, and so long as 
two guns in the battery are always ready to fire or in the act of laying 
at the range the Commanding Officer wants, it is only giving needless 
trouble to cause four other guns to keep on re-laying at the range 
