141 
THE INFLUENCE OF AMMUNITION 
ON SHOOTING. | 
OA aD AIDING sd) g deipgs WPyavNh See) by Te, ad ele, 
Tar hope of the gunner is to make his shooting effective. With this 
object increased attention is daily paid to points of the minutest 
detail. 
It has long been recognised that ammunition is one very material 
point. We may, perhaps, eliminate errors of gun and of layer, but it 
igs at once evident that there are other factors on which the regularity 
of the shooting depends. Regularity of, is synonomous with, effective 
shooting ; provided the guns are ranged correctly. This may appear 
a truisim, none the less it is well to bear it constantly in mind in any 
consideration of ammunition. 
The factors that make up ammunition are :— 
(1). Powder. (2). Fuzes. (3). Shell. 
It is my endeavour in this paper to show that the above is the order 
of relative importance of these items, and to express in actual figures 
the effect of variations in them on the actual shooting of the gun._ For 
the sake of demonstration I take the 15-pr. B.L. gun mounted on a 
Mark II. carriage and firmg at an elevation of 3° 12’, corresponding 
in the range table to a range of 2000 yards. Identical conclusions 
apply to every gun in the service, whether firing powder or cordite ; 
with the reservation, of course, that considerations of higher velocity, 
etc. affect the arithmetical differences though not the general prin- 
ciples. ‘The calculations are too lengthy, and not, I think, of sufficient 
general interest to warrant their inclusion. I give the results. In 
every instance the trajectory has been worked out by Bashforth’s 
method. The agreement between the results of actual firing, as set 
out in the range table, and the calculated results (when using the range 
table data of muzzle velocity and weight of shell) is so close, that I 
venture to hope it will vouch for the general accuracy of all my 
results. 
(1) Powder.—Owing to difficulties of manufacture it is impossible to 
turn out the different lots of powder so as to be identical in all respects. 
All that can be done is by blending, etc. so to reduce these differences 
as to make the various lots as similar as is practicable. If we examine 
the specification for S.P. powder,! we find that the mean muzzle velocity 
of a lot must be between two limits which differ by 40 f.s. So that if 
? Hand-book for Gunpowder and Guncotton. By Major-General W. H. Wardell. 
ai, WOll, SOU 
