3 
Neither design satisfies General Wille, who considers that Captain Moch has 
not taken full advantage of the strength of his materials. 
(8.) Mr. Longridge, in his second design, has arrived at the same estimate of 
strength of materials as General Wille. 
His gun is shorter and stouter, and his powder pressure of 29°7 tons gives al- 
most exactly the same strain on the metal as General Wille’s 25 tons. As 
previously pointed out, General Wille considers his gun too short for nitro- 
powder, his muzzle velocity too low, and his shell too heavy.! 
(9.) ‘Taking the average of the foregoing table, omitting Mr. Bender’s 26-pr. 
and Colonel Langlois’ quick-firmg gun, and comparing the result with existing 
field guns, we note a large increase in power, velocity, density, and powder 
pressure, and a decrease in calibre. 
(10.) Next follow some notes on the highest velocities experimentally attained 
by various gun-makers : 
Canet... ... ... 2°42 inch gun 1892, 3323 f.s. 
Ceitelnae . cody yoo BOs) > yy ~ BORB 4 
IDSC soo 000) a 1893, BIOU 5 
French Government 6°3 55 » 8088 5 
Shewing that General Wille’s 2625 f.s., is not so extravagant after all. 
(11.) The flat trajectory is objected to on three rounds : 
(a.) Danger to one’s own troops in front. 
(0.) Want of searching powder of shrapnel against troops under cover. 
(c.) The enemy will be safe on the reverse slope of a hill, as shell clearing 
the ridge will go clean over him. 
General Wille replies: 
a.) ‘There is no question of the shell itself striking troops in front, as even 
at 100 yards the trajectory is about 9' 6” above the ground when firing at 2000 
yards. As for premature bursts, a few degrees of elevation more or less will 
make no possible difference. 
(0.) The lowest velocity field guns now existing give an angle of descent of 
only about 6° at 2000 yards. This is quite insuffictent for searching entrench- 
ments with shrapnel. Such work will have to be done with high explosive shell. 
c.) Obviously the fire is most effective when the trajectory is parallel to the 
reverse slope of the enemy’s position—that is when the angle of descent is equal 
to the slope of the ground. Practically, unless you get a ridge like the roof of a 
house, at ordinary ranges the slope is always less than the angle of descent, and 
the flatter the trajectory the better. 
12.) The high pressure in the bore (25 tons per square inch) to which many 
critics object, is no higher than that of the French 4°7” and 5°9" quick-firing 
guns. — 
A 5-inch gun tried at Birdsboro’, U.S., in 1892 stood 262 tons without injury. 
The new nickel-steel gun ordered by the American Government is to have a 
powder pressure of 20 tons to the square inch. The steel specification is as 
follows : 
A tube :—Hlastic limit 18°75 tons, breaking strain 38 tons, extension 20 per cent. 
Jacket :— Ae 20 55 5 40° ,, s; 18 
Outer hoops:—_,, Dalry a 465i, 5 
39 
39 16 33 
eer things being equal this weight gives 90 rounds per sub-division against General Wille’s 
