8 
be supplied easily enough, and I have no doubt that it can and will be used for 
guns. Twenty years ago we made our guns of wrought-iron because we would 
not trust steel; now we use low steel because we will not trust high steel. 
Surely itis time we tried a step in advance? If we made our guns of the same 
steel as our swords there would be no difficulty in attaining to General Wille’s 
requirements. 
Several of the details of his scheme will not commend themselves to English 
gunners, His metallic cartridge cases would be an awful nuisance in our 
service; we should probably make the limber-gunners burnish them. As for 
his patent nave-brake, we have tried nave-brakes, tire-brakes and automatic 
brakes till we are about sick of them. It rather upsets the Major’s nerves 
when he sees No. 1 gun waltzing round or running at him with open mouth 
because one side of the machinery has gone wrong. Now that we have got the 
drag-shoe I hope we shall stick to it. 
The number of rounds per gun (102) will seem to most people too small. 
This is based on the numbers actually fired in the Franco-German War. It 
might be argued, however, that if the German captains had had more ammunition, 
they would have fired faster. 1 can imagine a C.O. economizing his ammunition 
when he ought to be at “rapid fire’ for fear of emptying his boxes and being 
out of it in the next day’s fight. JI should add 8 more wagons and bring the 
number up to 138 per gun. 
Tam afraid that in the foregoing précis I have left out many of General Wille’s 
best ‘points,’ for which I hope he will forgive me. Among others I do not 
think it has been explained that at short ranges up to say 1500 yards the new 
gun will practically require no ranging. You have only to get a 400 yards 
bracket in the first two shots, and you can start time fuze at once, at the mean 
elevation; since a correction of a 100 yards will make no practical difference in 
the height of burst. Similarly the fuze will give no trouble, since it is simply 
set to the range and corrected by altering on the fuze key the distance short of 
burst. 
The superior way in which the French and German critics refer to our 12- 
pounder as an example of “‘ how of to do it”’ is not calculated to increase our good 
opinion of ourselves. Perhaps as a 15-pounder it will please them better. If 
there is any truth in the proportion of weight to muzzle energy laid down by 
General Wille, Colonel von Wuich and other authorities mentioned above, it 
ovght to stand a m.y. of 2000 f.s. with a 15-pounder shell. That would be 
something like a field gun! . 
The following figures relating to General Wille’s gun, worked out by the 
English formulee, may be of interest : 
Rance Tass ror 2°76” B.L. Guy, 
Projectile, fuzed shrapnel, weighing 14°33 lbs. Charge 3 lbs. cubical smokeless 
powder. Muzzle velocity 2625 f.s. 
1000 yards. 2000 yards. 38000 yards. 
ivemaimin gavel oCiitiyat+Souatcc Ness) eleccn ns TnES 2137 1750 1425 
ATI GF OOVHNOD o> woo oo 00 oo oo oot 0° 2637 59’ 1° 40’ 
Slope of descent pods 060. 66h G00! Loud) "S00" | “66s ToS 35 a 
Angle of opening of sprapnel1 ... n,n ae 9° 287 10° 20’ 11° 24’ 
ge ob zone of effective shrapnel bullets, } “65 726 602 
1 General Wille gives Av due to 4 oz, burster =260 fis, 
