The practice comprises—
1. The necessary preparation for firing; namely, laying down the platform, marking the range, fixing the targets, preparing the lists to note the shots.
2. Firing from different kinds of ordnance and with different projectiles.
3. Instruction of the students in the service of the guns; selection of the charge and direction under given circumstances, and their correction; effects of distance; noting and jotting down the shots and the time of flight; calculation of the length of fuse, of ranges and averages from the different data, and remarks on the effects sought.
4. Burning a portion of prepared laboratory materials for observation of its action and effect.
The following are to be objects of practice:—
a. Rounds of six, twelve, and twenty-four lbs. shot and shell out of the short 24-pounders, to note—
aa. The grazes, distances, and deviations at different elevations, and as regards ricochet fire.
bb. Probability of hitting upright targets at various distances.
cc. As regards dismounting.