Having given considerable attention to the subject, I would now beg to offer some remarks on the Government arrangements of gunnery, which are not yet so perfect as they might be.
The authorities of the Ordnance Department are, I am sorry to state, too remiss in considering, and too unwilling to avail themselves of valuable improvements and discoveries; clinging too much to prejudice in favour of whatever has been heretofore in use. To such an extent is this habit carried, that many improvements become familiar to half the kingdom, aye, and are adopted by other countries, before our guides take advantage of them: for truly talent and ingenuity are but scantily patronized by them. My wish is to aid in sweeping away the cobwebs which still hang on the science of great gunnery; and to push the spur of conviction deep, that instead of Britain following, she may, in a time of peace, lead the way in improvements; so that whenever war returns, she may not be unprepared to wage it on equal terms.
I have in this chapter endeavoured to divest the subject of all extraneous matter, and impart as much information as will enable the reader to form an opinion for himself, and understand something of a science hitherto considered abstract, and which is, no doubt, abstruse. This I have sought to effect in plain language, avoiding, wherever it was possible, all technicalities.
The guns of the British nation may be divided into four classes—Park, or Field artillery, Siege guns, or battering train, garrison guns, and marine artillery. The numbers of different descriptions of rates, or weight of guns, vary in all the different classes of the service. There are light, medium, and heavy six-pounders; long and short twenty-four pounders; and two or more weights in all the varieties, even up to the ten-inch gun and thirteen-inch mortar. We have iron ordnance and brass, for long and short ranges, for small or great velocity. The rate, weight, length, charges, point blank, extreme range, &c., of iron guns, will be found in the annexed table, by which will be seen, at a glance, the various matters referred to.
Iron Ordnance.
| Nature of Gun. | Weight. | Length. | Charge of Powder. | Point Blank Range. | Extreme at 5 deg. | Windage decreased. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pound- ers. | cwts. | ft. | in. | lbs. | ozs. | yards. | yards. | ||
| 32 | 63 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 1⁄2 | 380 | 1950 | — |
| 32 | 56 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 1⁄2 | 380 | 1950 | — |
| 32 | 48 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 330 | 1740 | — | |
| 32 | 40 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 340 | 1700 | ·06 | |
| 32 | 32 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 330 | 1640 | ·11 | |
| 32 | 25 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 225 | 1500 | ·11 | |
| 32 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 225 | 1500 | ·11 | |
| 24 | 50 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 360 | 1850 | — | |
| 24 | 48 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 360 | 1850 | — | |
| 24 | 40 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 340 | 1800 | — | |
| 24 | 33 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 260 | 1560 | — | |
| 18 | 42 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 360 | 1780 | — | |
| 18 | 38 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 340 | 1730 | — | |
| 12 | 34 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 360 | 1700 | — | |
| 12 | 29 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 340 | 1650 | — | |
| 9 | 26 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 330 | 1600 | — | |
| 6 | 17 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 320 | 1520 | — | |
| Car- ron- ades | |||||||||
| 68 | 36 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 1⁄2 | 270 | 1420 | — |
| 42 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 240 | 1350 | — | |
| 32 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 1⁄2 | 235 | 1260 | — |
| 24 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 225 | 1150 | — | |
| 18 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 220 | 1100 | — | |
| 12 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 205 | 1000 | — | |
Brass guns are invariably lighter, and considered less likely to burst. Gun metal, technically so called, is a compound of copper and tin, in the proportion of five, eight, and ten pounds of the latter to 100 pounds of the former. The peculiar property of the tin is to give hardness and solidity to the mass. The greater proportions are used principally for mortars, as they require a greater degree of hardness than other guns. A peculiar property attaches to the using of brass guns. If a considerable number of rounds be fired in rapid succession, the bore of the gun becomes to a certain extent elliptical. This peculiarity arises entirely from the extreme windage allowed by the present established rules of British gunnery; and is produced by the tendency of the shot, when propelled by the explosive force, to strike upwards from the breech, and then rebound downwards, and so on till it reaches the muzzle. Iron guns are not liable to this (although the same cause exists) from the unductile nature of the cast iron.
Brass guns are, after certain use, recast: this is done solid, with the cascable of the gun downwards, to give a greater density to the metal at the breech. The boring and turning are performed simultaneously by a very simple arrangement. At the siege of Badajos, the firing continued for 104 hours, and the number of rounds that each gun fired averaged 1,249; and at the siege of Sebastian, the quantity fired by each gun was about 350 rounds, in 151⁄2 hours. These guns being of iron, none of them were rendered unserviceable; though three times the number of brass guns would not have been equal to such long and rapid firing. All brass guns are bouched with a bolt of copper at the vent, on the same principle as flint guns for sporting were formerly with gold or platina; copper withstanding the rapid escape of the flame better than the gun-metal. The charges, ranges, &c., are as follows:—
Extreme and Point Blank Range of Brass Ordnance, Charge, &c.