GENERAL REPORT OF THE JUDGES OF GROUP XVI. 47 hole in the centre through which the handles of the sponge and rammer are worked, and these port-lids are lowered whilst the guns are being loaded under rifle or Shrapnel fire. The same system could probably be applied to the embrasures or shields of casemated works. No practical difficulty is said to be found in controlling the recoil of muzzle-loading guns, and with a little practice the compression can be adjusted so as to allow the gun, on recoil, to assume the proper position for loading without using the running-in gear at all; but in the event of the gun not having recoiled sufficiently, owing to too great compression having been given, a very few turns of the running- in winches places it immediately in the required position. The possi bility of injury being caused to the gun by careless loading in the muzzle-loader is counterbalanced by the possibility of careless manip ulation of the breech-closing apparatus of the breech-loader. But, in order to insure the projectile being rammed close to the cartridge, a plain and distinct mark is placed on the staff of each rammer in such a position that when the mark is in line with the muzzle of the gun it is certain that the projectile is close home on the cartridge. There is no case on record of the premature explosion of a cartridge while firing shotted charges in a heavy muzzle-loading rifle gun, and the practice of using saluting charges in such guns, although attended with very little risk, should be discouraged as much as possible. Lastly, the advocates of muzzle-loading lay considerable stress on the simple character of the weapon. It is urged that in actual warfare we require an article with the minimum chances of going out of order. There is always a chance that the breech-closing arrangement may. give trouble just at the most critical moment, whereas comparatively nothing can go wrong in a muzzle-loader. The foregoing are the main arguments on the question of breech- versus muzzle-loading for armor-piercing guns. To give an opinion one way or the other is not within the scope of this paper; indeed, the duty of the “ expert” lies in placing the argu ments impartially side by side, so that in discussing the question the true advantages and disadvantages may be clearly recognized. The subject can then be dealt with, not as a question of sentiment, but as a matter of fact. The subject of gunpowder will be treated under the head of Ex plosives j but as the development of modern ordnance has, in great measure’, depended upon the invention of large-grained gunpowder by General Rodman and the subsequent improvements in manufacture, it will not be out of place to give a brief resume here of the general
