The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-02 00:00:00

Artillery Experiments at Portsmouth.

The great cause of " Whitworth v, Armstrong"
entered upon a new phase on Monday in the corn.
mencement of the trial of the three 70-pounder
rifled guns at Portsmouth, which have been con-
structed on the plans of Sir William Armstrong and
Mr Whit worth for competitive trial as naval ser-
vice guns. Two of these weapons have been fur-
nished by Sir William Armstrong, one being on the
wedge breech-loading, and the other on the shunt
muzzle-loading principle. The third gun is Mr
Whitworth's, on his ordinary muzzle-loading prin.
ciple, but it is fired from a rear vent leading to the
centre of the cartridge through a paper tube.
The members of the Commission appointed to
superintend and report upon the trials, which it is,
perhaps, necessary to state here are merely a con-
tinuation of those which have already occupied
their attention at Shoeburyness, arrived at Portsb
mouth by the early train from London yesterday
morning, and immediately embarked on board the
gunnery ship Excellent, Captain Astley, C. Key,
C. 8., on the port battery of which ship the three
guns were mounted, and whence the trials were to
commence.

The members of the committee comprised Major.
General Lumley, Inspector General of Infantry,
President ; Major-General Taylor, Inspector-Gene-
ral of Artillery; Colonel Ormsby, R.A.; Captain
Wilson, Royal Navy; Colonel Simmonds, R.E,;
Captain Singer, Royal Navy ; Major Young, R.A.;
Professor Pole, F.R.S. ; and Major Dyer, Secre.
tart'.
Mr Whitworth and Viscount Torrington were
present as representing the Whitworth Ordnance
Company, and Captain Noble and Mr Rendall re-
presented the Etswick Ordnance Company.

.• _
The programme of the committee provided in the
first instance for 120 rounds to be fired from each
gun, from on board the Excellent, 60 rounds to be
independent firing, at 2,600 yards range, each gun
to do its best at the target; and 66 rounds to be
quick firing, as though firing point blank at an
engaged enemy, time to be taken in both instahces.
In the quick firing the gun not to be laid on any
target, but a sufficient amount of elevation to be
given to prevent the chance of an awkward ricochet,
and training enough to keep the flight of the shot
in as straight a line with the target as necessary to
keep it clear of other objects. The wedge gun to
be fired with a 91b charge of powder, the shunt gun
and Mr Whitworth's muzzle-loader to be fired with
each a 101 b charge. The non-arrival of the cart•
ridges for Mr Whitworth's gun from Woolwich
effectually debarred it from all share in the da3'a
firing, which was thus confined to Sir William
Armstrong's two guns. These latter indeed only
fired 80 out of their 120 rounds each, owing to the
state of the tide, and they will therefore recom.
mence the firing of their allotted quota this morn-
ing in company with Mr Whitworth's gun, the
ammunition for which it is presumed will have
reached her Majesty's ship Excellent in tine fur
second day's trial, if it could not got three in time
for the first day. It only remains to give a plain
record of the firing yesterday with the two Arm-
strong guns, any comparison between them andMr
Whitworth's guns being necessarily deferred until
the first course of firing has been completed by all
three guns. These results yesterday were as fol-
lows :

INDEPENDENT WRING.
Description Number of Time,
of Gun. Rounds, m. s.
Shunt 2O
Wedge
Wedge ....
Shunt .......... .. 20
QUICK FIRING.
Description Number of Time.
of Gun. Rounds. m. s.
Wedge .......... 29
Shunt ........ .... 20 .. l6 48
Wedge .......... 20
5hunt............ 20

There are three circumstances remarkable;in these
returns. One is the remarkably short time in which
the wedge gun fired its second 20 rounds at its
course of independent firing (10 min. 23 sec.), the
practices
at
quickrtm firing
short
ti beingtime,
n (9
proportion,
exceedingly accurate; the equally
h with which its first course
min. 20 sec.) was made ; and the
omto po
tiv
lengthened period (13 min. 15 sec.)
it
complete its second course of 20 rounds
at quick firing- The cause of this difference ap-
peared to lie in the working of the wedges at the
breech, partly owing
akra to ely
to the want of tact in the
c
seaman whose number at the gun gave him the duty
of hauling the wedge into position in closing the
breech to receive the key-bolt. It might, at the
same time, be owing to a slight disarrangement of
the key-bolt, or fouling of the wedge face or the end
of the tube upon which it closes. An intended
after-examination would, however, , discover the
cause of the delay, which, alight in nature as it
must have been, yet sufficiently delayed the work-
ing of thegun as to give the great difference in the
time noted in firing of 20 rounds.
Firing was resumed on board her Majesty's ship
Excellent, at Portsmouth, yesterday, with the 70
pounder Armstrong and Whitworth rifled naval
service gun 3, under the superintendence of the
special committee, Captain Astley C. Key, C. 8.,
conducting the firing as on the previous day. The
committee's programme Was somewhat departed
from, owing to the non-arrival of the Whitworth
ammunition from Woolwich, and the firing, which
was intended to have Commenced at 10 a.m., did
not open until 1 30 p.m., with 40 rounds of
shot from the ordinary smoothbore eight-
inch gun (65 cwt.), to afford the committee
a means of comparing the time occupied
in landing the ordinary smooth-bore gun of
the navy against the improved rifled guns under
trial. Prior to the firing from the %pounders
being concluded 12 cartridges had been forwarded
to the Excellent for the Whitworth gun from the
Priddy's-hard magazines, where they had been spe-
cially prepared for the purpose, in the absence of
the expected supply from Woolwich, and it was de-
cided to fire 12 rounds of independent firing from
each of the rifled guns, and recommence on the
morrow, if the Whitworth cartridges should by that
time have come to hand. It is necessary to state
here that any fault attaching to the non-supply of
these cartridges rests entirely with the authorities
at Woolwich, and not with Mr Whitworth.
The difficulty experienced in closing the breach
of the wedge gun in the first day's firing (Monday)
was owing, as was anticipated at the time the firing
was going on, to a want of tact on the part of one