§ MAJOR NOLANasked the Surveyor General of the Ordnance, If the shooting of the Armstrong six-inch breech-loading gun has been found to be very superior to that of the present muzzle-loading siege guns of the same calibre; and, does he intend to prosecute early and extensive experiments with guns of this new pattern?
§ LORD EUSTACE CECILThe official Reports of the experiments now going on are not yet fully completed, but any comparison would be most misleading; as, although the service siege guns and Sir William Armstrong's are of the same calibre (6 inches), the weight, length, and charges are very different, the weight of the service siege gun muzzle-loader being 64 cwt., the length 9¼ feet, and the charge 12 lb.; while the weight of Sir William Armstrong's breech-loader is 78 cwt., the length 12 feet 1 inch, and the charge 33 lb. A muzzle-loading gun chambered to take a larger charge and of the same weight and length as Sir William Armstrong's gun would probably give the same result; and Sir William Armstrong is of this opinion. Until the present experiments have been fully considered, it cannot be decided what further experiments will be desirable.