§ MR. CUST (Lincolnshire, Stamford)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether any official of the War Office ever publicly and authoritatively stated the standard of velocity and pressure required in any smokeless powder; and whether he will inform the House what standard is required for the Government 303 magazine rifle?
§ *MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANI am not aware of any standard having been laid down as generally applicable; but, in 1890, in a programme for experiments with smokeless powders certain conditions as to muzzle velocity and pressure were fixed. The standard now required for the .303 in. magazine rifle is a muzzle velocity of 2,000 foot-seconds, with a variation not exceeding 40, more or less, and a mean pressure of 15 tons on the square inch, not exceeding 16 tons in any one round.