Artillery Through the Ages

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Excerpt: ... from breech to taper 39 49 40 49 Thickness at vent 16 25 18 25 Thickness at muzzle 8 12-1/2 9 12-1/2 The heaviest of Müller's garrison guns averaged some 172 pounds of iron for every pound of the shot, while a ship gun weighed only 146, less than half the iron that went into the sixteenth century cannon. And for a seafaring nation such as England, these were important things. Perhaps the opposite table will give a fair idea of the changes in English ordnance during the eighteenth century. It is based upon John Müller's lists of 1756, the "old" ordnance includes cannon still in use during Müller's time, while the "new" ordnance is Müller's own. Windage in the English gun of 1750 was about 20 percent greater than in French pieces. The English ratio of shot to caliber was 20:21, across the channel it was 26:27. Thus, an English 9-pounder fired a 4.00-inch ball from a 4.20-inch bore, the French 9-pounder ball was 4.18 inches and the bore 4.34. The English figured greater windage was both convenient and economical: windage, said they, ought to be just as thick as the metal in the gunner's ladle, standing shot stuck in the bore and unless it could be loosened with the ladle, had to be fired away and lost. John Müller brushed aside such arguments impatiently. With a proper wad over the shot, no dust or dirt could get in, and when the muzzle was lowered, said Müller, the shot "will roll out of course." Besides, compared with increased accuracy, the loss of a shot was trifling. Furthermore, with less room for the shot to bounce around the bore, the cannon would "not be spoiled so soon." Müller set the ratio of shot to caliber as 24:25. Calibers and lengths of principal eighteenth century English cannon Caliber Field Ship Siege Garrison Iron Bronze Iron Bronze Iron Old New Old New Old New Old New Old New 1-1/2-pounder 6'0" 3-pounder 3'6" 3'3" 3'6" 4'6" 3'6" 7'0" 4'6" 4'2" 4-pounder 6'0" 6-pounder 4'6" 4'1" 8'0" 4'4" 7'0" 4'4" 8'0" 6'6" 5'3" 9-pounder...