While
I think the angle of the gun (above the horizon and relative to the compass
headings) and how rigidily it is mounted (and therefore doesn't move after
firing) are very important what about the powder charge that propels the
shell? I expect that the grunt you put into the shell has a major effect on
whether it falls short of or overshoots the same spot.
I'm
under the impression that the big guns on our battleships used bags of
powder propellant at one time (maybe still do) to hurl a shell. This is based on
the deadly fire that took place in the gun turret of a battleship maybe ten
to twenty years ago. As I recall they had bags of "charge" that they had to
bring up an elevator and load into the breach.
Presumably nowadays you can measure those bags pretty carefully but there
are opportunities for variabililty on the charge (mix, moisture content, etc.).
Whether they could tightly control all these things back in those days I
wonder.
I
gather with regard to the shell we're not talking about cast iron balls at this
point, more like cast shells that are then machined for a smooth finish and a
precise fit?
Then
there is the effect of the wind though I don't know how important that is when
you are throwing something with a relatively small area exposed to the wind and
the shell is going at a high velocity. My impression is that it
does have some effect on small gun accuracy though (or it is just an
excuse for missing one's target).
Bruce
(who hasn't fired a gun since the target range at Boy Scout camp back in the
campaign of maybe '68 or '69)
Ralph,
I am working on getting you an answer about the accuracy of Civil War
rifled cannon. I consulted a recently de-commissioned artillery officer friend
of mine for advice. Here is his take on the issue...
"You are testing the limits of my
memory on the artillery question. My short answer is that given a
fixed/surveyed point and measuring your angle and distance from that point you
become what we in the artillery call “laid” which increases the accuracy when
firing upon a target, especially a fixed fortification. I will dig through my
archives for my platoon leader’s handbook to give you a more detailed answer.
This is definitely the old way. Now your location is determined by gps in most
cases but they do still train fixed reference point “laying” for when the
computers go down. You can actually use the sun as a common reference to
transfer the fixedness of a surveyed point to a non-surveyed point in what is
known as a “simo”, I think. I just remember the the “tip, tip, tip” part of
that particular drill."
I will continue to dig and see what I can uncover what
"significantly increased accuracy" means. I will keep you posted.
Brian
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