ARTILLERY REGISTER |
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| Historical Specifics: | The Rifled Breech Loading guns made on Sir W G Armstrong’s original system of construction was adopted in 1859. Although manufacture was discontinued in 1864 they continued to be used for many years due to the number produced. NSW had several of the Armstrong RBL of different calibre, principally the 40 and 110 pounder but one RBL 20 pounder (Armstrong) gun is shown to be held in the Imperial Store in 1869.
The gun was effectively a larger version of the successful RBL 12 pounder 8 cwt Armstrong gun. The shell fired from the gun weighed 20 lb when empty but contained a 1 lb bursting charge, hence the weight is 21 lb. There were different versions for Land and Sea service. In British service in 1877 there were 412 of these 20 pounder guns - 89 16cwt (land service), 31 15cwt & 292 13cwt (sea service). RBL 20 pounder of 13 cwt and 15 cwt for Sea Service The sea service gun was introduced in 1859 and with a bore of only 54 inches is shorter than the Land version. Its short barrel only allowed it to attain a muzzle velocity of 1,000 ft/second. It has a raised coil in front of the vent slot. RBL 20 pounder of 16 cwt for Land Service This was introduced in 1860. It has a bore of 84 inches (or 96 inches complete barrel length excluding breech screw). |
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