A range table was a list of angles of elevation a particular artillery gun barrel needed to be set to, to strike a target at a particular distance with a projectile of a particular weight using a propellant cartridge of a particular weight. They were used for several centuries by field and naval gunners of all countries until gradually replaced by computerised fire-control systems beginning in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
(1939–1945).
Range table for US 3-inch (76.2 mm) field gun, models 1902-1905
This gun used a standard "fixed" cartridge with shell, hence a single set of tables applied to all its ammunition.
Range table for British 3 inch (76.2 mm) Stokes Mortar, 1917
Different propellant charges were used to achieve required range, angle of descent and flight time. This is typical of mortars and howitzers.
(Provisional) Range Table For 3-Inch
Stokes Mortar, Printed in September 1917.
[Range Tables transcribed and supplied courtesy of John Reed]
Cartridge :
ballistite
Ballistite is a smokeless propellant made from two high explosives, nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. It was developed and patented by Alfred Nobel in the late 19th century.
Military adoption
Alfred Nobel patented https://www.nobelprize.org/a ...
, reinforced with Charges : 5 grains,
guncotton
Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...
yarn
Rings : , .3 mm flake
cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burn ...
Projectile : Bomb, 10 lb. 11 oz (4.85 kg)
Notes
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References
* (Provisional) Range Table For 3-Inch Stokes Mortar, September 1917. United Kingdom War Office.
* William Westervelt,
Gunnery and explosives for field artillery officers, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1911, Appendix B.
Artillery operation