![]() | This article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||||
|
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/French_mortar_diagram_18th_century.jpg/300px-French_mortar_diagram_18th_century.jpg)
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.24.91.134 (talk) 12:09, 7 July 2011 (UTC)
Untitled
edit- Dear Member, Thanks for posting the drawing. The above technically is a high-low system. Although it does not reduce the pressure as much as the 20th century systems. The reason for some kind of high-low system with those big mortars is because they fire a thing casting shell filled with gunpowder. That is why most mortar system fired a much reduced charge. But you can only reduce it so much. Black powder unlike modern propellents used in small arms and artillery, goes of immediately with a massive expansion over a short period. That is why most heavy black powder artillery had a heavy re-enforced breach and not the barrel. If that mortar operated like modern high-low systems with just a smaller opening to the main chamber the re-enforcement of the back end would have had to be massive. JackJackehammond (talk) 04:40, 9 July 2011 (UTC)