RML 6.3-inch howitzer

File:RML 6.3 inch howitzer barrel cross-section.jpeg

The barrel consisted of an inner "A" tube of toughened mild steel, surrounded by wrought-iron "B" tube and jacket.

Rifling was of the "polygroove" type, with 20 grooves and a twist increasing from 1 turn in 100 calibres (i.e. {{convert|630|in|cm|abbr=on}}) to 1 in 35 (i.e. {{convert|220|in|cm|abbr=on}}).

The howitzers could be mounted on either a travelling siege carriage, which enabled them to be semi-mobile, or on a steel bed, which were then positioned in fixed defences or fortifications.

{{clear|left}}

Ten {{convert|6.3|in|cm|abbr=on}} Howitzers were landed in Egypt in 1882 to form part of a Royal Artillery Siege Train during the Anglo-Egyptian War, however they were not used in action.Goodrich, Caspar F (Lt Cdr), Report of the British Naval and Military Operations In Egypt 1882, Navy Department, Washington, 1885, p.231 Many were mounted in Forts and batteries around the United Kingdom as part of the fixed defences scheme. Most were dismounted and scrapped after 1902.

A number of RML {{convert|6.3|in|cm|abbr=on}} howitzers were used by the British forces during the Second Boer War, normally mounted on 40 pr RML carriages.

File:RML 6.3 inch Common shell Mk I diagram.jpg, 1886}}]]

The {{convert|6.3|in|cm|abbr=on}} Howitzer used a number of different types of projectiles, depending on the selected target. This included common shell for use against buildings, earthworks or vehicles, or shrapnel shell for use against 'soft' targets, such as infantry or cavalry on open ground. Case shot could be used against soft targets at close range, typically less than {{convert|400|yd|km|abbr=on}}.

The howitzer used black powder propellant, in silk bags which were ignited by friction tube.

The gun was the first British rifled muzzle-loader to dispense entirely with studs on shells to impart spin : its shells from the beginning had gas checks attached to their base which expanded and engaged with rifling on firing to impart spin to the shell.

{{clear|left}}

Image:South Africa-Ladysmith-RML 6.3 inch Howitzer-02.jpg]]

Two of these guns, called Castor and Pollux, used during the Siege of Ladysmith, stand in front of the Ladysmith town hall. They have been declared Heritage Objects by the South African Heritage Resource Agency.{{cite web|title=9/2/415/0028 - Castor and Pollux 6 3 in. RML Howitzer Ladysmith|url=http://196.35.231.29/sahra/HeritageSitesDetail.aspx?id=76656|publisher=South African Heritage Resource Agency|accessdate=28 August 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125191542/http://196.35.231.29/sahra/HeritageSitesDetail.aspx?id=76656|archivedate=25 January 2016|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sapcon.org.za/docs/conf05-p4.pdf|title=Managing Heritage Objects that form part of the National Estate|date=2005-07-15|publisher=South African Heritage Resource Agency|accessdate=2008-10-22}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/notices/2005/27424.pdf|title=Government Gazette Vol. 477 |date=2005-03-30|publisher=Government of South Africa|pages=5|accessdate=2008-10-22}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} Both the guns and their ammunition were outdated by the time of the siege and they tended to make a lot of smoke when fired.{{cite book|last=Nevinson|first=H. W. |title=Ladysmith - The Diary of a Siege|publisher=METHUEN & CO.|pages=125|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16603/16603-h/16603-h.htm|accessdate=2008-10-22}}

• List of howitzers

{{reflist}}

• [http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/u?/p4013coll11,230 Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE]
• [https://archive.org/details/treatiseonconst00owengoog Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service. War Office, UK, 1879]

{{Commons category|RML 6.3 inch Howitzer}}

• [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/103346 Handbook for the 6.3 inch R. M. L. howitzer on bed and ground platform, or on siege travelling carriage, 1886] at State Library of Victoria
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090228131313/http://riv.co.nz/rnza/hist/gun/rifled7.htm History of the 6.3-inch RML ordnance]

{{VictorianEraBritishWeapons}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:RML 06.3 inch}}

Category:Artillery of the United Kingdom

Category:Howitzers

Category:160 mm artillery