Windage in the English gun of 1750 was about 20 percent greater than in French pieces. The English ratio of shot to caliber was 20:21; across the channel it was 26:27. Thus, an English 9-pounder fired a 4.00-inch ball from a 4.20-inch bore; the French 9-pounder ball was 4.18 inches and the bore 4.34. The English figured greater windage was both convenient and economical: windage, said they, ought to be just as thick as the metal in the gunner's ladle; standing shot stuck in the bore and unless it could be loosened with the ladle, had to be fired away and lost. John Mueller brushed aside such arguments impatiently. With a proper wad over the shot, no dust or dirt could get in; and when the muzzle was lowered, said Mueller, the shot "will roll out of course." Besides, compared with increased accuracy, the loss of a shot was trifling. Furthermore, with less room for the shot to bounce around the bore, the cannon would "not be spoiled so soon." Mueller set the ratio of shot to caliber as 24:25. _Calibers and lengths of principal eighteenth century English cannon_ ---------+-----------+---------------------+-----------+----------+ Caliber | Field | Ship | Siege | Garrison | +-----------+----------+----------+-----------+----------+ | Iron | Bronze | Iron | Bronze | Iron | +-----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+-----+ (pounder)| Old | New | Old| New | Old | New| Old | New | Old| New | ---------+-----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+-----+ 1-1/2 | | | | | | | 6'0"| | | | 3 |3'6" |3'3" | |3'6" | 4'6"|3'6"| 7'0"| |4'6"| 4'2"| 4 | | | | | 6'0"| | | | | | 6 |4'6" |4'1" |8'0"|4'4" | 7'0"|4'4"| 8'0"| |6'6"| 5'3"| 9 | |4'8" | |5'0" | 7'0"|5'0"| 9'0"| |7'0"| 6'0"| 12 |5'0" |5'1" |9'0"|5'6" | 9'0"|5'6"| 9'0"| 6'7"|8'0"| 6'7"| 18 | |5'10"| |6'4" | 9'0"|6'4"| 9'6"| 8'4"|9'0"| 7'6"| 24 |5'6" |6'5" |9'6"|7'0" | 9'0"|7'0"| 9'6"| 8'4"|9'0"| 8'4"| 32 | | | |7'6" | 9'6"|7'6"|10'0"| 9'2"|9'6"| 9'2"| 36 | | | |7'10"| | | | 9'6"| | | 42 | | |9'6"|8'4" |10'0"|8'4"| 9'6"|10'0"| |10'0"| 48 | | | |8'6" | |8'6"| |10'6"| | | ---------+-----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+-----+