During the wars with Hyder and Tippoo, brass 18–pounders constantly accompanied the armies, and were used in all the actions; and in the campaigns of 1791–2, iron 12–pounders were attached to the European regiments, and found very useful in keeping the hordes of cavalry at a respectful distance; brass 12–pounders had previously been attached to the artillery and to European regiments. The relative merits of light and heavy guns has been a _vexata quæstio_ from the earliest date, nor is it entirely set at rest up to the present day, though general opinion has decided in favour of a _via media_, rejecting both extremes. Still some members of the profession maintain that, by a judicious disposition of metal, a light gun may be made as effective as a heavy, while others, on the contrary, run into the other extreme, and would introduce guns heavier even than those at present in use. Late experiments at Woolwich on a 9–pounder of 10 cwt., nearly similar to the Bengal pattern, strengthen the opinion that the two extremes should be avoided. A curious experiment was tried at Dum-Dum in 1787, with a view to deciding the point at issue; and it furnishes some data which, combined with practical experience, would tend to prove that a medium gun will give a range so slightly below that of a heavier one, that the increase would be dearly purchased by the increased difficulty of draught. A 6–pounder was cast, weighing 10 cwt. and 24 lbs., and fired a certain number of rounds, after which a portion equal to a calibre in length was cut off, and the firing continued; this process was carried on, diminishing the gun, calibre by calibre, until it weighed only 3 cwt. 3 qrs. and 2 lbs., the elevation and charge of powder being in all cases the same. The result was, that of the first sixteen lengths, the seventh carried the furthest,—2,305 yards, the gun weighing 8 cwt. 2 qrs. 20 lbs.; at the fourteenth length the gun threw 2,098 yards, the gun weighing 6 cwt. 1 qr. 3 lbs.; and at the seventeenth length, 2,106 yards, the gun weighing 4 cwt. 3 qrs. 23 lbs. It would have been more satisfactory had the first graze, as well as the extreme range, as has been the case, been given; however, it appears that 200 yards are gained by nearly doubling the weight of the gun, and the conclusion would be in favour of the very light gun, were it not that experience shews that a light gun shakes its carriage very much, and therefore that what is gained in metal is lost in strengthening the carriage to bear the shock; it is also found that a gun giving a long point-blank range does not give a proportional extreme range; and the result has been to make 6–pounders of the present day 6 cwt. in weight. The best test perhaps is a range of 800 yards, with the least elevation for a field-gun.