We are way off topic so this will end it for me.

Actually my experience is limited since the CG only used small guns, Stand corrected on the 5 inchers.   I avoided the Big Cutters which had a 5 inch gun successfully so no direct experence with them

Our 3 inch was on a ocean going tug, the gun was WW I surplus and given to the Coast guard in 1937 when the boat was built.   Not that I am that old just the small service always used old hand-me-downs.  It was like a big Borchart for sure. 

We had a table of fire for elevation and distance. Mount had an azimuth around the base.   Idea was to get a compass bearing on the target and distance off the radar. What with the boat rolling in a swell it was  near impossible to hit anything.  We tried all day once to sink a derelict barge that was a hazard to navigation with no effect.  Just about dark the Navy shows up and sinks it in dramatic fashion with a burst from some big gun.  Not many smiles on our boat over that.

Have studied the big ones though. Correct, steel projectile and a copper driving band loads with bags of powder.  Around here we had big coastal guns on either Cape, Henry and Charles.  When I was a kid they were still in place, 16 inchers just like on a battle ship. Bunkers are still there and from time to time there is talk about restoring one. Fire control tower still stands a few blocks from my house.  Some of those guns are still in storage I understand.

Leadball I suspect in the North Carolina Demo they did not ram the projectile home since it would be hard to get back out.  You ought to Visit the Wisconsin once time. She is the ultimate development of the Battleship. Open to the public now, was on the Navy's list but they just transfered her over to a foundation which will open up more of the ship and enhance the displays.  On the list to open is the engine room and big guns.

Boats

Tim
My contention is a properly turned case has a better chance of aligning a bullet than a bullet seater. my bullets are indexed and seated with a tool made from the reamer that chambered the rifle and are checked for concentricity with a dial indicator. can u do that with the best of bullet seaters? My case is a O tollerance bullet seater with controlled neck tension.
We need to start another thread on this topic
Tom

Tom, I could'nt disagree with the case turning but it does not address the potential of the misaligned chamber-bore.
    After I posted and went back and read lots of the other BR related posts I think the chamber- bore issue might be among the biggest areas circomvented to some degree by breech seating.
    The historic BR stuff is accurate, no doubt. I still shoot BR and I would add a comment to the current status of the sport. Although there is still a lot of loading done with bullets being "jammed" into the lands with a loaded round, this would appear to involve issues more dependent with how modern powders build pressure and load tuning than any alignment issue. As a matter of fact with the popularity of many double radius bullets and short throats in guns there are a lot of guys that no longer jam load these 6PPC's but "jump" the bullet as much as .007"-.010" and make no mistake about it that would be ill advised without perfectly centered chambers. I do not know if that reinforces my earlier post but it propably does not hurt. Who knows, the breech seating may stabilize pressures and bring down average velocity disparities. Anybody shoot the same load breech seated or not over a Chrono to see what the ES would be?