An audience comparison gives approximate shell weights of 110 kilograms for an 8-inch round and 170 kilograms for a 9.2-inch round. The practical boundary is placed at roughly 200 kilograms, where the machinery and human effort needed to move ammunition become more demanding. The 9.2-inch shell offers a large step in projectile weight while remaining on the faster side of that handling threshold. Rate of fire changes when the complete loading system crosses a weight boundary, rather than simply whenever calibre increases.
Notable Point · 2:49:51-2:50:49
Shell weight and the ammunition-handling threshold
Approximate shell weights place the 9.2-inch round below a handling threshold that helps preserve its higher rate of fire.