It is mainly to his firm adherence to these principles, and to the general uniformity of the system he established, that the success of the new arm is to be attributedThe new rifled guns were used from 1859 during the Franco-Austrian War in Italy.
With the introduction of rifling and elongated shells replacing the old roundshot, guns could fire projectiles of nearly twice the previous weight possible for a given bore (calibre).
The rifling gave a far greater range for a given propellant charge, hence a minimal increase in gunpowder was needed for the heavier shells.
While the La Hitte guns retained the traditional 4 designation, the number now approximated to kg rather than the livre (French pound) as previously.
The La Hitte system was superseded in 1870 with the work of Jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye and the development of breech-loading rifled guns.