georges head was armed with four 80 pounder cannons and two 68 pounder cannons. these cannons were 'muzzle-loading', which meant the cannonballs or bullets along with the explosive charge (t.n.t dynamite) were loaded into the front of the cannons barrel. it took three months and 250 soldiers to roll the gun barrels all the way from north sydney to the forts. they came along a dirt road which later became military road. once they were put in place, the cannons had been placed so close together that it created the risk of one cannon firing upon another. also, the cannons and the men could be seen from ships in the harbour. in 1877 large mounds of earth were placed between the pits to make sure the guns neither could fire upon each other and to help protect the gun crew from enemy fire. when construction of the fort was finalised, there were a total of 41 gun emplacements around sydney harbour.