Gravity-driven discharge experiments were performed in a perspex 3D flat bottomed silo which was filled with a granular material, and had a variable discharge orifice size. The granular material used was amaranth seed with an average diameter of 1 mm. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) analysis was performed on a high-speed video recording of the discharge, and used to quantify the velocity field within the silo both at steady state and during the development of flow. We verified not only that the steady-state velocity of the granules in the silo scales with the flow rate, but, additionally, the transition to a steady-state regime is also rate-controlled by the volumetric discharge. We present evidence that, away from the discharge orifice, the flow behaves identically, regardless of the orifice diameter, in a scaled time. We discuss these results with reference to the physics and mathematical modelling of granular flows. (C) 2017 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.