84 MUZZLE-LOADERS AND BREECH-LOADERS. 
the muzzle-loader screws into the barrel, is omitted, 
and the barrels are open at both ends; they are 
fastened to the stock by a pin and joint a few inches 
beyond the guard. When free, the muzzle hangs 
down, and the breech end presents itself several 
inches above the stock, so that the cartridge can be 
readily inserted ; when the barrels are pressed back 
into their place for firing, they are caught by a bolt 
that can be opened or closed by a lever lying along the 
under part of the stock, between the guard and the 
joint. The false breech is flat, solid, and heavy, and 
completes the barrels, taking the place and perform- 
ing the duty of the breech in the muzzle-loader. 
The hammers have a flat surface on the striking end, 
and the locks are back-actioned, to avoid interfering 
with the other mechanism. 
A cartridge is made of stout paper, shaped like a 
short section of the barrel, with a brass capsule on 
one end and open at the other; it is two or three 
inches long, and has a pad of thick paper beneath 
the capsule. In this pad a hole is punched on the 
inside and the percussion-cap is inserted, with a 
brass pin resting in it and projecting above the cap- 
sule on the outside. The percussion-cap is entirely 
within the cartridge-case, and the brass pin passes 
through a hole drilled in one side of the capsule, 
just large enough to admit it and exclude moisture 
entirely. A blow on the projecting end of the pin 
drives the other end into the cap, and discharges the 
latter. The cartridge-case is prepared already 
capped, and is sold in England for from thirty to 
