88 MUZZLE-LOADERS AND BREECH-LOADERS. 
ean be loaded in an hour. As the case can be used 
several times, and the cap, which is of a peculiar 
size, has to be placed in its exact position to receive 
the pin, a capper invented for the purpose is em- 
ployed, by which the cap is inserted, and the pin 
pressed into it without the least difficulty; a pair 
of tweezers are used to withdraw the pin after a 
discharge, in order to free the old cap and make 
room for the new, and a large gimlet will be found 
useful for extracting any discharged caps that may 
happen to stick. 
A cleaning-apparatus is also occasionally used, 
consisting of a brush at one end of a string and a 
small weight at the other; the weight is dropped 
through the open barrel and the brush drawn after 
it; but, as the gun may be fired ten times as often 
as a muzzle-loader without fouling, a plain rag and 
cleaning-rod will answer. Cartridge-cases, of 
course, cannot be obtained like powder and shot 
at every country store, and to obviate the danger 
of finding oneself, after extraordinary good-luck 
with a gun, without the means of firing it, it is 
well to carry a couple of brass cases, which can be 
used with a common French cap, and reloaded in- 
definitely almost as quickly as a muzzle-loader. 
The sportsman, by the aid of these implements 
and a couple of scoops with handles for powder 
and shot, recaps the cartridges which have been 
discharged, loads them as he would a gun, only 
much more rapidly, and lays them aside for future 
use. In the field, he carries them in a leather case, 
