MUZZLE-LOADERS AND BREECH-LOADERS. 173 



this is a sheer impossibility. The gas cannot pene- 

 trate the paper of the cartridge, and if it bursts the 

 latter, still cannot escape except through the brass ; 

 and although the least perceptible amount may come 

 out alongside of the pin, it is scarcely traceable, and 

 nothing like what is lost at the percussion-cap in the 

 common gun. These cartridges are wonderfully 

 close, as the reader may conclude when he is in- 

 formed that a loaded breech-loader, left entirely 

 under water for fifteen minutes, was discharged as 

 promptly as though it had never been wet ; while a 

 muzzle-loader, that had not been half so long ex- 

 posed, would not go at all, and required, an hour's 

 cleaning. In fact, the breech-loader is entirely im- 

 pervious to any ordinary wetting, will not fail in 

 the worst rain, and the average number of miss-fires, 

 in well made cartridges, is one in a thousand. 



In the handling of this gun there is one peculi- 

 arity: the pins rise from the middle of the car- 

 tridge, and not at one side, like the ordinary cones, 

 thus bringing the hammers closer together. To the 

 beginner this may appear awkward, but is no real 

 disadvantage. It would seem also desirable to use 

 more powder with a breech-loader, although this is 

 not necessary to so great an extent as it was for- 

 merly ; but, on the other hand, the weight at the 

 breech appears either to diminish the recoil or reduce 

 its effects on the shooter ; as the testimony of persons 

 using breach-loaders is unanimous that the recoil is 

 less perceptible than with muzzle-loaders, although 

 the scales have refused to verify their impression. 



