MUZZLE-LOADERS AHD BREECH-LOADERS. 183 



action, which has to a certain extent been substi- 

 tuted for the lever, on the ground that, while the 

 lever never gets out of order, the spring of the snap 

 often breaks. I may say, that no guns could have 

 been more severely tried than mine that were manu- 

 factured by Lefaucheux, one of which was the second 

 that was ever permanently used in this country, 

 and that they have never given out in their working 

 parts, while the oldest and most hardly used has 

 never given out at all, although shot in all weathers 

 and under very trying circumstances. 



Indeed I go farther and insist that there have 

 been no important improvements made in breech- 

 loaders since the original Lcfauclieux pattern until 

 the introduction of the hammerless guns. These 

 are still imperfect, but they will probably be soon 

 perfected, so that the last serious danger from a 

 breech-loader will be removed, that of premature 

 discharge in the field. Were it not for this discov- 

 ery, it is my belief that sportsmen would yet give 

 up the central-fire, and return to the pin-fire, there 

 being no advantages in a central fire, while there are 

 several disadvantages. The principal of these con- 

 sists in the fact that no one can tell whether it is 

 loaded or not, and a secondary danger lies in the 

 loading of the cartridges, which has already cost 

 several lives. As yet, however, the hammerless gun 

 is not entirely safe. It is thrown back to full cock 

 in opening, and when closed with a hard snap it 

 will sometimes jar off. This happens very rarely, 

 but often enough to make the gun dangerous. 



