SHOT-GUNS. 



773 



era use in this country within a few years. Old- by impact against a small metal anvil surrounded 

 fashioned locks were convcrtable at small ex- by powder. The pin-fire arrang, in V, T " U,. 

 pense into percussion arms, and by 1840 flints practically out of llso since 1W7 when 

 were practically of he past. About this time succeeded by what was known as the cen r, fi 

 percussion arms made their way into England In this the cartridge is of paper or ,,,H,, n i 

 against the conservatism of gun makers and has a rim or base slightly lan'cr than the I'M r 

 sportsmen and for a generation the percussion of the gun; in the center of this base isan 01*. 

 cap held its own. Inventors were not idle, how- ing filled by a percussion disk lMitl v counter 

 ever, and various attempts were made 

 to introduce improvements. May- 

 nard's primers were, perhaps, the be'st 

 of these devices long strips of paper 

 carrying explosive pellets, which were 

 delivered successively by simple mech- 

 anism at the top of the nipple or 

 priming tube. Springfield rifles were 

 for a time fitted for these primers, 

 which could be used interchangeably 

 with ordinary percussion caps, but in 

 practice the latter proved the more 

 trustworthy, and held their own, in 

 the main, until the introduction of central-fire 

 metallic cartridges. 



All kinds of sporting small arms were still far 

 from perfect. Powder carried in flasks was 

 liable to become damp and unserviceable ; moist- 

 ure would work its way into the priming or 

 down the barrel ; and the task of affixing a per- 

 cussion cap with benumbed fingers in cold weath- 

 er or under excitement was no easy feat. 



The attention of inventors was early called 

 to the great advantage of breech-loading over 



FIG. 1. RUDIMENTARY LOCK. 



sunk so that the surrounding metal protects it 

 from accidental blows. The lock is arranged so 

 that when the hammer or plunger is released, a 

 point is driven against the percussion disk, ex- 

 ploding it and igniting the charge. The car- 

 tridges are water-proof, and do away with the 

 necessity for powder horns, shot pouches, cap 

 boxes, and the like. 



The first breech-loaders had levers under the 

 lock, which had to be pulled sidewise or down- 

 ward to open the breech ; often these levers 



muzzle-loading arms, but their development was formed the trigger guard. Practically the breech- 

 excessively slow. Le Faucheux was the first to loading shot-gun was perfected in its general 

 invent a weapon that was a practical success; n ' " 



his breech-loader came into use in France several 

 years before it gained a foothold in England ; it 

 was finally introduced about 1840 by Mr. Lang, 

 of Cockspur Street, London. Old sportsmen at 

 first objected to it, on the ground of its not shoot- 

 ing so well. This was undoubtedly true at first, 

 but improvements soon brought the new weapon 

 to a state of perfection that established its supe- 

 riority to the best muzzle-loaders. Conservative 

 sportsmen, however, held to the old style of gun, 

 and it was not imtil 1858 that a public match 

 was held to settle the question. The best muzzle- 

 loaders of that date were slightly superior in 



2. IMPROVED HAMMERLESS LOCK. 



range to the breech-loaders that had then been 

 manufactured, but the superiority was so slight 

 that very soon the new style of weapon began to 

 make its way, and as successive improvements 



details about 1865, English gunsmiths taking the 

 lead, Westley Richards, of London, having exhib- 

 ited the first snap-action arm in 1862. The chief 

 defect in guns of that date was the untrust worth- 

 iness of the connecting appliances between the 

 barrels and the false breech. The first device 

 used was known as the " top-extension," a pro- 

 jecting piece of metal at the breech of the bar- 

 rels, which engaged a catch in the metallic attach- 

 ments of the stock ; this was perfected by W. 

 Greener, of London, in 1873, and proved so effi- 

 cient in actual use that Mr. Greener guaranteed 

 his guns and rarely had one returned on account 

 of failure in this particular. The top extension 

 is still used in one form or 

 another in many breech- 

 loaders, but in other guns 

 it is dispensed with alto- 

 gether, and they endure 

 constant use without fail- 

 ure, depending simply upon 

 the tremendous grip afford- 

 ed by the leverage of the 

 connections below and at 

 the end of the barrels. 



Naturally the fii>t breech- 

 loaders were adapted to the 

 hammer-locks then in use. This class of gun- 

 lock had been brought in course of years to 

 a very high state of simplicity and perfection. 

 and the first inventions were in the direction of 



JllCllYC ILO Wfty, 11 1U. ClO OIUJUCOOI V C lllJ|t_/L W ^uiv.11 Uk? --- * - 



were introduced the old muzzle-loader was pres- adapting the old hammer-lock to the d 



ently superseded. The Le Faucheux was a pin- 

 fire gun, the cartridge being constructed with a 



of the modern breech-loader. All guns have 

 hammers, but in the so-called hammerless variety 



jiici^iui, me uttit tnuge utun^ v;v/iioi;i u^i/tv* . f . ., - 



movable pin in its base, which carried a percus- of comparatively recent invention this : 



sion cap on the inner end; the hammer struck sable piece of mechanism is concealed 



on the rear end of the pin and exploded the cap stock, so. that there is no dangerous projec 



