THE SLING, BOW, AND OTHER WEAPONS 141 



accomplished, the breechloader came rapidly into use, for it could 

 be loaded so much more rapidly than the old muzzle-loading gun. 

 A shell containing powder charge and bullet and with a percussion 

 cap fixed in one end was introduced into the stock end of the 

 barrel. The hammer struck a movable pin that rested against 

 the percussion cap in the shell. The Prussian army was fur- 

 nished such breech-loading guns at the time of the war with 

 Austria, 1866. The war was of very short duration, for the new 

 type of arm was so much more efficient than the old muzzle- 

 loading gun that the Austrians were repeatedly routed with 

 exceedingly heavy losses. This war was such a conclusive 



FIG. 55. The flintlock of an old musket 



demonstration of the value of the breechloader that all the 

 European nations proceeded to furnish these guns to their 

 armies. 



In the old guns the bullet was a leaden ball, slightly smaller 

 than the bore of the barrel. It could not be fired at long range 

 with any great accuracy for it struck first one side of the 

 bore, then the other, as it was shot out and never went very 

 straight. It was so large in cross-section it offered great resist- 

 ance in its passage through the air, and its speed was rapidly 

 checked. When attempts were made to use long, slender, 

 sharp-pointed bullets to overcome this difficulty, they would go 

 tumbling end over end through the air in irregular courses. 



