BURST GUNS 

 A number of burst guns come under 



our notice every year, the accidents having happened 

 sometimes with our cartridges, sometimes with other 

 English makes and sometimes with foreign-made 

 ammunition 



The majority of these guns are sent to us to prove 

 conclusively that the gun has bur^, it being evidently 

 believed that in the absence of any obvious cause to the 

 contrary, the accident mu^ be due to a cartridge having 

 given too high a pressure. Especially fixed is this belief 

 if the gun has fired, without casualty, many hundreds or 

 thousands of cartridges previously. 



No belief could be more erroneous, and we can un- 

 hesitatingly assert that, in mo^ of the cases, a cursory 

 examination of the fradure enables us to absolve the 

 cartridge from blame ; and in the remaining in^ances, a 

 more prolonged examination accompanied by, perhaps, 

 micro-photographical and metallurgical research again 

 enables us to acquit the cartridges in nearly every instance. 



However, the belief contmues to exi^, and wecon^antly 

 have to write letters explaining the reasons for accidents. 

 These reasons are, for the mo^ part, few in number ; so 

 much so that it would be quite possible to compose 

 several forms of letters referring to these complaints and 

 to send them out as occasion required, filling m merely 

 the name and address of the complainant. We propose, 



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