72 BREECH-LOADERS. 



screw is avoided ; none being required with a 

 breech-loader, the cartridges being carried either 

 in the pocket or in a waist-belt, 

 o ' kn ' ^* Breech-loaders shoot quicker 



than muzzle-loaders, because there is 

 no long communication (the nipple) between the 

 point of ignition and the charge, the explosion of 

 the cap taking place in the centre of the powder, 

 which is inflamed almost simultaneously ; for it 

 is an error to suppose even that gunpowder ex- 

 plodes instantaneously, as, however rapid its pro- 

 gress, it takes a certain time in travelling from 

 the first grain to the last. 

 Foul very ^' Breech-loaders foul very little, 



as the thick elastic mercurial waddings 

 which enter the breech are fully a size larger 

 than the bore of the muzzle; consequently, being 

 driven through the barrel by the action of the 

 powder, each discharge carries away any refuse 

 or accumulation that may have been left by the 

 previous one, and at the end of a long day's 

 shooting the barrel is almost as free from foul- 



