36 BREECHING. 



The common plug, No. 1, is adopted as the cheapest 

 and best calculated breeching for rough usage, dirt, and 

 neglect; and is, for this reason, generally put to all 

 fire-arms that are merely used for personal protection, 

 the service of the army, &c. Some make the common 

 plug, with a little notch at the end, which is filed, to 

 hold a greater depth of powder at the touchhole ; others 

 think that this collects the dirt, and leave the surface 

 quite plain. I have heard many sportsmen say, " After 

 all, give me the old common plug ; it fires as well as 

 any, and can never be stopped up." But, on taking 

 out their breechings, their " old common plug" has 

 proved to be the chamber plug, which is precisely the 

 same to all outward appearance. See the Sketch. 



The chamber plug, No. 2, has the advantage, not 

 only of the common, but most of the patent breechings, 

 by means of the small perforation leading to a concave, 

 or cup, at the top ; where the powder is suddenly 

 ignited from the centre. But, as the touchhole goes 

 through the threads of the female screw in the barrel, 

 it must be met by a hole nearly as large as the tube 

 itself, which comes from the tube in a right angle, 

 through the male screw or plug. This perforation is 

 apt to wear, and sometimes to get damp from the oil 

 which is used for screwing in the breech-plug. It is 

 also liable to become corroded, and, therefore, sometimes 

 difficult to be taken out. Excepting for these defects, 

 the chamber plug is much to be recommended ; and 

 having recourse to it is almost the only way that an 

 old gun can be improved with that economy, which 

 should be observed in all expenditures on a worthless 

 foundation. 



