34 MUZZLE-LOADERS AND BREECH-LOADERS. 



the muzzle-loader screws into the barrel, is omitted, 

 and the barrels are open at both ends ; they are 

 fastened to the stock by a pin and joint a few inches 

 beyond the guard. When free, the muzzle hangs 

 down, and the breech end presents itself several 

 inches above the stock, so that the cartridge can be 

 readily inserted ; when the barrels are pressed back 

 into their place for firing, they are caught by a bolt 

 that can be opened or closed by a lever lying along the 

 under part of the stock, between the guard and the 

 joint. The false breech is flat, solid, and heavy, and 

 completes the barrels, taking the place and perform- 

 ing the duty of the breech in the muzzle-loader. 

 The hammers have a flat surface on the striking end, 

 and the locks are back-actioned, to avoid interfering 

 with the other mechanism. 



A cartridge is made of stout paper, shaped like a 

 short section of the barrel, with a brass capsule on 

 one end and open at the other; it is two or three 

 inches long, and has a pad of thick paper beneath 

 the capsule. In this pad a hole is punched on the 

 inside and the percussion-cap is inserted, with a 

 brass pin resting in it and projecting above the cap- 

 sule on the outside. The percussion-cap is entirely 

 within the cartridge-case, and the brass pin passes 

 through a hole drilled in one side of the capsule, 

 just large enough to admit it and exclude moisture 

 entirely. A blow on the projecting end of the pin 

 drives the other end into the cap, and discharges the 

 latter. The cai'tridge-case is prepared already 

 capped, and is sold in England for from thirty to 



