MUZZLE-LOADERS AND BREECH-LOADERS. 61 



day's fag will be found annoying. But for all the 

 shore-birds, and even for English snipe, the breech- 

 loader has an immense advantage. It requires a 

 quarter of a drachm of powder extra, and, on this 

 account as well as from the cost of the cases, is more 

 expensive in use ; with the extra allowance of pow- 

 der, however, it shoots stronger, with as good a pat- 

 ten and as little recoil as its rival ; it is somewhat 

 heavier to carry, infinitely safer to load, rarely misses 

 fire, and may be cleaned ere the tow can be prepared 

 for the muzzle-loader. 



Of course the better the barrels, the better it will 

 shoot, to a greater degree even than the old gun ; 

 and it is being daily made more perfect. The weight 

 has already been reduced, for field-guns even of No. 

 1 2 bore, to six pounds ten ounces, which is as light 

 as any double-gun should be, and the mechanism of 

 the parts is very fine. Of course the friction on the 

 hinge will in the end wear it loose, but the expense 

 of a new one is trifling, and its construction might 

 almost be entrusted to a country blacksmith. The 

 barrels are said to spring slightly at the discharge 

 when the load is heavy, so that a piece of thin paper 

 pasted across at the break-off along the ridge will 

 be rent ; and, on the other hand, Mr. Dougall, of 

 Glasgow, claims to have made an invention called 

 by him the " Lockfast," that removes this difficulty. 

 The objection, however, is not important ; and Mr. 

 Dougail's invention, by which the barrels slip into a 

 shoulder-cut on the face of the breech, is consider- 

 ably slower in action than the other patterns : it can- 



