THE LEFAUCHEAUX GUN. 255 



various ways to load at the breech, which may be effected in 

 from a quarter to a sixth of the time occupied in the old 

 plan; and with less danger, because the hand is never over 

 the muzzle at any time, and, till the breech is closed, if an 

 explosion should take place, it is comparatively harmless. 

 Leading also is almost entirely got rid of, and there is little 

 or 110 fouling so that at the end of a day's shooting the 

 gun shoots as pleasantly as at the beginning. Moreover, the 

 cleaning is a very simple process, and the eye at once detects 

 in the Lefaucheaux gun the slightest amount of foulness, 

 which a few pints of water poured through easily get rid of. 

 In some, as in the needle-gun, there is a constant necessity 

 for cleaning the locks; but even this does not apply to the 

 Lefaucheaux pattern. Whether or not breech-loaders shoot 

 as well as muzzle-loaders remains to be considered; but all 

 the qualities of the several patterns will pass under review 

 in the following pages. 



THE LEFAUCHEAUX OR FRENCH CRUTCH GUN. 



For about twenty years this gun has been commonly used 

 in France; but until the year 1851 it was almost unknown 

 in England. At that time, however, Mr. Lang, of Cockspur- 

 street, London, took it up, and since then his example has 

 been followed by nearly all the gunmakers in the kingdom, 

 so that at the present moment there are probably five of this 

 make sold to one of the ordinary muzzle-loader of best quality. 



In this gun, when it is loaded, the general appearance 

 closely resembles the ordinary muzzle-loader the chief diffe- 

 rence perceptible to the eye being the standing up of a small 

 brass pin between the false breech and the barrel, instead of 

 the nipple and its cap. This pin is struck by the hammer 

 in the usual way, and by the blow given at its internal end 

 to a cap inserted in the cartridge the powder is exploded. 

 In addition to this variation, there is also a lever fixed below 

 the breech end of the barrel or barrels, which admits of being 

 turned sideways, and in so doing liberates them, and allows 

 of their being raised at the breech end, and lowered at the 

 muzzle, upon a strong hinge, as shown in the accompanying 

 engraving of one of Messrs. Reilly's guns, shot at the Field 



