258 VARIETIES OF SHOT-GUNS, ETC. 



be seen that the two together complete the cylinder, and 

 that the interior of the paper cartridge corresponds with the 

 line of the interior of the metal barrel farther on. There 



is generally a small interval 

 fig. 35. a * the point of junction, but 



there is no necessity for this 

 if the cartridge case is cut 

 of the proper length, yet even 

 if there is, it seems to be of 

 little consequence, as far as 

 can be ascertained from prac- 

 tical experience. When the 

 gun is closed, this case is 

 supported by the false breech, 



SECTION OP LOADED CARTRIDGE AND and a11 6SCa P e f g ES is P" 



CHAMBER. (HALF SIZE.) vented by the explosion swel- 



ling out its sides against the 



chamber. It is found after shooting that few cases are burst, 

 and therefore if there is any escape, it must be between their 

 external surface and the chamber which, as I said before, is 

 made close by the expansion of the former. Practically it 

 results that there is no escape whatever, as is readily shown 

 on an examination of the gun after several discharges. Indeed 

 even by the side of the pin there is little or no stain ; and, 

 as compared with that which takes place out of the nipple- 

 hole of the muzzle-loader, it is nil. In theory, therefore, it 

 would be concluded that this gun would shoot stronger than 

 the percussion with a chamber of the same make, for it 

 would not be fair to compare it with one whose breech is 

 hollowed out into one of the forms known as those of Manton 

 or Wilkinson. But in practice it is found that the shooting 

 is not so strong, and that, from some cause or other, it 

 requires a larger quantity of powder to produce the same 

 effect as the muzzle-loader. This is variously estimated at 

 from a quarter to three-quarters of a drachm, some makers 

 even going so far as to require the latter additional weight 

 of powder. Whether this loss of force arises from the shape 

 of the chamber, or from the compressible nature of the 

 cartridge case, or from any occult cause, is open to discussion, 

 but that it really exists is an indisputable fact. The advo- 

 cates of the muzzle-loader point to it as a defect, some 



