260 VARIETIES OP SHOT-GUNS, ETC. 



they are only firmly held there when this portion of the stock 

 is replaced and re-bolted. But besides the lumps brazed on 

 to the under part of the barrels, and cut to the proper form 

 for the purpose of taking the bolts, the breech end is also 

 chambered out carefully, so as to receive the cartridge case of 

 the size intended to be used with freedom, but at the same 

 time not too easily. The rule is, that so long as the cartridge 

 will not fall out by its own weight, it cannot be too loose, 

 and the pinch should be most at the end farthest from the 

 breech. In other words, the chamber should be slightly 

 conical, and its shoulder should be bevelled off at an angle of 

 about 45 degrees. Barrels for breech-loading guns do not 

 require to be much opened behind, the difference between the 

 diameter of the cartridge and that of the barrel being nearly 

 sufficient to detain the charge until all the powder is burnt. 

 This probably is one reason why the recoil is so slight in 

 proportion to the increased charge of powder, for though it 

 does not appear that the breech-loader actually " kicks" less 

 than the muzzle-loader, as is affirmed by many, yet its recoil 

 is not certainly greater in proportion to the extra powder. 

 A slight " relief" will be necessary to obtain a good pattern, 

 and most of these guns are so bored for about six inches from 

 the muzzle, but this is regulated in each case according to 

 the shooting on trial at the gunmakers' iron plate. 



The cartridge case is next to the barrel in importance, 

 though not being an actual part of the gun, it might at first 

 sight be considered as an accessory only. Still the breech- 

 loader is wholly useless without it, and therefore it is better 

 to consider it as an essential. It consists of a cylinder of 

 stout brown paper, about two inches and a half long, open at 

 one end and closed at the other by a brass capsule which 

 overlaps the sides for a quarter of an inch, and is lined by a 

 pasteboard wad f ths of an inch thick. In the centre of this 

 wad is punched a hole of an oblong-square shape, lined with 

 brass, and passing through the edge of the capsule and through 

 the substance of one section of this wad is a small brass pin, 

 one extremity of which stands up for half an inch above the 

 level of the outside "of the capsule, and the other enters the 

 little chamber in the wad, where it has a percussion-cap fitted 

 on it. By this arrangement, a blow on the outer end of the 



