MISCELLANEOUS HINTS. 377 



screw; this arrangement is intended to hold the cap more secure 

 when placed upon it. 



THE COCK, STRIKER, OR HAMMER. 



It is of the utmost importance that the centre of the hammer- 

 head should fall directly on the centre of the nipple, and thus, by 

 an even, regular blow, explode the cap ; if slovenly made in this 

 respect, a second blow will be very often requisite before ignition 

 takes place. 



The head of the striker should always be made tubular, that is, 

 surrounded with a rim, guard, or nose ; and this nose should never 

 be made open in front, as is too often the case. This opening is 

 of no use whatever, save to allow particles of caps to fly out into 

 one's hands and eyes ; whereas, if the nose is perfectly uniform 

 all around, the cap becomes entirely enclosed when the explosion 

 takes place, and it is utterly impossible for a single fragment of 

 the cap to escape. 



It is very seldom that the recoil occasioned by the detonation of 

 a cap is sufficiently powerful to throw the hammer up. If such, 

 however, should be the case, it has been proposed to have the 

 mainspring made adequately strong to prevent this accident. As 

 a still greater protection to the eyes from the fragments of the 

 shattered caps, the hammer is usually made with a circular rim at 

 the point where the nose joins the head, and the whole is still 

 further guarded by "a breeching -wall elevation." 



CARTRIDGES. 



Of late years, cartridges are very extensively used by sports- 

 men, and have proved of immense advantage in many kinds of 

 shooting ; in fact, some of our friends use them altogether on every 

 variety of game, and pronounce their general introduction the 

 most happy thought of the age. Cartridges are very simple in 

 their construction, and can be made by the sportsman himself or 

 any of the younger members of his family, or, what is better, can 

 be purchased for a trifle of the gunsmith in any reasonable quan- 



