of the Old World. 491 



A sportsman armed with a breech-loader can re- 

 load almost as soon as a keeper can hand him a 

 second gun and receive the one discharged, which 

 does away with the necessity of having a man at 

 one's heels with a loaded gun an objectionable 

 practice, as a trip or stumble might so easily occasion 

 an accident. 



Breech-loaders fo ul very little, as the thick elastic 

 mercurial waddings which enter the breech are fully 

 a size larger than the bore of the muzzle ; conse- 

 quently, being forcibly driven through the barrel 

 with the force of the powder, each discharge carries 

 away any refuse or accumulation that may have been 

 left by the one previous, and at the end of a long 

 day's shooting the barrel is just as free from foulness 

 as at the beginning ; also the explosion of the charge 

 does not take place in the breech, but in the paper 

 cartridge, which comes out uninjured, containing the 

 debris of the burnt powder, which in the ordinary 

 gun is driven into the chamber and nipple every 

 time it is reloaded, until the latter becomes clogged 

 up, and miss-fires are the consequence. 



The ease of cleaning is also very apparent, for 

 nothing is required but the passing of a little tow 

 through the barrel once or twice, and afterwards 

 wiping with an oiled rod ; whereas, with an ordinary 

 gun, the dirt is forced in the breech and through 

 the nipple, and frequent washing out of the barrels is 



