492 The Hunting Grounds 



required, which is never the case with a breech- 

 loader. 



There is less recoil in a breech-loader than in a 

 muzzle-loader of the same size and weight, which I 

 account for by its construction rendering it necessary 

 to have more weight of metal at the breech ; and 

 also because at the bottom of the cartridge of the 

 breech-loader there is a tight roll of paper, about 

 one-eighth of an inch in thickness, which (like the 

 buffer of a railway carriage) gives with the action of 

 the powder and lessens the recoil. 



After five years' experience with breech-loaders, 

 during which I have made a series of practical 

 experiments, I have come to the conclusion that 

 they shoot rather harder than ordinary muzzle-loading 

 guns; and my way of accounting for this fact is, 

 that all windage is prevented (by the wadding used 

 being a size larger than the bore) ; besides which, 

 I think they will burn more powder, and of a larger 

 grain than that in general use for percussion-guns, 

 which is stronger, because there is more air that 

 facilitates combustion between the grains. I also 

 consider that they shoot quicker, because there is no 

 long communication (the nipple) between the point 

 of ignition and the charge, the explosion of the cap 

 taking place in the centre of the powder, which is 

 inflamed almost simultaneously ; for it is an error to 

 suppose that gunpowder explodes instantaneously, as, 



