42 



RECREA TION. 



" This breech-loading arrangement ap- 

 pears to act well, as it may in an arm of so 

 small a calibre and charge, used only under 

 cover of a roof; but it would not seem to 

 be adapted to use in the ordinary vicissi- 

 tudes of military service. However, M. 

 Pruille, chef d'escadron d'artillerie, proposes 

 to make arms for the general service on 

 the same plan: to use a very long grooved 

 ball, weighing about 180 grains, with a 

 charge equal to 31 grains. He says a ball 

 of this kind penetrates, at 20 paces, through 

 a cuirass which has been proved in the or- 

 dinary manner: that it has a range of 650 

 yards with an ordinary sight, and an ex- 

 treme range of 2,186 yards." 



THE LEFAUCHEUX BREECH-LOADING SHOT 

 GUN AND PIN FIRE CARTRIDGE. 



This non-military arm is illustrated here; 

 1st, because Lefaueheux is stated to have 

 been a workman under the celebrated Jean 

 Samuel Pauly, just as Jean Nicholas 

 Dreyse, the alleged inventor of the Prussian 

 needle gun, had been. 2d, because the 

 sporting arm of Lefaueheux was one of the 

 first fire arms of any kind, " drop down " 

 system, to use'a gas-tight cartridge shell, or 

 case, to properly fit the breech of the gun: 

 the cartridge carrying the means of its own 

 ignition. The first Lefaueheux gun used a 

 pin-fire cartridge, which is shown in the 

 illustration. After this comes the rim-fire 

 cartridge; then the centre-fire metallic 

 cartridge. The pin-fire cartridge of Le- 

 faueheux required a pin-hole in the breech 

 part of the gun for the brass striking pin 

 to stick up through, acting as a nipple for 

 the cock or hammer. This pin hole was a 

 great objection, as the pin had to fit into 

 the notch in the barrels before the barrels 

 could be closed. In very rapid loading, and 

 during excitement, delay was caused in 

 properly fitting the cartridge. The liability 

 of the pins to be bent out of shape, or dis- 

 placed, was also an objection. The Lefau- 

 eheux cartridges were not handy to carry 

 on account of the projecting pin. Yet the 

 introduction of the central fire cartridge 



met with opposition from many who as- 

 serted that the system was dangerous be- 

 cause they could not see, at a glance, if 

 the gun was loaded. The hammerless shot 

 guns were opposed, 18 years afterward, 

 on the same ground, with the further ob- 

 jection that sportsmen could not see when 

 they were cocked or loaded. Patented " in- 

 dicators " followed but. were discarded as 

 useless and unnecessary appendages. Some 

 of Lefaucheux's pin-fire cartridges were of 

 pasteboard, re-enforced with foil near me- 

 tallic base. 



On page 102, " Hints to Riflemen," 1864, 

 by H. W. S. Cleveland, is a sensible defence 



Ti&fa.U.cTttvcxTS ret-cft - tcxtclvi" . 3i^Te. ff^/o ., 



of cartridges loaded at factories and self-, 

 primed. Even at that date, objections were 

 urged by some who preferred muzzle load- 

 ing arms and percussion caps, based on the 

 ground that loaded cartridges were dan- 

 gerous: that if the sportsman's or soldier's 

 supply of such was exhausted his fire-arms 

 were of no more value than so many sticks: 

 that they could only be used with the spe- 

 cial ammunition provided for them: that 

 their use restricted the firer to precisely the 

 same quantity and quality of powder and 

 ball under all circumstances and at all 

 ranges; that they encouraged waste of am- 

 munition, carelessness, etc., etc. 



The success of breech-loading small arms 

 is due in a great measure to the cartridge, 

 in the improvement of which there has been 

 the same advance as in the arms themselves. 

 No matter how inferior may be a breech 

 arrangement, a perfect cartridge can be 

 used with safety and efficiency. 



TO A PICTURE. 



LAURENSTINE YORKE. 



New sorrows smite me from thine eyes 

 And I am blanched and dumb; 



Hope, the alluring siren dies, 

 And leaves me cold and numb. 



