Oct. 1, 1885.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



187 



in the body of the action. It has no outside parts to collect 

 dirt and rnoisture, and it is seldom necessary to go into the 

 lock or take it to pieces. But, it must be said here, that 

 when the necessity for cleanina; the lock does occur, the 

 average sportstijan will probably find it a difficult job to per- 

 form, aud herein lies a grave fault of the Anson & Deeley 

 lock. 



The lifting-cams, or dogs, one for ench lock, are hung in 

 tlie fore-end of the frame, each by a pin passing through its 

 center. One arm of the lever thus formed extends iuto the 

 metal of the fore-end of the gun. and the other acts upon the 

 tumbler from the under side. When the gun is open and the 

 barrels are depressed, the tumbler is carried back by the 

 action of the cocking lever, compressing the mainspring as 

 it goes, until it is caught by the sear, the nose of which en- 

 gages in the bent of the tumbler; the gun is then at full cock. 

 The striker is an extension of the tumbler, aud reaches the 

 primer through an aperture in the breech. The opening of 

 the gun cocks it, and when loaded it must always be carried 

 at full cock, for the reason than when the tumblers are 

 down their points project beyond the face of the standing 

 breech. There is nothing to arrest tiie striker or to inter- 

 pose between it and the primer in case the sear should break 

 or jar out of the notch in the tumbler. There is a device 

 for locking the triggers, and thus decreasing the probability 

 of the accidental fall of the tumblers, but nothing to catch 

 them if they should fall. This device for bolting the triggers 

 acts automatically, aud the act of opening the gun locks the 

 triggers, so that they cannot be accidentally drawn, nor the 

 gUn be 6 red in the legitimate way, until "the thumb-piece, 

 which is located on the back strap, ir, pushed forward and 

 the triggers therebv released. The thumb-piece is not 

 countersunk in the Harrington cfe Richardson gun and the 

 forward motion unlocks while the backward motion locks 

 the trigger. 



The cocking of the gun leaves a hole in the breech through 

 which gas from the primers, moisture and fouling find ready 

 access to the lock work. Various remedies have been pro- 

 posed and tried for this evil; but none have been fouud to 

 obviate the difficulty, nor will any be found so long as the 

 Anson & Deeley lock remains what it distinctively is— a lock 

 with tumbler and striker in one piece. Some persons will 

 tell you that fbuling does not enter the lock through this 

 aperture, and 1 have even read in print that water poured 

 over the face of the breech would not go in at these holes! 

 It needs no argument to prove th;.l fouling can enter, will 

 enter and does enter. I am sure I have no prejudice against 

 the Anson & Deeley lock ; a majority of the hammerless guns 

 I have owned have been guns made under the Anson & Dee- 

 ley patent. While my experience has taught me the merits 

 of the lock, it Tjas also taught me its demerits, and although 

 the latter have*t)een often pointed out, it is my duty to call 

 attention to the bad as well as the good points. But tliis 

 matter of fouling has been very' much exaggerated by oppon- 

 ents of the Anson & Deeley system, and as much underesti- 

 mated by its advocates. The former would lead you to think 

 the locks will get foul after a day's use, and the latter that 

 they will not foul at all. My experience is that, with rea- 

 sonable care, the locks will hardly get so foul in a season's 

 use as to absolutely demand cleaning. 



Theoretically, the Harrington & Richardson gun, with its 

 Anson & Deeley lock, is not safe; for, as has been seen, a 

 perfect system not only provides against the accidental firing 

 of the gun from pulling the trigger, but provides means of 

 Intercepting the tumblers if thrown by other causes, or in 

 some way makes the accidental firing practically impossible. 

 But practically, I believe it Is safer than any gun with out- 

 side hammers. The actual danger of jarring off is not very 

 great; such a thing may possibly occur, but its occurrence is 

 not at all probable. As alread)^ intimated, 1 have myself 

 owned and used four hammerle.ss guns made under the Anson 

 tk Deeley patent, and have shot in company with others that 

 have used them, and have yet to see a single case of jarring 

 off. I am aware that this is no reply to the argument that 

 the gun may jar off. It is not intended as a reply; I admit 

 the full force of the argument, but it is evidence at least that 

 this jarring off is not of frequent occurrence. 



While the extension of the top rib on the Harrington & 

 Richardson is^ of the doH's-head shape, and a poor con- 

 trivance, it is a long way superior to none at all. The gun 

 has no hinge-check, which is necessary to the durability of 

 any gun. It is true much of the weight of a barrel-cocking 

 hammerless gun is taken up in compressing the mainspring 

 to cock the gun ; but it is frequently necessary to open the 

 gun when the ^ocks are both at full cock, and, consequently, 

 when none of "the pressure is expended in compressing the 

 springs. And^ for the very rea.son that the gun is a barrel- 

 cocker, the giili is frequently opened with a jerk, causing a 

 great strain to the hinge and fore-end. So I regard a hinge- 

 check as a much- needed improvement on the Harrington & 

 Richardson hammerless. 



But, notwithstanding the defects I have pointed out, I am 

 willing to go on record as saying that the Harrington & 

 Richardson is, in my judgment, one of the best and most 

 convenient, durable ana reliable guns in the world for the 

 money. T have never seen a gun of this make that was a 

 poor shooter, and it is decidedly less clumsy in appearance 

 than any other gun made under the Anson & Deeley patent 

 with which I am acquainted. 



The Harrington & Richardson is made in 10 and 13 gauge, 

 the lightest weight berag 7^ pounds. The standard length 

 and drop of stock is 14x3 inches. 



The new Colt hammerless is open to the principal objec- 

 tions that have been urged against the Harrington & Rich- 

 ardson ; the triggers only are bolted, the extension rib is bad, 

 the tumbler and striker are in one piece, reqairing an aper- 

 ture through the face of the breech which is open when the 

 gun is loaded ; the locks cannot be put at rest when there are 

 cartridges in the gun, and the locks are not detachable, as in 

 the hamnaer gun, but are imbedded in the frame. Moreover, 

 the lock is decidedly less simple and is certainly no stronger, 

 if so strong, as the Anson & Deeley. The Colt lock was in- 

 tended as an improvement on the Anson & Deeley, and it is 

 claimed by the manufactm-ers, and by many advocates of the 

 Colt gun, to be an improvement; but, everything considered, 

 I do not so re^rd it. The principal difference between the 

 Colt lock and the Anson & Deeley consists in the arrange- 

 ment of the parts of the lock. The Colt is a barrel-cocker, 

 employing "cOcking-pins" to effect the cocking; but both 

 motions of the barrels — first, throwing them back, and, 

 second, bringing them back— are utilized to effect the cock- 

 ing. The secr'nd motion increases the tension of the main- 

 spring and makes the forces required to open and close the 

 gun more nearly equal. This is an improvement in the lock, 

 and is the prir'/iipai one. 



The Colt Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company long 

 ^ad this gun in preparation, and doubtless expected sports- 



men to find in it advantages over any other hammer- 

 less gun. Its use, so far as my observation extends, has 

 not, up to the present time, become very general, but I risk 

 nothing in saying that the well-earned reputation of this 

 company for turning out sound and reliable w^eapons wUl 

 not suffer in this, their most recent production. There is, 

 in my judgment, little room for choice between the Harring- 

 ton & Richardson and the Colt hammerless; it is a matter of 

 individual preference; both are good guns, and either is 

 well worth the price at which it is sold. " 



The Colt is made in 10 and 12-gauge, and 1 believe the 

 lightest gun that has been put upon "the market is about 

 eight pounds. It is made in two grades, viz., $100 and 

 $1 50, aud these correspond with similar priced grades of the 

 Harrington & Richai-dson. 



The Pittsburgh Fire Arms Company sell a hammerless 

 gun marked with their corporate name. It is not an Amer- 

 ican made gun, but is made, as I am informed, in Birming- 

 ham. Although sold at a higher price, it is certainly not 

 superior to the Colt or the Harrington & Richardson, and in 

 my judgment is not equal to either of these. ■ For reason 

 stated in previous articles, it is unnecessary for me to de- 

 scribe this gun further than to say that it is made under the 

 Anson & Deeley patent and has all the faults of that sys- 

 tem. 



The last hammerless guns which I shall describe are those 

 made by C. M. Sneider, of Baltimore, Md., aud the Lefever 

 Arms Company, of Syracuse, N. Y., guns which seem to 

 me to be superior to any others, whether made in this country 

 or abroad. No other gun possesses so many meritorious 

 featm'cs as the Sneider and the Lefever possess. This or 

 that gun may possess this or that meritorions feature, but 

 for every valuable feature you may show me in any foreign 

 gun of any make whatsoever, I think I can show you a cor- 

 responding feature in the Sneider and Lefever, and when 

 you have finished pointing out the valuable features of your 

 foreign favorite, the good points of these two American guns 

 will only be half enumerated. 



The Sneider hammerless is made to order in the various 

 gauges and weights at prices ranging from $100 to $300, 

 according to the quality of material and finish. It is in 

 many respects different from any other hammerless made. 

 Its breech mechanism is very strong and durable; the points 

 of locking are as far from the llingc-joint as they can be 

 placed on this gun with its length of frame, and the frame, 

 while shorter than that of the Lefever, is longer than that 

 of most other hammerless guns; the top action employed on 

 this gun is so arranged as to be self-closing; the locking 

 bolts are held back until the gun is closed, and the gun may 

 be used, but not so conveniently, if the .spring which throws 

 the bolts home should be broken. 



The Sneider has two rotating gi-ips, each provided with 

 means for taking up wear. The top grip locks into a lug 

 brazed between the barrels at their breech end and fitting 

 into the solid metal of the breech. This presses the breech 

 end of the barrels downward aud against the face of the 

 breech, and prevents the barrels and breech springing apart. 

 The bottom grip locks into a lug placed at the extreme 

 breech end of the barrels. The extension of the top rib (or 

 rather the top lug) has great bearing surface and is excel- 

 lently designed. The action is exceedingly strong, and 

 inasmuch as the grips are held back until the gun is closed, 

 the wear is reduced to the minimum, but for taking up the 

 wear each grip is supplied with a nut, and by tightening these 

 nuts the wear may be taken up and the grips kept in closest 

 contact with the lugs into whicn they re'spectively lock. 



The gun has an excellent hinge-check which slips into the 

 frame and is operated like the bolt which is used to hold the 

 barrels to the stock of the muzzleloader. The forward lug 

 on which the gun turns on the hinge-pin, or roU, has in its 

 rear a shoulder which comes in contact with the check and 

 stops the barrels when the gun is thrown open, thus relieving 

 the hinge-joint of strain. 



The Sneider is a barrel-cocker. When the gun is opened 

 to load, a pushing lever in the head of the frame is forced by 

 a cone-shaped surface in the fore-end against the hammer- 

 carrier, pushing it backward against the hammer and bring- 

 ing it to a full cock, where it h held by the interlocking of 

 the notch of the hammer-carrier with the sear. By prdling 

 the trigger, the sear is pressed upward, thereby releasing the 

 hammer-carrier, which is driven forward by the force of the 

 mainspring, taking with it the hammer and exploding the 

 cartridge. The interlocking of the hammer-carrier and sear 

 is positive, and there is little danger of the gun "jarring oft"" 

 even if unprovided with any safety device; but the hammer- 

 carrier has an extra notch, into which the hook of the sear 

 would engage if it .should accidentally jar off a full cock. 

 The gun is also provided with a safty catch which locks both 

 sears and triggers. The button or thumbpiece is placed in 

 the end of the lever that opens the gun, and to lock the gun 

 it must be pressed forward, and there is no danger of the gun 

 being accidentally unlocked. This safety works independ- 

 ently, but it may be had to operate automatically. The 

 latter is, however, objectionable in this gun, inasmuch as the 

 motion is reversed, and after unlocking and firing the gun, 

 the button must be pushed forward before the lever can be 

 operated and the gun opened, thus rendering it far less con- 

 venient than the independent safety. The Sneider has 

 spiral mainsprings, coiled around the hammer-caiTier, and 

 the maker of tliis gun guarantees that these "spiral main- 

 springs will not set one-eighth of an inch in the life-time of 

 a lock." A device is provided for adjusting the tension of 

 the mainspring, which consists of a nut, by the tightening 

 of which the spring may be compressed. This device is of 

 considerable value, the only objection which I have to it 

 being that which I have to Sneider's provisions for taking up 

 wear, viz., inconvenience of use by inexperienced persons. 

 If his devices for taking up wear and for increasing the tension 

 of the mainspring were more simple and could be more 

 readily utilized b;y the .sportsman, I would like them better. 



The gun has fixed firing pins to exclude the gas, and is 

 also provided with gas chambers and vents to carry off such 

 gas as passes the firing pins. These gas chambers and vents 

 I regard, however, as practically of httle value. The locks 

 are simple and seem to be safe and strong, and are detach- 

 able like the locks of a hammer gun, so that they may be 

 readily removed and cleaned. 



Taken altogether, the Sneider is a first-rate gun; its prin- 

 ciples are sound and it is well made, safe, convenient, dura- 

 ble and symmetrical. Until considerable improvements have 

 been made in the hammerl&ss system, a man might eo further 

 and fare worse by taking a gun different from the' Sneider. 

 I do not consider it the best hammerless that Is made, but I 

 do think it is next to the best and a close competitor for the 

 first place. I think it is better than any foreign gun. and it 

 would be the best in the world were it 'not for the fact that 

 another American maker produces a better one. 



Perhaps a history of the improvements that have been 

 made in the hammerless gun manufactured by the Lefever 

 Arms Company (.successors to D. M. Lefever).* would show 

 more clearly than could be shown in any other way the vari- 

 ous stages through which the hammerless gun has passed 

 until it has reached that degree of perfection presented in the 

 Lefever as now made. This maker has taken step after step, 

 and now offers to American sportsmen the most perfect 

 weapon to be had in the worid. His gun always had fea- 

 tures which strongly recommended it, and these have been 

 continually improved upon. Until recently, however, the 

 Lefever was cocked by an outside lever, and could not fairly 

 be considered a hammerless gun in the strict sense; for the 

 terra implies that no extra motion shall be used to cock the 

 gun, and it not only excludes the old Lefever with outside 

 cocldng lever, but all guns in which the cocking is effected 

 by any extra motion whatever, whether the lever be placed 

 on the .side, the bottom, or the top of the gun. But since the 

 Lefever has been made a barrel-cocker, and thus its objec- 

 tionable feature removed, it seems to me to stand at the head 

 of hammerless guns, and therefore, at the head of sporting 

 firearms. 



The breech-mechanism of the Lefever is without a superior 

 — and this is faint praise. This gun has a powerful exten- 

 sion of the top rib, dovetailed between the barrels, with a 

 neck and a square shoiUdered bearing on each side of the 

 neck i inch in thickness and f inch in depth. This exten- 

 sion fits and fastens into a recess in the solid breech which 

 has the .same amount of opposing surface against which the 

 square shoulders bear and rest. There is but one bolt, and 

 it locks into the solid steel extension at the rear, four inches 

 from the hinge-joint, thus giving a longer leverage than in 

 any other gun and reducing the strain to the minimum. 

 The bolt is made compensating so that all the wear may be 

 instantly taken up by simply turning a screw, the point of 

 which rests on top of the bolt. 



The hinge-joint consists of a ball and socket— the strong- 

 est joint known to mechanics. The ball screws into the 

 head of the frame so as to make a perfect compensation, 

 and, as with the bolt, all wear can be taken up by simply 

 turning a screw. The socket is in the lug (the gun has only 

 one lug), and the pressure of the ball into this socket keep's 

 the gun tight. This lug is split, aud lateral wear of the lug 

 may l)e taken up by turning in a long tapering screw with 

 which the lug is provided. The fore-end is also made com- 

 pensating, and if wetir occurs there the turning of a screw 

 takes it up. The gun has the Nichols hinge-check — ^the best 

 made — and when it is thrown open, an extension, or shoul- 

 der, on the rear of the lug engages with the check and pre- 

 vents strain. The gun is a "top-action," but it is not oper- 

 ated with the ordinary top lever. Instead of that it has a 

 thumb-piece on the "back-strap, which I have found more 

 convenient. Pressing forward this thumb piece withdraws 

 the bolt, where it is held by a trip until the gun is closed. 

 If the spring that throws the locking-bolt home should be 

 broken the gun may be used, and the only inconvenience in- 

 curred would be the pulling back of the thumb-piece to carry 

 the locking -bolt into place. 



Thus it will be seen that the action is not only the strong- 

 est, but wear is reduced to the minimum. More precautions 

 are taken than on any other gun to be found in the world to 

 make it last and remain serviceable. And when wear does- 

 occur, the simplest aud most effective means are provided 

 for taking it up, means which the sportsman may himself 

 utilize without the aid of any tool but the screwdriver. The 

 action and its compensating features .seem to me to place it 

 ahead of any other gun ; but its lock is in no respect inferior 

 to that of any other hammerless. 



The Lefever lock is very simple and strong. As made 

 until recently, it was cocked by means of a straight rod (one 

 for each lock, of course,) extending from the fore-end to a 

 point on the hammer fg inch above the pivot on which the 

 hammer swings. The friction of the inclined point of this 

 rod with a similar inclined surface of the fore-end was 

 found to make light guns cock harder than was desirable, 

 and so the point of the rod that extended into the fore-end 

 was cut off, and cocking levers inserted in the head of the 

 frame similar to tiiose UKsed in the Sneider gun, and the 

 Lefever now cocks very easily. The firing pins are separate 

 from the hammer and are apringless. The cock notch is in 

 the rear part of the hammer, and being one and seven eighths 

 inches from the pivot, the trigger pull may be made very 

 light without danger of jarring off. The mainspring is of 

 the ordinary V shape. Each lock plate is provided with a 

 set-screw bearing on the sear, by means of which the trigger 

 pull may be changed at will without taking off' or tinkering 

 with the locks. The lock plates are of the bar lock style and 

 may be readily removed. The gun is provided with a safety 

 locking both sears and triggers, and each lock has an indi- 

 cator which projects when the lock is at full cock, thus 

 showing at a glance or a touch whether the locks are cocked 

 or not. The safety indicator, as the gun is now made, is 

 placed on the back strap and operates automatically, but, if 

 desired, the gun will be made with the indicator in the rear 

 of the trigger guard, so that, when the gun is in position to 

 fire, the pressure of the middle finger against the indicator 

 will release the triggers. The gun may be taken apart and 

 put together with the hammers down." 



It is hardly necessary for me to say that I think the Le- 

 fever lock better than any other hammerless lock made, and 

 that, as a whole, the gun has no equal. As before remarked, 

 the Sneider comes next in my judgment, and I place it 

 second because I regard the action of the Lefever, its lock 

 aud compensating features, superior. In point of material, 

 workmanship, symmetiy, beauty of design and perfection of 

 balance, it has no equal among American guns, aud, taken 

 as a whole, it has no superior in the world. I do not say 

 that there are not foreign guns of finer finish ; and if fine 

 finish were all, a foreign gun might be found to surpass the 

 Lefever. What I say is that, taken as a whole, its principles 

 of construction, as well as its workmanship and material 

 being considered, the Lefever stands at the head. Where 

 durability and safety, aud convenience and strength and 

 shooting powers are thought to be things of value, the Le- 

 fever will be esteemed, for no gun with which I am ac- 

 quainted surpasses it in these attributes; and its material, 

 workmanship, beauty, symmetry and balance are equal to 

 anything American and to anything foreign to be had at 

 near the price of the Lefever. 1 am proud of the achieve- 

 ments of American gunmakers in general and of those of D, 

 M. Lefever in particular. 



The Lefever gun is made in various gauges and of various 

 weights, at prices ranging from $75 to |300. Ah-Pe. 



Try Lighter Loads for game. They will not pound your 

 shoulder; you can shoot with more pleasure, and the work 

 will be just as effective. 



