CHAPTER I 
THE RIFLE OF A PAST HALF CENTURY 
Forty years ago our troops were armed with a 
smooth-bore musket, and a small force known as 
the “ Rifle Brigade’' was the exception to this rule. 
The military rifle carried a spherical bullet, and, 
like all others of the period, it necessitated the 
use of a mallet to strike the ball, which, being a size 
larger than the bore, required the blow to force it 
into the rifling of the barrel in order to catch the 
grooves. 
Sporting rifles were of various sizes, but they 
were constructed upon a principle generally accepted, 
that extreme accuracy could only be obtained by 
burning a very small charge of powder. 
The outfit required a small mallet made of hard¬ 
wood faced with thick buff leather, a powerful load¬ 
ing-rod, a powder-flask, a pouch to contain greased 
linen or silk patches; another pouch for percussion 
caps ; a third pouch for bullets. In addition to this 
cumbersome arrangement, a nipple-screw was car¬ 
ried, lest any stoppage might render necessary the 
extraction of the nipple. 
VOL. I B 
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