Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1871. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ...,be forgotten that there are at present upwards of 3,000 breech-loading rifled guns in use in the service, and that for many years to come these will doubtless continue toform an important part of our armaments. It will be observed, moreover, that although in the one case the projectile is put in at the breech and in the other at the muzzle, the principles upon which both guns are constructed, the principles upon which they are sighted, and the leading features of their different projectiles, are in nearly all respects identical. It will be found, therefore, that when we have made ourselves acquainted with all that is necessary to be known about our breech-loading guns, we shall have comparatively little more to learn in order to be equally at home among the muzzle-loaders. The part of the Armstrong gun which is usually most attractive to a person examining it for the first time is the breech-closing arrangement. We naturally feel curious to see how a gun can be made as open at the breech as it is at the muzzle and yet be closed again before every round so as to be almost as secure as if it had been a muzzleloader. The way in which this is effected is very simple. The gun, as already observed, is completely open at the breech. A schoolboy's popgun is not a more complete tube from end to end than is the Armstrong gun. To load the piece, therefore, it is only necessary to pass the bullet and cartridge in at the open end in the breech. The charge is pushed forward into its place in the barrel, and the breech is then ready to be closed up. To effect this two articles are employed. The first is the round block of metal called the vent-piece. If we examine this article We shall observe that it is bevelled off in front somewhat like the bung of a cask. It is in fact a s...
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