The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-25 00:00:00

AMERICAN BREECH-LOADING RIFLE.

We can scarcely claim for the manufacturers or arti-
sans of this country the merit of being inventive, al-
though in adaptations and improvements there is no
doubt we yield the palm to none. During the last few
years, as our readers must be aware, many striking and
valuable improvements upon the old regulation mus-
ket have been brought forward, but not one that can
be called exclusively British. The unsettled state of
European politics, and the apprehensions of invasion
which have been from time to time put forward with
so much confidence, however unfounded they may •
be, have rendered the question of an improvement
in fire-arms one of the most interesting of the day.
We have had in turn the merits of the Minie
the Prussian needle-gun, the carabine h tige, the Swiss '
Federal rifle, with their various alterations and emenda-
tions, discussed and contrasted, and we have now an
American breech-loading .rifle, which, we are assured,
gets rid of many, if not all, of the objections raised by
the board of military officers here to the Prussian needle-
gun, while it. secures that great desideratum in firearms,
loading at the breech and dispensing with that clumsy and
antiquated appendage the ramrod, The needle gun, expe-
rimented upon at Woolwich some time back was found
to permit so great an escape of gas at the breech after
several rounds had been fired, and the certainty that this
escape must increase in proportion to the length of ser-
vice of the weapon, decided the authorities in rejecting
what they believed to be an unsafe, although, in other
respects, a highly efficient fire-arm. The Minie rifle,
with its heavy ounce and a half conical ball and propor-
tionately large charge of powder, was accordingly se-
lected, and at least 20,000 of our troops will shortly be
armed with the weapon. Since the Government con-
tract for the Minie rifle was taken, Mr. Seares has
brought forward an improved needle gun, which we
had an opportunity of examining, and which, accord-
ing to the report of the manufacturers, completely ob-
viated the defect of the Prussian gun, there not be-
ing the slightest escape of gas from the breech, after
several hundred rounds had been fired. We can
ourselves bear testimony to the simplicity and per-
fection of the mechanism, the rapidity with which
it can be loaded and fired, and the perfect safety from
accidental discharge or fouling. The breech-loading rifle
of Mr. W. Marston, of New York, which we were yes-
terday invited to examine, proves that the improvements
in firearms have not yet reached their ultimate limit, and
that we may yet see a perfect breech-loading weapon.
Not having had an opportunity of seeing the rifle prac-
tically tested, we can only speak of its merits by hear-
say, but we can at least explain the simple and effic'ent
mechanism by which the inventor loads and discharges
it. The barrel has a moveable breach, which slides up
and down in a groove, and when the gun is about to
be loaded, a lever, which lies on the outside of the
piece under the stock, is pushed out by the hand, and
this moves along the groove a solid steel cylinder, the
top of which forms the breech, and in the chamber
thus exposed the cartridge and conical ball is depo-
sited. The lever being now drawn by the hand back to
its original position close to the stock, pushes the steel
cylinder up close to the butt end of the barrel, completely
closing up the orifice of the bore, the cartridge by the
same movement being impelled forward into the barrel.
With the exception of placing a cap on the nipple, these
two simple movements load the rifle, which is now ready
to be discharged. We understand the gun can be
loaded and fired seven, eight, or nine times in a minute,
by a practised hand, but for all useful purposes it is evi-
dent that the acme of simplicity and rapidity has been
attained. There is a peculiarity in the cartridge which
also requires explanation. Its base is composed of a cir-
cular piece of stout leather, through which a hole is drilled,
and in the solid steel breech there is a similar hole drilled,
which slopes upwards to the nipple, with which it commu-
nicates—the fire of the cap passes through this hole, and
through the corresponding hole in theleather wad, igniting
the charge, and this is one of the objections that would
first suggest itself, that the distance the spark has to
travel, and the accident of a small particle of leather
' obstructing the hole at the bottom of the cartridge, may
cause the piece to miss fire. We are assured that in
practice this is not the case. Again, the liability to an
escape of gas at the breech would appear to us to be
nearly as great as in the Zund-nadelgewehr. The steel
cylinder, when pushed close up to the butt of the barrel,
enters it about a quarter of an inch, and this is the whole
protection from an escape of gas ; but the inventor states
that the wad of leather which covers the bottom of the
breech renders it perfectly air tight. The leather per-
forms a further most valuable office, for when the piece
is discharged it of course remains behind, and when the
cylinder is drawn down, to load again, the leather wad
remains at the bottom of the barrel, and is in front
of the next cartride ; it is driven out of the barrel
at the next discharge, and completely cleans it, so
that the gun never requires washing or swabbing
out. The arrangement of the butt so as to resist the
force of the recoil is admirable, the leverage assuming
the same position and combination as the keystone of an
arch, so that it is capable of resisting a backward force
of 300 or 400 pounds. A lengthened series of experi-
ments would, however, be necessary in order to test the
weapon fully ; and we have no doubt the authorities
here will take care that it receives proper consideration
examination.t ie
s piece We c
here
of
at artillery,asnhnooet so highly, when tested
i
rforgetynes
constructeds t,hat
afterthe
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atbhnuyedilt, a S
breech, eea cwuhte,hd
authorities
which report spoke
dis-
charges had the entire breech blown off ; and had this
occurred on board a ship or in a easemated battery, the
result would have been extremely serious. The Ameri-
can rifle is said to have a point blank range of 300
yards ! and to have a good average range of be-
tween 700 and 800 yards ; the weight of the conical
ball is half an ounce, the charge of powder 45
grains, and the length of the barrel 32 inches. The

musket exhibited appears to us somewhat heavier
than the British regulation musket, and in both it and
the rifle there is an extravagant expenditure of metal,
which adds to the weight of the arm without adding
much to its efficiency. We have not yet seen the prin-
ciple originally suggested by Colonel Dundas, and since
carried out so advantageously with regard to artillery,
applied to small arms, namely, a different distribution of
the metal employed in the manufacture of the gun, so
as to throw a greater quantity in and around the breech,
where the whole force of the explosion is expended, and
to diminish it towards the muzzle, where it is not re-
quired. The range and precision of artillery has been
greatly improved, and the force of the recoil con-
siderably reduced, by this improved arrangement, and
why may not the same results be anticipated in small
arms ? While acknowledging the simplicity and effi-
ciency of the American rifle, we cannot help observing
that it has the defect of! nearly all the improved
weapons, additional instead of reduced weight, while
all military experience establishes the fact that the sol-
is at present over weighted, and therefore not so efficient
as he might be under other circumstances. We have no
doubt that a judicious reduction of the weight of the fire-
arms, a smaller bore, and a lighter ball and charge of
powder, would relieve the soldier of three or four pounds
weight, without injuring in any way the efficiency of the
weapon, and we need only cite the Swiss Federal rifle in
proof of our assertion, which, with a ball a third of an
ounce in weight, and a thimbleful of powder, will kill a
deer or a horse at 800 yards. The late Duke of Welling-
ton it is well known, was so wedded to the old musket
bore, with its ounce ball, that when the contract for the
Minie rifle was put forward, it stipulated that the barrel
should have an ounce bore—the result is that, with the
conical ball, the weight is now an ounce and a-
half, and the charge proportionately heavy, and
the soldier must either carry two or three pounds addi-
tional weight of lead and gunpowder in his pouch, or the
number of rounds served out to him must be reduced.
This is evidently a step in the wrong direction, and a
mistake that cannot be too soon corrected. We under-
stand from Mr. Moulton, the gentleman by whom the
American rifle is exhibited, that the French Government
have already given him a large order, and that in the
experiments made with it at Woolwich, a few days since,
in the presence of some of our military authorities, it
gave much satisfaction. Until we have the details of
these trials, or until we have an opportunity of seeing
the weapon tested, it would of course be premature to
do more than give the result of our own observations
and the statements of the exhibitor.

Mn.S GORE'S NEW NOVEL, " THE DEAN'S DAUGHTER.;
oR, THE DAYS WE LIVE IN," is published this day, by
Messrs. Hurst and Blackett, successors to Mr. Colburn,
and may be had at all the libraries. The following po-
pular novels are also just published by Messrs. Hurst
and Blackett :—Lady Catherine Long's new work, "The
First Lieutenant's Story," 3 vols. ; " Castle Avon," by
the author of "Emilia Wyndham," 3 vols. ; "Broom-
hill, or the County Beauties," 3 vols. ; " Uncle Walter,"
by Mrs. Trollope, 3 vols. ; "The Kinnears," a Scottish
story, 3 vols.
A DARK PICTURE OF NEWCASTLE.—The editor of the
Newcastle Chronicle, in a leading article, thus describes
this "canny town :"—" Our alleys are swarming with
thieves, our finest streets infested by beggars, and barri-
caded by hawkers of small wares, the lamps are worse
lighted, the streets worse kept, and the whole town
more disorderly than most other towns of the same im-
portance in other parts of the kingdom 1"
THE HARDWARE TRADE IN AUSTRALIA.—The follow-
ing extract of a letter from a respectable young man
who went to Melbourne two years ago, may be interest-
ing :—" I landed in Melbourne, and the first hardware
shop I went into I was engaged, the first week at 31.
10s., the second week, if liked:sl. Each hand in the
establishment receives from 501. to 601. a-day; the prices
are very great, padlocks you sell at 3s. 6d. per doz. are
2s. 6d. each ; Rodgers's one blade penknives ss. per
doz. 3s. 6d. each ; padlocks Bs. or Os. per doz. are ss.
each.—No second price. We have only to ask and the
money is handed out. Police have 15s. per day."
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Pills an effectual Re
medy for Gout and Rheumatism.—Extract of a letter
from Mr. W. Moon, at Messrs. Godwin's, auctioneers,
Winchester, dated April 8, 1852.—T0 Professor Hollo-
way. Sir,—l beg to inform you that for years I was a
sufferer from chronic rheumatism, and often laid up for
weeks together, unable to move. I was attended by the
most eminent surgeons here, but obtaining no relief, was
induced to go into our county hospital. The medical
treatment there, however, being of no avail, I left, and
commenced using your pills, which, I am happy•to say,
in a short time effected a perfect cure, and enabled me
to resume'my employment.—Sold by all druggists, and
at Professor Holloway's establishment, 244, Strand,
London.

[AuvEßTlsEmErn.]—Diseases of the Kidneys, Bladder,
&c.--Dr. Denis Cronin has removed from Leicester-place
to 35, Bruton-street, Berkeley-square, where he may be
consulted, as usual, from ten till two, on his treatment
of affections of the kidneys, bladder, and pro'strate gland,
in their connection with diseases of the stomach and
liver. Urinary Analysis (the importance of which to the
successful treatment of disease is now fully acknow.
lodged) conducted daily, in accordance with Dr. D.
Cronin's new theory,