Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-11-04
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BREECH-LOADING ARMS.

At the fair recently held at Springfield
Massachusetts, the first premium-a silver
medal and diploma-was adjudged to May
nard's breech- loading carbine. This breech
loader is the invention of DR.. Edward May.
nard, a resident of Washington, and it is q
strong endorsement of the merits of the arm
that it should have won for him so high a
testimonial from committee of practical
mechanics, in the heart of the gun-making
region of the United States, and where he
was personally a stranger
The committee speak Of this rifle as com.
bining, in an eminent degree, everything to
be desired in good fire arm. With charge
of forty grains of powdtr, it is effective for
any distance up to 800 or 100 yards. 1t
may be readily used with loose ammunition,
or ordinary paper cartridges, though it is
specially intended to be fired with metal.
lie cartridge. This cartridge, which is alb
solutely waterproof, can be used any num-
ber of times, and, by means of loader, can
be recharged and the ball accurately set
with great rapidity. The ball is in form a
combination of the cone and cylinder, which
insures its axis being always coincident with
the axis of the barrel, so that the prejectile
cannot fail to start true from its bed-a de.
sideratum of the first Importance in sharp.
shooting, as is we'll known to every expert
marksman. For military purposes cali.
bre of 6ve.tenths of an inch has been adop-
ted, but for sporting it is designed to put
up in each case two extra barrels, one Of
larger and the other Of smaller caibre than
the military gun. By this arrangement, as
the barrel can be detached with facility from
the breech-piece, the sportsman will always
be prepared for any game he may desire to
hunt-the largest calibre being equally adap-
ted for shoot or ball.
The weight Of this rifle is only about six
pounds, and it is 50 portable that, with all
its appendages and one hundred rounds of
ammunition, it can be placed in a case some
twenty inches long, nine inches wide; and
three inches deep. The arm is intended to
be used with the "Maynard primer" but it
admits equally well of the use of the ordin.
ary percussion cap. The machinery for feed,
ing out the primer is so arranged as to allow
the primer to be returned to the magazine,
if it be not required, and also to be fed out
and returned by hand, in case of any acci.
dent to the machinery. The rapidity with
which the gun can be loaded and fred is
likewise quite remarkable. In ordinary
hands, twelve discharges per minute are
easily made, and with little practice there
would be no difficulty in accomplishing ff.
teen rounds per minute.
We understand that the patent for these
arms is owned by company, composed prin-
cipaly of citizens of Washington, and that
the Massachusetts Arms company, at Chick
opee Falls, have contract for manufactur-
ing 5000 of them, small portion of which
are now nearly completed, and will soon be
offered to the public. A trial of the gun was
made some months since, in the presence of
the Secretary of War, and the results, we
are informed, were so satisfactory to him that
he directed the purchase of number of the
arms for the use of the regular troops.
Washington Union.