The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1866-10-12

Intact, 90 that IL may form the mood bears
Or the bresch The brseh u composed Of two pieces
seess one being In front Of she other The front pec
brace which sastans the brsscn piece against the reoo
nring The breech pisce b hinged 70 band which
The end q Tie brace and the reoo bearing arc
formed that the brooch cannot rise until tho brscs
%oysmsn. Y sns hinge 10 opening the bresc
pressed upwards with the 6nger thus relieving the bc
from the recoil bearing against which Il pressed b.
recoi bearing until stop upon Il comes ia contact will
stop on tho breech piece above the hinge The breec
piece and brace arc then moved together from their
eton and thrown forward In the direction OF the muExe
thus exposing the chamber OF the band The firing pn
made OF two pieces which meet at The hinge joint ha
Dc 0psns q the Sso which wcu
sssuredly do were. L constructed OF ono piece
10 eject the exploded SHE'LL there is small spur upon
the hinged part Of the breech piece This catches hold
OF the end Of the illuminate and soon as the breect
piece thrown forward the shell Ia thrown completely
Ss % me q
there y projection upon the right hand side Of the
brace. behind tho knob, arranged that the hammel
arrangement for should the brace not DO in It's proper
place, the head OF the hammer slides over the pr0eo
Tor forcing the brace down. and esctaay closing the
10 taken from drawings published in the Ameica~ Av
sa. and prepared under the personal supervision Of
Colonel Berdan the inventor As we stated before the
gun possesses considerable merit, and II the brooch
pece could be 80 improved as to simplify IL and thus
90 away with portion OF It's mechanical arrangement
the weapon would become more valuable.
REMINGTON RIYLk
Much has been said about this weapon and the nven-
tor has been asslduous In his efforts TO convince the
public that his ride is the most effective Arearm ex-
tant But an examination Of the weapon proves the
fAiacy or this claim That is simple in construction
c6e the gun Unlike most Of the other breeCh leaders,
the breech block works backward and forward with tho
e
pece OF steel pierced by firing line and acting in
juncting with tumbler attached 70 the hammer Al
for ejectng tho exploded SHE'LL which 10 connected with
the breech block by spring Tue mode Of operation is
G y mrs, = % y s
hammer which catches 1t by nip and thus keeps the
breech open On the cartridge being inserted the
block Is pushed forward, and the breech closed No
thing then remains but to fire the piece The
defects In the gun thesen the first place. unless
the breech block kept thoroughly well Oiled the great
est difficulty Ia experienced In pulling backwards with
the fingers Now In active service soldiers have
time TO take the block and sgrease 1t every day,
It will DO that great delay in loading must ensue
In the next place the spur shell eector entirely too
small and will not eject the shell unless II 1.-THE SHELF 10
also thoroughly we'll creased. In the presence Of the
that with the shell we'll CREASED the spur
failed to eject 1t oftener than In Ave times A
becch block In consequences Of The inability Of the spur
to eject the she'll When the block at last forced
back It found that the had merev cut through
the metal without ejecting the she'll We are thus mi
10 mentioning the defects Of the Remington gun be.
cause Of the claim for superiority made by the inventor
How the defects can be remeded it would be difficult To
explain The brcech block Is really the stumbling block
Without shell in the chamber, II Is pulled
back with comparative ease but with tho exploded she
resisting the forward action Of tho spur requires
finger Of uncommon strength to operate IL. So far a
the grcasng OF the cartridges concerned the
ment that such greasng s necessity only ronders the
gun moro Objectionable In nearly all Of the other
beech leaders prominently before the public Ia
Whistler the metallic Of the cartridges
aro well creased or not tho spurs POSSESSING sufficient
eYDlOd0d n tiralv
from the chamber Of tho barrel 1t Is stated that tho
Austrian government has adopted this weapon but the
statement has foundation in fact Austria has mot
pet adopted any particular brooch loading rearm for her
army u. n. TX Isasas va
This weapon does rank among the first or Amer-
inventions but 1t contains merits which pecu-
Arly Its own. The housing is light but strong
md into this the barrel is screwed The breech block
having rolling bearing NJ It's end is fitted 70 tho
housing, with pin inserted into the bearing for
tho purpose Of keering the breech block in
It's proper place. The front Of the brooch block
against which the cartridge rests, when the brecch
Is closed Ia spherical convex and is POSTPONED with
firmly locked The operating Of the breech block
forms the trigger guard, and Is somewhat similar In
pesrance TO the Ballard rifle There IS one feature in it.
The end OF tho lever instead OF resting on the
stock is turned up and enters the stock. that whom
the breech open there is possible chance Of Its lever
catching against anything. Tho piece in the stock is
elastic and has kind OF hook at the top which catches
Of notch On the sGx and serves sheI h keep
from coming Of the stock entirely when the breech
opened Tho lever being pulled down the hreech block
forced upward by the action OF the hinged end Of the
lever against the rear portion OF the block. Tho
brooch Ii thus exposed and the cartridge il
inserted into the barrel under the breach block or IL not
under, the gun must be turned over. This Is very
awkward manner Of loading, and, notwithstanding It's
is the most Objectionable feature Of the gun.
true that 70 facilitate loading the under part Of tho
breech block made hollow but this only weakons the
block, while 1t docs not TO any arcat extent facilitate
Il = urged By the inventor that one Of the
should there be premature discharge the powder will
escape downward and not upward, TO injure the
face This Is very doubtful nasmuch that all expio-
sons have an upward tendency and the result OF pre-
mature discharge OF the cartridge would be the blowing
out OF the brooch piece directly toward the face Of the
soldier The shell ejector H. perhaps the best feature
tns gun although II IL not equal TO the ejoctor Of the
Peabody rifle. II consists Of q straight piece which
slides a guide formed between the lower Dor.
ton Of the barrel and the breech receiver A rod
OF steel connects II with the operating lever which is
contained in the brooch receiver 70 the right Of tho
the rod pushed backward carrying with IL the ejector
and consequently the exploded she'll On the lever being
Sens throwing ths e S sTcnf a roS
drawing thu lev back TO its proper place. By means OF
notch under the brooch eector can DO OPP
Grated with the finger and Independently OF the evsr
but this would only increase the time required for
firing twill seldom be used. sho~id the copnccsir-
with the become destroyed Il woua ,nsn oc OF use
but NOS otherwise As stated before. tho Cochran re
possesses merits, but ~ military arm6 can scave'y
become favorite The difficulty or saner aiscom,ors,
Gus objection.
THE HENRY WINCHESTER RVIxa sr
Utmost every reader OF this paper has heard OF the
Horny repeating rife and the fact that IL contains
magazine under the barrel into which sixteen cartridges
are stored at timo IL 10 merely the Spencer rne
reversed and a q repeater has the same objections
he magazine Ia composed OF tube running under the
barrel from the breech TO within nve inches OF the
muzze and Ia partially open along It's entire length az
the bottom. the top OF this magazine and up 70 the
muzze Is tube which moves on hinges 10 one SIDE,
exposing tho chamber OF the magazine as TO admit
the cartridges This tube contains follower, which -
rdpe into The breech AZ fast as the pulled down.
On entering the breech the cartridge s forced INTO tho
barrel BY an upward movement OF the main spring.
The shell " elected by spring CATCH which seixes
Il by the rim and elects u. room being left In the
barrel for il TO rise over the rim An Improvement
on this rife has been recently made and the new weapon
in called the winchester" Instead OF the magazine
being partially open, Is entirely closed up. and instead
OF loading from top the cartridges are inserted into the
from the brocch, thus enabling the sun 70 be
used either a single loader or as repeater ny ths
manner OF loading the cartridge last inserted b the nrst
ana 6rcd Tho cartridges inserted In the magazine