The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1866-10-19
Breech.L ling Arms.
From the Army and Navy Journal.

From the Army and Navy Journal.
Through special sources of information
we learn some interesting facts IN regard to
the action of the different European pow
erS III the matter of breech- loading arms
The French, as we are told, have adopted
the system of Cassepot. which is the lnven-
ton of French mechanic who succeeded i'll
passing the barriers of official routine and
bringing his invention directly to the atten-
ton Of the emperor. CaSsepot's gun is a
needle gun with short needle 1t is an
Improvement on the Prussian needle gun,
and is free from the leakage Of gas to which
the earlier models of that gun were subject.
The French claim for it, as compared with
the PrusSlan gun, greater simplicity and
facility in handling and less liability to de-
rangement. We learn that two hundred
thousand OF these guns are to be finished
by October /, or soon after. The trial OF
this gun has been conducted with the great
est secrecy, the president of the commission
carrying the gun home with him in his car
rage and never suffering it to so out Of his
sight.
The french, as we'll as the Prussians,
prefer their imperfect and clumsy needle
guns, as they object to our American sys-
tenn of metallic cartridges on account of the
great expense Of the cartridge. The car
fridge used in the Cassepot gun is made
with a gauze wrapper, and is used with the
central fire. The French claim to have dis
covered a new powder or new Illuminating
material which occupies less space than the
ordinary cartridge-flling. Though their
discoveries in this direction are kept secret,
enough is known to indicate that they have
arrived at important results.
adopted what is known as the Bradwell sys-
tenn OF breech-loaders. The Terry system
has also been received by them with con-
siderable favor The Austrans had at one
time settled upon the Linder system Of
transformation, and q large number of guns
were altered on this system. Arrangements
are said also to have been made in Eng
land for the trastormation of large num-
Der more.
The English themselves have not yet
reached a satisfactory conclusion on the
subject of breech-oaders. Forty thousand
guns have been ordered to be changed on
the Snider pattern. This works with side
swinging breech- pin, instead of one with
the motion in the plane of the axis Of the
barrel, which is the plan followed in one
form or another in all our best American
breech- leaders The English are still ex-
perlmenting in the slow way peculiar to
John Bull. After a time the thunder clap
of war will awaken them to the advantage
Of some American invention which they will
at the same time complacently discover was
first thought Of by an Englishman in the
| laSt-century.
The American mode for brcech leaders
are innumerable. We have published de
scriptions Of one Of these-tbe Peabody
gun. Beside this there arc the Remington
gun, the Roberts gun. the Berdan and the
National Arms gun, the Spencer, the Hen
ry, the Poltney, the Ballard and others,
numbering at least thirty five in all. None
of them were definitely adopted by the
board of officers to whom the subject Of
brecch- loading arms was referred. They
confined themselves to recording the result
| of their experiments and recommending the
adoption of Berdan system for altering
the Springfield muskets now in use. We
understand, however, that this recommend
alton was not approved by the bureau Of
ordnance, which prefers Allyn's system -
The Peabody, Remington and National
Arms breech leaders met with special IA
vor from the board, though, as we say, no
one Of them was adopted, os, with the
change proposed for the Springfield mus
ket, we shall be prepared for all present
contingencies, and be free to take advan-
tage Of any further developments in this
new and comparatively untried field Of war
like invention.