, 1866-10-26
l. NEW RRLEGH LOADER.



A correspondent OF the London T;;,.'es gives
.lc following account Of the new b2ecch-
leaains riac adopted by the French army:
This gun is the invention Of N. Antoine
A1rhonse Chasscpot, head viewer Of military
arms in Paris. 1t is q modification Of 1lst
Irussian needlc-gun; the action is til: saiut
throughout in principle, but greatly impruy~
cd in detail. The result is an arm il, every
respect superior. The opening Of the 1,rccch
il effected, Us in the necdle-gun, by plunger,
tiTawn backward and forwards within the
cavity Of the breecl By means Of Il lever pro- :.
jectinG from it, Which engages in u notch pre-,
pared to rcetivc it when ready for use. 1nti,e
Prussian gun III special provision is, made to
prevent the escape Of ::as past the plungcr
trlpic wad Of yulcanlzed India rubber placed
reund the axis Of ths r1nnges, sehiad = steel
plate Which forms The front Of thu pl,lnyer,
mud which las free motion backwards.
This pluto ID driven back by the furcc or the
explosion upon the 1ndia rubber, prcssin. it
It .as.tight. Osthc three wads forming The
cushion, the cent one il more elastic than
the upper and lover, but all arc harder than
ordinary yulcanixcd India rubber. The three
wads Together are about scven-sixtceuths of
au iuch thick.
st1hc gun l. fired BY sl.arI'-pointcd steel
Nc die. driven by coIlcl spring Of wire
assin.. through thu erMt1e Of tlic p.nn.tr.
Tie c"r!::ng is ciiectcd, as III the prnssfan
gun, 1,y drawing back tic tube containing
the needle, but the Arrangement i3 much
siml1 fled. and i'v ,tisln' ri m';cl:eS ia.e-
'i',sfv .o.strivcsi |! ca't t.: piaced III ;.a:f-
* rl,. T..r ta!sr!;:.,c txfi; its n. Eii,H,-tiit
III diff :tfru ii; tia, q the lri$siaH gan. In
lbs :at;.r M la:an:nale is p'atrd Ill t.lo base
"ta 1'al';c~~1"arhc waA uM which t',u oa:i.:t
tt: tt4e Eccd!c, cct'scs. ucitiy- ls:ss to lrn
.l';sc lisE@!t The lsss tic: f'''i,,sc exploding
.he h":1c :l:s e:sfa-ufc 10 the dash soon
if i.:r : lilr 7,ccts::G.
'';n the Cha>se!ml It'll, the illuminate is at
!s.c las. Gf LIZ cartridge. as i'll The English
Boxer car.riI-c; hit i'll other respects the
arrangement Is materially different from the
l:"Xer. The illuminate Il placed in :. il.ns,A
coI,t'cr cap Of snail sizr, having two holes
VI t1ic bot;oln to permit the passage Of the
lau,c I" the powtl'r. The eapis rlaccd with
is mouth towards tic needle, in paper
Wad, in the centre Of which Is a ltolc OF u
suitable size for its reception. The tan.c of
the cap resting or the wad gives the neccs-
sary resistance to the blow Of the needle
I his wad {o.n,s the hctto,n oi The cart
,!11e. y tlin piece u paper cavcrs the end
Ut the cartridge ard tile mouth of tue cap;
the needle has only 10 penetrate the paper
| tei'rrr entering The cap. The weight Of the
hEllet is ,S4' elaiua, ctsar:.c uf powder Z,
gral:s, the total frnst1: ef the cartridge 2"s
ircl,e<. The diameter Of the cartri.i-e is
;.1Gths Ct an incl larger than the bore Of
l
] than 7-1t;ths of an frcls. The breech end Of
| the barrel, for the length uf about three und
Il half inches. is nreiscsi wider than the bore,
tapc1irg by steps from ihree.four!hs OF nn
ilcli al the face Of tlc rlungcr 10 the size Ut
the bore, ,s:;SS2a inch.
Projecting from tilc face Of the plungcr is 4
fn'c iive-:iXtcvnt1ls Of MI inch outside tltan1-
tlcr, aud about live-ei.hths Of an inch long,
through which the needle passes. The base
OF the cartridge wl,cl! i'll tho chamber rests
t,,tS.~ %1.r
cartridge and the face OF the 1,lun.scr there
Is, therefore, all empty space round the pFt'-
jcctin:. tu1te. The ohlcci of this space is to
| effect tlic combustion end removal Of any
Iortion Of the cartridge case that may re-
main after firing, The wad containing the
cal, must necessarily remain, and requires
| rrinoyal before the next cartridge can bc
inserted. The Neisilt Of tho cnn without
| the bayot12t is eight pounds fifteen ounces:
the total length. tllay-onc inclles. The llorc
of the barrel Is 40. It is rilled with four
grooves having one turn in twenty-enc and q
half inc!ics. We have here a close approxi-
lMali0n TO the system Of Dir. NhitwOrth.
whose turc, as Is we'll known, is .i5l inches,
'tlc grooves having turn in twenty Inches.
The system Is not applicable to the conrcE-
sipn Uf existing guns. and Us 1t Il difficult
md costly gun to nakr, il must be 4 work ol
time to obtnin tue NECESSARY supply lot arm
| Ing tho French forces.
"Nlcn compared with the Sniilcr gun,
adol'tcd TOR the English service. it is lac!,ind
i ii simplicity, ra;'iditr and freedom from
liability to arrangement. Its light bulicl
ard small charge eAnnet equal in san.c ant
execution the $50 Sraiu bullet. rrorr1led b,
seventy grains Of powder. oi the BoSer car
trid,:e; nor Is t!iis cartridge inlrcryin.1s t.
wet, like the HoxcI1 which is found 10 bc #
| tcctivc even after being stepped iu water fo
!. ltr.th Of time. On tle other hand, thi
lighter charge enables the French soldier Il
! carr ninrtT cartridges. weighing no NOR
s1..,t1 fhn Eun1 isl, ,11l:s II :. hixty.