Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-13
1881. 1t greatly resembles the modern mus
ket il shape.
America Led the Way,


ket in shape.
America Led the Way.
When fint-lock muskets were in vogue
England was the only country In the world
which was able to manufacture the fiints
In u shape convenient for the cocks Of the
guns. Other countries sent spies into her
workshops to learn how the stones were
cut. but none were able to compete with
her in their manufacture. so all became de-
pendent upon her for their own supply. In
fact. England may be mentioned the
mother OF the hrearm, up to the time II
was introduced to Yankee" ingenuity. The
breech loading gun Is said to have been
known in England at the time of Henry
III. prior to 1880. During the reign Of
Charles revolver was made in England
having seven chambers, with touch-holes
the load being inserted without a ramrod
The chamber was really the barrel of the
1ohtriVance, being four or five inches in
length. This same form preceded the mod
ern revolver in this country and those
who first manufactured 1t thought they
mad made marvellous discovery. Henry
Nhi IS said to have been the first mon
afch VINO really observed the value of
hrearmS. and during his reign we find most
OF the English cannon and hand guns load
cd at the breech. During the whole of the
eighteenth century in England, however,
loading arms
specimen Of the first bree ch-loading
inusket ever made in the United States also
appears in this exhibit. Here the hammer
Is OF steel and the flint is held by a fast
ener In front The whole is but thirty
nine inches long. This style of musket was
invented In 1911 by j. III. Hail. an Ameri-
can OF Portland, Me. In 1916 one hundred
OF MS muskets were made and issued to
a company Of rihemen, by which event the
United States became the first country
which officially recognized the value of
the breech-loading gun. Another link In
the development of the American army
musket Is breech-loader, invented by a
man named Hunt of Pennsylvania Who
exploded the powder by pills of illuminate
and an automatic printing apparatus These
pits directly precede the invention of gum
caps This was one of the first percus-
sion-Iock muskets ever used In the conn.
try.
The Rifed barrels.
Up to the time of the invention OF the per-
cGssion-lock nusket little Improvement ap-
peared TO have been made, except as re-
s"rded the igniting Of the charge. Soon af-
Ter this 1t was noticed that much Of the
energy was wasted at the time of explosion
on account of the imperfect manner in
which the ball fitted the interior of the bar
rel To overcome this, the inside of the
BIZ rrel was grooved and conoidal bullet was
used in the place of the ball; but upon ex-
pertinent this method was found TO be n had
one inasmuch as the missile ''wobbled" To
iGrther remedy this rif1ing was first apnlied
to our army muskeis in 1855. when the
Springfield muzzle-loader. caliber SO, with
paper shells, was first manufactured and is
sued to the army
This was the most popular weapon of the
civil war, although the troops were supplied
WIN nineteen other patterns of different
eanoers The needle gun proved so success
tui IN the AUstro-Prussian campaign that
tne preech-loader was again made the
",St Al
iSt5 the celiber being reduced to 80. In
Ie'S 1t went down again to .45, where It re-
manned With the Springfield musket until
81 ~ - at
Up to ten years ago every high-classed
arm used in the world except the needle
gun. was of American origin both in prIn-
clpie and application. while a large portion
were were Oh American manufacture, yet our
latest army rifle is CT foreign stock.
j, E, w Jr