The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-01-13
OLD AND NEW RIFLES.
IN ADYANTAGE OF BREECH-LOAD-
ERS.
How They Gain Power impossible 10 IN
Muzzle- Loading Gun.

PA, do you reckon 'Deerslayer' coul'
"a killed an Indian with 'Kildeer as ia
/, as the Beers and the English are killin'
each other with Mauser and Krag-Jorg
sen rifes?"
The speaker was st. Louis boy WHIT
is improving his mind by reading Coop
er's Leather Stocking Tales" and thu
Globe-Democrat's war news instead o
studying his lessons.
"Of course not" said his father. why
don't you know, son, that bullet from
one of these modern rifles will kill
man mile and a half away if it hit!
him. If 'Deerslayer' had had such
gun he could have sat on the IRON
porch of Floating Toms, home in the
lake and picked off the Iroquois as they
moseyed around on the bank building
a raft. One of the modern guns vii
shoot four times as far as the kline
they used in the days that Cooper
writes about
why do they, pap
Because they are breechloaers," re-
piled the father, shortly, resuming the
perusal of the newspaper as signal
that the discussion was closed.
The boy reflected for afew seconds,
then said: Pa, why does breech-
loader shoot farther than muzzle-
i loader?"
Because it shoots forced ball.
Whats forced ball?"
NOW, see here, my son, / want to
read my paper, and l haven't got time
| tn ayn1oip N Wait until
tomorrow night and I'll tell you all
about it,
The father, like a good many other
fathers didn't have the information
that his son wanted, but, unlike the
average parent, he determined to get it..
| So next day he made inquiries He
| learned why the modern rifle shoots
| further and harder than the muzzle-
leaders that our fathers used, and he
went home at night and told his son.
| AS all fathers haven't the time and
| inclnationsto learn these things for the
benefit and entertainment of their sons,
it will prove interesting to follow this
| parent in his pursuit of knowledge.
He went to a practical gunmaker of
nearly half century's experience.
why is it that the modern breech-
loading rifle shoots so much further
and harder than the old-style patch and
ball gun that we shot when we We're
boys?" said the parent.
The practical gunmaker is generally
good and free talker, and this one
is an enthusiast in the art -of didactic
discourse.
That's very simple. he said. I'm the
first place, the breech- loading rifle
shoots forced ball"
Il know; know; but what is a forced
ball? Begin at the beginning; l have
got to explain it to my boy, or he'll
lose faith in me-"
"a forced ball." said the practical
gunmaker, "is bullet that slips east
ly into the breech Of gun, but is
slightly larger than the aperture at the
muzzle See here? I have 49, caliber
pistol cartridge and 2-caliber revolv-
err. The ball Of the cartridge will not
enter the muzzle of the revolver bar
rel yet it fits easily into the cylinder
chamber, and when the weapon is fired
it will come out OF the muzzle.
why does that increase the force"
1t seems to me that the more difficulty
barrel the slower 1t would move"
The practical gunmaker smiled pity
ingly, and said: "And you used to play
with an elder popgun when you were
a boy! Don't you know that if the
force that drives the ball is not con-
fined it is wasted? OF course you do.
Now, when the powder in a gun is
ignited it forms gases that demand an
outlet Something has to give way.
These gases push the ball forward. If
the ball fits loosely in the barrel part
of the gun the gases force their way
by it and escape, and the force behind |
the ball is diminished just that much
THAT is one reason why a breech-
loader shoots stronger than a muzzle- |
loader. The ball having to be pushed |
into the muzzle Of a muzze-loading gun
by hand, it must necessarily leave some /
through which the gases
could escape. This was remedied in a
degree by the use of patches of creased |
cloth or fawnskin that were wrapped |
around the bullets. Many persons who
have used the old-style rifle have an
idea that the purpose of the patch
was to protect the rifles or grooves in
sue the gun, DuI llldl NetS i!Ot H. i lS
creased covering fitted snugly into rifles
and in measure prevented the escape
Of the gases.
Another reason that breecb-loaders
shoot stronger than muzze-loaders is
that larger charge of powder can be
used in them. Why is that? Let me
show you. Here is a Winchester car
fridge made for the Lee rifle, used in
our navy. See how much larger the
shell is at the base than it is where the
oall is crimped in. 1t Is twice as large
Now, if the powder receptacle and the
ball We're the same diameter, it would
be necessary in order to put in the
same amount of powder to lengthen the
powder receptacle, almost 100 per cent.
rhe result would be that not one-half
If the powder would be burned, and
only one-half of the force would be
obtained. The powder would be packed
nto such slender compass that the
gases made by the combustion of the
part near the breech would force the
,all out and the forward portion of the
powder would follow it unburned.
Try it some time with a muzzle-
oading rifle. Put in three times as
much powder as the regular charge
md not the result after you fire it.
You will be able to pick up unburned
grains of powder for twenty feet in
ront of the muzzle. That's the trouble
II l. W., -,,f4 !