Breech - loading weapon A breech - loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel . Modern mass production firearm s are breech - loading ( though mortars are generally muzzle - loaded ) . Early firearms were almost entirely muzzle - loading . The main advantage of breech - loading is a reduction in reloading time — it is much quicker to load the projectile and charge into the breech than to force them down a long tube , especially when the tube has spiral ridges from rifling . In field artillery , breech loading allows the crew to reload the weapon without exposing themselves to enemy fire or repositioning the piece ( as was required for muzzle - loaded weapons ) and allows turrets and emplacements to be smaller ( since breech loaded weapons do not need to be retracted for loading ) . History . Although breech - loading weapons were developed as far back as the late 14th century in Burgundy , breech - loading became more successful with improvements in precision engineering and machining in the 19th century ( see Dreyse needle gun ) . The main challenge for developers of breech - loading weapons was sealing the breech . This was eventually solved for smaller weapons by the development of the self - contained metallic cartridge . For weapons too large to use cartridges , the problem was solved by the development of the interrupted screw . Swivel guns . Breech - loading swivel gun s were invented in the 14th century . They were a particular type of swivel gun , and consisted in a small breech - loading cannon equipped with a swivel for easy rotation , and which could be loaded by inserting a mug - shaped chamber already filled with powder and projectiles . The breech - loading swivel gun had a high rate of fire , and was especially effective in anti - personnel roles . Firearms . Breech - loading firearms are known from the 16th century . Henry VIII possessed one , which he apparently used as a hunting gun to shoot birds . More breech - loading firearms were made in the early 18th century . One such weapon is known to have belonged to Philip V of Spain , and was manufactured circa 1715 , probably in Madrid . It came with a ready - to load reusable cartridge . Patrick Ferguson , a British Army officer , developed in 1772 the Ferguson rifle , a breech - loading flintlock weapon . Roughly two hundred of the rifles were manufactured and used in the Battle of Brandywine , during the American Revolutionary War , but shortly after they were retired and replaced with the standard Brown Bess musket . Later on into the mid - 19th century there were attempts in Europe at an effective breech - loader . There were concentrated attempts at improved cartridges and methods of ignition . In Paris in 1808 , in association with French gunsmith François Prélat , Jean Samuel Pauly created the first fully self - contained cartridges : the cartridges incorporated a copper base with integrated mercury fulminate primer powder ( the major innovation of Pauly ) , a paper casing and a round bullet The cartridge was loaded through the breech and fired with a needle . The needle - activated central - fire breech - loading gun would become a major feature of firearms thereafter . The corresponding firearm was also developed by Pauly . Pauly made an improved version , which was protected by a patent on 29 September 1812 . The Pauly cartridge was further improved by the French gunsmith Casimir Lefaucheux in 1828 , by adding a pinfire primer , but Lefaucheux didn ' t register his patent until 1835 : a pinfire cartridge containing powder in a card - board shell . In 1846 another Paris Frenchman , Benjamin Houllier , patented the first fully metallic cartridge containing powder in a metallic shell . Houllier commercialised his weapons in association with the gunsmiths Blanchard or Charles Robert . But the subsequent Houllier and Lefaucheux cartridges , even if they were the first full - metal shells , were still pinfire cartridges , like those used in the LeMat ( 1856 ) and Lefaucheux ( 1858 ) revolvers , although the LeMat also evolved in a revolver using rimfire cartridges . A year before Houllier ' s invention , in 1845 , the Frenchman Louis - Nicolas Flobert invented , for indoor shooting security , the first rimfire metallic cartridge , constituted by a bullet fit in a percussion cap . Usually derived in the 6 mm and 9 mm calibres , it is since then called the Flobert cartridge or the Bosquette cartridge but it doesn ' t contain any powder , the only propellant substance contained in the cartridge is the percussion cap itself . In English - speaking countries the Flobert cartridge corresponds to the . 22 BB and . 22 CB ammunitions . The first centrefire cartridge was introduced in 1857 by Pottet , with both Berdan and Boxer priming . In 1842 , the Norwegian Armed Forces adopted the breechloading caplock , the Kammerlader , one of the first instances in which a modern army widely adopted a breechloading rifle as its main infantry firearm . The " Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr " or Dreyse needle gun , was a single - shot breech - loading rifle using a rotating bolt to seal the breech . It was so called because of its . 5 - inch needle - like firing pin , which passed through a paper cartridge case to impact a percussion cap at the bullet base . It began development in the 1830s under von Dreyse and eventually an improved version of it was adopted by Prussia in the late 1840s . The paper cartridge and the gun had numerous deficiencies ; specifically , serious problems with gas leaking . However , the rifle was used to great success in the Prussian army in the Austro - Prussian war of 1866 . This , and the Franco - Prussian war of 1870 – 71 , eventually caused much interest in Europe for breech loaders and the Prussian military system in general . In 1860 , the New Zealand government petitioned the Colonial Office for more soldiers to defend Auckland . The bid was unsuccessful and the government began instead making inquiries to Britain to obtain modern weapons . In 1861 they placed orders for the Calisher and Terry Carbine , which used a breech loading system using a bullet consisting of a standard Minie lead bullet in . 54 calibre backed by a charge and tallowed wad , wrapped in nitrated paper to keep it waterproof . The carbine had been issued in small numbers to English cavalry ( Hussar s ) from 1857 . About 3 – 4 , 000 carbines were brought into New Zealand a few years later . The carbine was used extensively by the Forest Rangers , an irregular force led by Gustavus von Tempsky that specialized in bush warfare and reconnaissance . Von Tempsky liked the short carbine , which could be loaded while lying down . The waterproofed cartridge was easier to keep dry in the New Zealand bush . Late in the 1860s the New Zealand Government had about 1800 carbines issued or in storage . It is believed by researchers that the balance was sold to private citizens and militia during the Waikato War . Museums in New Zealand hold a small number of these carbines in good condition . At least one New Zealand example , fully carved in traditional Māori style , was sold in recent times in the UK . It is not known if this weapon was used by Māori fighting for von Tempsky or if it was a captured weapon or one of the carbines sold to private citizens . During the American Civil War , many breechloaders would be fielded . The Sharps used a successful dropping block design . The Greene used rotating bolt - action , and was fed from the breech . The Spencer , which used lever - actuated bolt - action , was fed from a seven - round detachable tube magazine . The Henry and Volcanic used rimfire metallic cartridges fed from a tube magazine under the barrel . These held a significant advantage over muzzle - loaders . The improvements in breech - loaders had spelled the end of muzzle - loaders . To make use of the enormous number of war surplus muzzle - loaders , the Allin conversion Springfield was adopted in 1866 . General Burnside invented a breech - loading rifle before the war . The French adopted the new Chassepot rifle in 1866 , which was much improved over the needle gun as it had dramatically fewer gas leaks due to its de Bange sealing system . The British initially took the existing Enfield and fitted it with a Snider breech action ( solid block , hinged parallel to the barrel ) firing the Boxer cartridge . Following a competitive examination of 104 guns in 1866 , the British decided to adopt the Peabody - derived Martini - Henry with trap - door loading in 1871 . Single - shot breech - loaders would be used throughout the latter half of 19th century , but were slowly replaced by various designs for repeating rifle s , first used in the American Civil War . Manual breech - loaders gave way to manual magazine feed and then to self - loading rifle s . Artillery . The first modern breech - loading rifled gun is a breech - loader invented by Martin von Wahrendorff with a cylindrical breech plug secured by a horizontal wedge in 1837 . In the 1850s and 1860s , Whitworth and Armstrong invented improved breech loading artillery . The M1867 naval guns produced in Imperial Russia at the Obukhov State Plant used Krupp technology .