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''S

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ONAL REFERENCE LIBRART
CANCE AND
 PU 20

ATIO REFE
NAL RENC LIBRAR
E Y
SCIE INVE
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A
 43,314

DAW'S
PU 20

GUN PATENTS .

COMPRISING A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE

PATENT CENTRAL - FIRE BREECH - LOADER

AND ITS CARTRIDGE .

THE

DAW - JACOB RIFLE

AND THE NEW

DAW RIFLE SIGHT,

THE

IMPROVED DOUBLE-ACTION REVOLVERS, &c.

WITH OCCASIONAL COMMENTS APPERTAINING TO THE

EXTENSION OF GUN SPORTS, RIFLES , AND
RIFLE SHOOTING GENERALLY.

Accompanied by Numerous Explanatory Illustrations.

PRICE HALF-A-CROWN.

LONDON :

G. H. DAW, 57, THREADNEEDLE STREET.

1864 .
 07906.ee . 25

LONDON :
PRINTED BY JOHN KING & Co., 63, QUEEN STREET , CHEAPSIDE, E.C.

T
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BRITISH

FIBRARY
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LIBRARY

PREFACE .

16.8.11 .

The following pages have been strung together in a

familiar, homely, gossiping way, without any pretension

whatever to the art of bookmaking. They are intended

.

chiefly for the information of my own customers, relative

to an explanation about a few of my productions, and I

have endeavoured as much as possible to confine myself to

business. I am a practical gunmaker and have been all

my life ; therefore, I may fairly claim to know something

of my subject. If any gentleman wishes to gain some

knowledge of these matters, permit me in the words of a

distinguished scientific character to invite him to " read

my book."

57, THREADNEEDLE STREET,

March, 1864.
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CONTENTS .

INTRODUCTION.
PAGE .
Early Shot Guns-Double and Single- Old Double Barrels- Shot
Gun Cartridge - Breech-loading-Further improvement difficulty
-Modern progress ... ... ... 1

OLD ROADS AND NEW ROADS.

What Steam has effected for Sportsmen-Foreign Sports - India-

General Jacob- Indian Railways-Public interest in Gunnery
and Shooting-The Volunteer movement ... ... 7

DAW'S CENTRAL-FIRE BREECH-LOADER.

General description- Mode of action- Superior advantages- Ex-

tracting the Cartridges-Proved certainty of action ... ... 11

DAW'S PATENT CENTRAL-FIRE CARTRIDGES.

Disadvantages of the Lefaucheux-Details of the Central- fire-

Construction- Safety and Economy ... ... 15

HANDLING THE GUN, ETC.

Directions for loading-Valuable peculiarities-Need never be put

away loaded - Charge instantly extracted-To dismount the
vi CONTENTS.

PAGE .
Gun-To remount the Gun- List of Implements-International
Exhibition--Prize Medal- Summary of value- Durability and
reliance --Public testimony ... ... ... ... ... 18

RIFLED SMALL ARMS.

Early origin of the Rifle system-First form of Rifling -Rifle action

demonstrated by a top-Rifle Grooves - Excellence of the Jacob
system- Strength of the Arm- Scientific writers on Rifled
Gunnery- Lentmann- Euler- Borda- Gassendi- Robins-
Hutton ... ... ... ... 25

Robins's unsuccessful appeal to the Government to adopt the Rifle-

The American revolutionary war -First Rifle Corps in the
British Army-The same apathy about improving the Rifle in
France- Captain Delvigne ... ... ... 31

The Bavarian Rifle-Frederick the Great- Sharpshooters of the

Tyrol-Artillery Museum of Paris- Several so -called new in-
ventions, old and obsolete-Polygonal Rifling- Old Hungarian
Rifle -The Oval Bore-Rifles first in the Army in various
Countries-The Brunswick Rifle-Obstinacy of the Authorities
-Repulse of Delvigne- Jacob's name ... ... ... 34

THE DAW-JACOB RIFLE.

General John Jacob-Jacob's early experiments- Ancient Fire-

arms ... ... ... ... ... ... 38

GUNPOWDER.

Experiments on the force of Gunpowder- Robins -Count Rumford

Hutton-Gun-Cotton- Investigations by Foreign Chymists to
supersede Gunpowder- Explosions and failures in France-
Dangers of experimental Chemistry-Rouelle's absence of mind
-Climax-Burning Liquid for Naval actions - Gun-cotton re-
duced to practical purposes- Other vegetable explosive sub-
stances- New investigations in England and France - Slow, but
Sure ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 40
 CONTENTS. vii

PAGE.
THE PERCUSSION CAP.

Invention of the Percussion Cap - Further experiments -The modern

system-Experiments for accidents - Safety established-First
introduction into military service - Resistance to flying shot—
Causes-Sir Isaac Newton ... ... ... 48

GENERAL JACOB'S EXPERIMENTS.

Jacob's experiments successful- Rejection by the Indian Govern-

ment-Treatment of Inventors by the Authorities, public and
private ... ... ... 54

THE DAW-RIFLE SIGHT.

Requirements -Character-Value of good Sights-The Mechanic's

Magazine on Rifle Sights-Description- Special superiority ... 65

THE HANS BUSK RIFLE-ITS CHARACTER.

Shooting qualities-Captain Norton on the Jacob and Busk Rifles-

Letter ... ... ... ... ... ... 69

IMPROVED PATENT REVOLVERS.

Ancient Revolvers -An old Invention-First Attempts - Revolving

Chambers -Antiquity of the principle- Foreign revival the
cause of its success - Great Exhibition, 1851- American Social
Life-Former style of Loading-Value of Revolvers ... 71

THE DAW REVOLVER.

Description- Safety and Surety- Unrivalled peculiarity- Superior

Construction- Double action Trigger- Loading and firing—
Taking aim-Fixed Sights - Natural Grip- Its advantages—
Recommendatory qualities- General Pistol practice urged—
Opinions -Jacob's ... ... ... ... ... 76
viii CONTENTS.

PAGE ,
ACCIDENTS WITH FIRE- ARMS.

Advice and entreaty-The Clerk and the Clock- Cautions in Cocking

Beware of Mittens, and how you look at a Gun-Recoil-
Loaded Guns- Calamities- Danger of rashness- Foolish
economy- Certainty of object-Bursting- Causes- The Gun-
barrel Proof Act ... ... ... ... ... ... 86

BARREL PROOFS , ETC.

Regulations for proving- Object of the Book- Recapitulation of

Cautions- Rules ... ... ... ... ... ... 93

CONCLUSION.

Supply of Central-fire Cartridges abroad-Metal and Men- Nations

judged by their Arms-A new theory of policy-A turn round
Europe-Finale ... ... ... ... ... 96

GENERAL GARIBALDI ... ... ... 100

:
APPENDIX .

Opinions of the Press- " Bell's Life "—" The Field " —" Mechanic's
Magazine"-"Illustrated Times '99 -" Court Circular "-" Morn-
ing Herald " " Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper" -" Morning Post"-
"Observer 99 " Daily Telegraph "-" Illustrated Exhibitor .". 101

FURTHER TESTIMONY.
About the Jacob Rifle-From Poonah-Kurrachee- Gwalior-
" Rifle Practice, by the late General Jacob "-Report from the
Adjutant General, Bombay-From Upper Scinde-" United
Service Gazette." ... ... ... ... 111

LETTERS FROM SPORTSMEN.

Their appreciation of the Central-fire Gun in actual use ... 116

APPENDIX NOTE.

Legal Proceedings-Lancaster v. Daw-Letter on the subject to

"Bell's Life "-" The Field," etc. ... ... ... ... 123
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ILLUSTRATIONS .

PAGE.
Daw's Patent Central-Fire Breech-Loader . 11

End of Breech-Loader, Nipples, Extractor, &c. 11

Breech End of Barrel, full size, and reduced view of

the Fore Part of the Stock . • 13

Patent Central- Fire Cartridge 15

The Daw-Jacob Rifle 38

Jacob's Rifle Bullets , Shell, Rifle Bore, &c. 56

General Jacob's Target 60

Daw's Patent Bullet Mould, open and closed . 62

The Daw Rifle Sight 65

The Improved Patent Daw-Revolver, with Double-

Action Trigger 100
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DAW'S PATENT CENTRAL-FIRE BREECH LOADER.- See page 1 .

No.
No.

No.
2.
1.

5.
D
B
C
A

Fig. 1. Central-fire Breech- loader, closed for firing.

Fig. 2. Ditto ditto open for loading.
Fig. 5. Section of Cartridge, showing the central-tire in the charge.
A. Cap on anvil, showing the end that rests on the powder,
B. Percussion Cap.
C. The Anvil.
D. End view of ditto.
 INTRODUCTION.

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•
DAW'S GUN PATENTS ,

WITH OCCASIONAL COMMENTS, &c.

16.8.11.

INTRODUCTION.

I do not intend at this time of day to enter into a history

of fire-arms, which, of course, would be only a twin pro-
duction to that of gunpowder itself ; yet, nevertheless , I
intend to mention facts and circumstances, here and there,
which may occasionally be found useful and interesting.
I have long entertained the idea of explaining myself on
paper, but the pressure of an ever-calling business has,
from time to time, led to the postponement of my intention.
Necessity has at last used her sharp spur, and, in order
to keep myself on intimate terms with a somewhat extensive
connexion, resident in every part of the globe, I have
appeared in print. Besides, too , recent proceedings of an
injurious tendency, calling both my character and my
patent rights in question-which will be alluded to further
on—and the numerous applications about my different
inventions, which had to be replied to by letter, especially
the new Central-fire Breech-loader, made it imperative on
me that the artist and the printer were the best birds to
be bagged by the next " double ; " and so I brought them
down accordingly.
B
2 EARLY SHOT GUNS .

It is in this spirit that I wish what I have written to

be understood by the good nature of my readers, and
therefore, having said thus much by way of introducing
myself, I will at once proceed to the immediate matter
in hand.

EARLY SHOT GUNS- DOUBLE AND SINGLE.

It will need very little argument to establish the fact

that the earliest sporting guns were single-barrelled , with
the old flint lock and priming pan. Even now these old
weapons may be found in remote country places, having
been handed down as heir looms from generation to
generation, and the wondrous performances related of
them elicit our admiration, with all our acknowledged
valuable improvements. To be sure, if the shot missed,
there was no second barrel to let fly at the bewildered
covey, or the frightened hare.
The two great desiderata in a shot gun are, good range
and strong shooting. Some men are fond of very light guns,
and some of a heavier kind. Certainly, if the shooter is a
strong, robust individual, he will find himself better satisfied
with a heavy gun than a light one.
The sportsman, however, was at a sad disadvantage
with only one barrel, but a remedy was speedily discovered.
The double-barrelled gun with which he could " bang,
bang," was produced to meet the requirements of the case,
and the sportsman now felt that he was in a much better
position to " earn his dinner " than ever he had been before ;
and so he was.

DOUBLE BARRELS.

The sporting gun has always led the way in gunnery

improvements- the military arm following at a respectful
 OLD DOUBLE BARRELS . 3

distance. Nor could it well be otherwise, for the sportsman

having only his own guns to improve, and having generally
the means to do so at command, was anxious on the question,
and it was a source of pleasure to him to carry out any new
ideas. On the other hand, the re-arming of the military

forces of a nation must always be a costly experiment at the

best, and a work of time.
Indeed , the doctrine of political economy is so
bound up- in it that the gentleman who would not
hesitate to spend ten or twenty pounds over the
" notion "" of some good inventive gunmaker,
might be
among the first to call out against the hurried expenditure
upon new guns for 150,000 men, unless the improvement
had been well- established, and the principles somewhat
settled. Let us not be too ready, therefore, in charging
our authorities with undue haste ! Whatever may be said
on the opposite side is quite a different affair, and so let it
pass.

OLD DOUBLE BARRELS.

Many persons think that the double-barrelled gun is an

invention within the memory of living man ; this is not so.
In some of the rare collections of arms in the Royal
Museums of Paris there are specimens of double-barrelled
guns as old as the year 1600. One in particular, beautifully
inlaid with ebony, and having the old style of lock, is said
to have belonged to Henri IV.
The old form of double-barrel was a simple laying

of the barrels, side by side, along the shaft of the

stock, and fastening them by plain pins running through
the eyelets of both of them, which were brazed to match
on each barrel, so as to admit of the one pin fitting
them. They were, besides, fastened at the breech, had
their separate sights, and, as no " rib " ran down between
them, they must have looked, according to our notions,
B2
4 CARTRIDGES- BREECH -LOADING.

somewhat odd. However, about 1730, double-barrels began

to be united in conjunction with the metal rib, and in
1760 the present method may be said to have established
itself.

SHOT-GUN CARTRIDGE.

The progress of the sportsman, in his keen pursuit of

game, with superior weapons, was so satisfactory to himself
and the gunmaker, that the latter set his head to work to
devise new improvements .
In 1827, a Mr. Tenant obtained a premium from the
Society of Arts for what was called a " spiral shot cartridge.”
This was superseded by a much better one, that ultimately
became the property of the Messrs. Eley, who have since
ranked at the head of that manufacture.

BREECH-LOADING.

This system was originally applied to small cannon, in

1540, in which the breech-piece was lifted in and out like
a wedge, and bolted home with a round bar of iron. In
1663 , the plan was changed , and the chamber was hinged
on to the side by a regular hinge joint. Still it had not
been applied to small arms until one, La Chaumette, a
Frenchman, produced a model in 1751 ; and in the following
year, 1752, " Wright and Byrne's Patent " was deposited
in the Patent Office, London. This gun was the prototype
of what has been so long known in the sporting world as
Lefaucheux (or Lafaulcheux ) gun. But the greatest man
among them was M. Picheroux, who followed Roux, the
successor of Pauly, in the same business.
With the nipple, as arranged by Deboubert, in 1820,
in combination with the cartridge, the breech-loader
attained a position that was unassailable, whilst its per-
 MODERN PROGRESS.

formances staggered the most incredulous and delighted its

friends.
It may be interesting to mention that, at a sale
in Brussels, some ten years ago, of a very unique
collection of arms, a small hinge breech - loader, dated
" 1675,” much on the same plan as the cannon of 1540 ,
already alluded to, formed part of the collection. If

I am not mistaken there is now in the armoury of the

Tower of London, an ancient specimen of an Italian breech-
loader, which, strange to say in these days of great gun
breech-loading " inventions," had a " lifting valve ," and
was loaded through the butt.

FURTHER IMPROVEMENT DIFFICULT.

It is unnecessary to detail here , the numerous attempts

that have been made to get rid of the many known dis-
advantages of the Lefaucheux system. Assuming the hinge
principle to start from, as the most certain and durable, and,
incomparably the safest, I have devoted my attention to
the improvement of the working mechanism.
Almost every one into whose hands these pages will fall
is acquainted with the working of the French gun ; when ,
therefore, they have read and seen the particular construc-
tion of the Central-fire breech-loader and its cartridge , I very
confidently believe that they will agree with the general
opinion I hear expressed by sportsmen on all sides, that
improvements in breech-loading guns can hardly be carried
much further. Let me say a few words on this advance-
ment and some of its producing causes.

MODERN PROGRESS.

THE progress which has been made during the last few
years, in the design and manufacture of fire-arms of
various kinds, together with their appliances, has been in
6 MODERN PROGRESS- HAWKER, MANTON.

some respects greater than all that has gone before- since
the invention of gunpowder.
During the past generation, beyond the pages of the
quaint, but practical and instructive , Colonel Hawker, how
little was known out of the gunsmith's shop about guns,
except what was in the possession of the poacher, the
gamekeeper, or the squire.
And here, let me remark that all improvements create,
as it were, a certain amount of prejudice at the outset, and
the greater the improvement the greater the prejudice.
Even as far back as 1822 , the " Instructions to Young Sports-
men " strongly condemned anything that was set up as a
rival to the old flint-lock gun. The Colonel gravely
mourned " that every gunmaker, and almost every sports-
man is so infatuated with the detonating or percussion
system." He was " dead " against the innovator, and in the
November of the same year he made a series of experi-
ments-flint-lock versus percussion- out of which he ex-
tracted a verdict against the new intruder. But he, at last,
came so far round in time as to say, " The copper cap is
now in general use for detonators, and it gives me satis-
faction to see it."

This was before the present form of nipple was in-

vented, and when it did come out, the Colonel claimed it
with all the courage and generosity in the world. " I set
my wits to work," says he, "to simplify the invention. At
last, the plan of a perforated nipple and the detonating
powder in the crown of a small cap occurred to me,"
and on he goes stating, that the late Mr. Manton made
the first nipple detonator " precisely on my own plan. "
We are told by him, that " the whole job was done from
my drawing ; " and, furthermore, " Thus, Joe," meaning the
late Mr. Manton. " Thus, Joe, who led the fashion for
all the world, sent out a few copper-cap guns, and I know
with some degree of reluctance. "
 OLD ROADS AND NEW ROADS.

WHAT STEAM HAS EFFECTED FOR SPORTSMEN . - OLD

ROADS AND NEW ROADS.

We smile as we read of those things now-a-days,

but if we only consider the scientific and mechanical ad-
vances during the last forty years, we can easily understand
why we do smile.
I have heard difficulties put forth as to the due supply
of the central- fire cartridges, but the answer to that is,
that all inventions of value and general improvement,
and of acknowledged public usefulness, will ever find the
means to carry out any minor details necessary for their
working. The steam horse and the steam ship are con-
clusive of the argument in that direction. Whether steam
weapons will ever become practical in civilised armies it is
not for us to say at this moment, but steam has certainly
done much for gunnery .
Passing by, for the present, the value of steam ma-
chinery in its application to all mechanical productions, we
have only to consider, for an instant, the facilities of travel
which the modern railway has placed, and is placing yearly,
with an increasing ratio, at our disposal in every part of
the civilised globe, and we can readily understand the ad-
vancement of the gunmaker's art.
Formerly, when a shooting party of four with their ser-
vants and dogs chartered, to her "' deep load line," every foot
of the old stage coach, a journey to the Northern moors , with
the prospect of a week on the road, was something to sit down
and " have a think " about beforehand. Then, again,
when once on the hunting ground all idea of returning
home while the season lasted was not to be thought of, for
the labour was looked upon as something akin to a geo-
graphical exploration. Even under the most favourable
circumstances none but the wealthy devotees of sport could
afford to pass beyond the Yorkshire Moors.
8 FOREIGN SPORTS - INDIA.

See how all that is altered now. A sportsman throws

himself into a corner of the night mail, pulls his travelling cap
over his ears, and " goes to bed " without more ado. At break-

fast time where is he? Why, almost wherever he wishes, or

where there is work for dog and gun. He can transact his
business all the while by letters every day ; and, if he must
return for a short time, at a pinch, he can enjoy his day's
shooting, "go to bed " again in the night mail, and next
morning be in his counting house without any more trouble.

FOREIGN SPORTS EASILY OBTAINABLE. THE INDIAN

SPORTSMAN.- GENERAL JACOB.

This is the way in which steam engineering has assisted

in the onward scientific and practical march of the gun. By
means of the ease and comparative cheapness with which
sportsmen are enabled to run all over their own country, and
the rest of Europe , their number has increased a hundred, if
not a thousand fold.

Englishmen think nothing now of spending a shooting

season in the Canadian Woods, or the illimitable prairies of
the still further west ; whilst the crack of the London gun
may be heard reverberating among the creeks and ponds
of Norway, even across, eastward, to the shores of the Black
Sea. But our Indian sportsman has been long held up as
the perfect model of his race. The tiger hunt has always
been to those of us who have never pulled trigger at any-
thing bigger than the timid hare, a wonder and an admiration.
Knowing the large and varied experience of the
Indian sportsmen, I was induced , at an early period of
my practice, to pay particular attention to their require-
ments. I sought their advice, based on their hunting
practice, attended to their suggestions, and had the pleasure
of reaping a large harvest of satisfaction. The important
and enduring consequence of such reciprocity of action
 GENERAL JACOB- INDIAN RAILWAYS AND SPORT. 9

was, that · a weapon was produced by me, under the instruc-

tions of an unrewarded, but highly meritorious and gallant
Indian officer, who has achieved the greatest wonders
in long range rifle-shooting of any one on record, I allude
to the now celebrated JACOB RIFLE, of which I shall speak
more fully in its proper place.
GENERAL JACOB was a man of whom his country
had reason to be proud, he laboured hard in her armoury to
make her a terror to Eastern barbarism, and he succeeded ,
but, unfortunately, his only recompense in this world was
the consciousness of having done his duty, both as an officer
and the citizen of a great empire .

THE RAILWAY SYSTEM OF INDIA EXTENDING

GUN SPORTS.

The rail and tramway system of India is rapidly

opening up primeval hunting grounds, and, as in England,
with it will come a correspondingly increased extension of
the gun. On account, therefore, of such causes as are here
named , acting in one direction, the gun-maker is enabled to
invent, institute costly experiments, and carry them to a
successful issue, for the benefit, both of himself and his
customers.
Much praise and more substantial rewards have
been bestowed on some extremely fortunate parties with
respect to their inventions in gun-making ; but it must
not be forgotten that the principal part of some of their
systems was gleaned from the facts brought home from the
experience of India.
To the indomitable Anglo- Indian sportsman , the British
gun-maker owes an acquaintance with peculiar facts which
some people, here and there, are by no means in a state of
high mental anxiety to acknowledge, but which have been
of great value, nevertheless.
10 PUBLIC INTEREST IN GUNNERY AND SHOOTING.

It has been a long known received axiom in the mercan-

tile world, that any discovery, invention, or improvement, to
be of benefit to the public must be commercially valuable
to the producer- that is, that it must pay. Now, if this
chain of reasoning is correctly followed out to its conclusion,
it will at once be readily understood why the improve-
ments and ease in rapid travelling have produced an increase
of gun sportsmen—a demand for weapons-and that de-
mand has again acted upon the gun- maker, stimulating
him, regardless of expense, to enhance his reputation by
turning out the most perfect specimens of his art that
both money and skill can create.

PUBLIC INTEREST IN GUNNERY AND SHOOTING.-

THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT .

It was observed on a former page that, beyond

the writings of such devoted sportsmen as HAWKER ,
the public at large were utterly silent on matters con-
nected with guns . Not so now, however. By means
of the enormous distribution of public information
which now takes place daily, the reader will find,
if he does not already know the fact, that, go where
he will, he will always be sure to meet with an at-
tentive audience to listen about guns.
The volunteer movement has taken such information from
the drill ground, and made it interesting to every village and
hamlet throughout the length and breadth of the land. To
such an extent has this desire to be " well up " established
itself, that gun-makers are obliged to turn authors and
explain their own inventions in print, or they would
literally be entombed in the deliveries of their own letter
boxes. This is not meant as a joke by any means, as the
reader would ascertain, could he see the communications
that came in from every point of the compass, by land
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 END OF BREECH-LOADER, NIPPLES, EXTRACTOR , & c.-
See page 11.

FIG. I FIG. 2

DAWS
No 12

PATENT

FIG. 3

FIG . 4

Fig. 1. End of Breech -loader with Cartridge in one barrel. The small aperture
below is the socket that receives the locking bolt.
Fig. 2. The piston ; the nipple ; and the piston in the nipple as fixed in the Gun.
Fig. 3. The Cartridge Extractor as it lies under the barrels .
Fig. 4. Side view of ditto, as seen along the side of the breech .
 THE NEW CENTRAL-FIRE BREECH-LOADER 11

and sea, wherever an Anglo - Saxon hand is strong enough

to handle a weapon and hold its own.
Having now given these preliminary observations, I
will introduce to my readers my various patents, together
with the opinions of those who have long tried them, and of
such special newspapers as Bell's Life in London, The
Field, &c., and afterwards direct attention to the particular
descriptive wood- cuts with their references. And, first of
all, let us look at the new shot gun.

DAW'S CENTRAL-FIRE BREECH- LOADER .

This invaluable weapon has been pronounced, over and

over again, by competent practical judges , to be the most
superior breech-loading arm in existence. It was first
introduced to the sporting world in the shooting season of
1861 , and has since that time more than surpassed the most
sanguine desires of the patentee. The reader will be kind
enough to read a general description of it here, and then
he will be better enabled to understand the illustrations and
their references when he sees them.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION.MODE OF ACTION.

The Patent Central-fire Breech-loader has, to the

fullest extent, the appearance of an elegant first-class
muzzle-loading gun, nipples and all. Under the trigger
guard is the opening lever, the simple action of which will
be found in the " Directions for Loading." Holding the gun
in the ordinary way for charging, this lever is thrown
downwards by the thumb of the right hand ; its function
is to press back, or unlock a powerful steel bolt that works
from the centre of the false breech-pieces into the locking
socket, between the breech ends of the barrels.
12 DESCRIPTION OF CENTRAL-FIRE.

And, again, in closing the barrels after charging, this

lever acts as a forcible fastening bar to bind the parts im-
movably together as one, capable of sustaining any possible
explosive resistance.
What looks like the usual nipples are so in reality,
but there is an addition which completely alters their prin-
cipal of action. Placed inside of what is the ordinary
touch-hole of the nipple is a stout steel piston, held in its
proper position by a simple spring bent against a shoulder on
its centre, and this position is, that the top of it shall project
about the eighth-of-an-inch above the top of the nipple itself,
by means of the spring pressing it upwards. The nipple
may be said to form a very small cylinder, bored right
through the false breech-piece as will presently be under-
stood.
Let the gun be charged and locked for firing.
Then the hammer strikes the top of the piston, sends it
down the nipple cylinder, the lower end coming through
the small bore in the false breech-piece, as already men-
tioned, striking in its turn the percussion cap in the centre
of the cartridge- which latter will be explained here-
after-and exploding the charge. When the hammer is
raised, the spring at the same instant returns the piston to
its place, standing above the nipple ready for another
discharge.
It will now be seen on reference to the drawing.
that the nipple is placed at such an angle in the false-
breech-piece, that when the breech-pieces are locked tight
for the purpose of discharge, the breech-end of the piston
must strike the cartridge right in the centre where the cap
is fixed, and no other place : hence the distinctive name
of " PATENT CENTRAL - FIRE."

SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES.

This " CENTRAL FIRE " has advantages which no other

 T
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ARY
LIBR

BOL
 CENTRAL
PATENT
DAW'S
FIRE BREE
L.
S-
- CH
eeOADE
page
.13 R

FIG
1

GEORGE
HEDAW
P
. ATENT
THREAD
57
NEEDLE
STREET
LONDON

.2
FIG

eq

.1.
Fig barrel
of
end
S,fBreech
wview
under
.Tull
ide
hsize
-
a olding
ithdrawn
cartridge
he
for
socket
the
is
part
locking
the
.
barrels
.2
Fig -part
fore
view
,sReduced
Stock
breech
which
upon
howing
.bed
rest
barrels
the
of
ends
 SUPERIORITY- CARTRIDGE EXTRACTOR . 13

Breech-loader, using the brass-pin cartridge, possesses.

No accident, even of the most careless kind, can affect the
safety of the action of the gun, whilst the shooting is
stronger and more uniform.
There is no peg standing up that requires always to
be thought of and, to a certain extent, watched, lest an
unlucky blow against the end of it should explode the cap
and discharge the gun in some position of unforeseen danger.
The barrels are attached to the stock in the strongest
possible manner. Upon the hinged forepart is securely bedded
a stout steel socket, into which fits a corresponding steel
bolt, on the barrel lump at the breech-ends of the barrels.
There is also a cross bar of steel let in across the body,
between the false breech-piece and the socket just
mentioned, which adds great additional strength and
grip-power to the other parts, especially in resisting the
forward pressure of the explosive force. The mode of
extracting the discharged cartridges from this gun will ,
it is hoped, be deemed as novel and ingenious, as the
patentee knows it to be simple and effective.

EXTRACTING THE CARTRIDGES.

On reference to the illustration, the reader will find a

steel pronged extractor, not unlike a tuning fork, having a
triangular face at one end. This " extractor " works in deep
grooves at the sides of the barrel lump, and under the barrels,
and its face has curves at that junction ; the curve on each
side of the extractor fitting into the breech in front of
the cartridge, as a kind of collar.
By this contrivance, when the cartridge is inserted, the
flange of the base is pressed against the collar of the ex-
tractor by the closing of the breech .
Assuming it necessary to remove the cartridge, the
breech is opened in the usual way. Then the movement
14 EXTRACTOR- CERTAINTY OF ACTION.

of the hinge action works on the circular ends of the

extractor, forcing it outwards, by which motion the other,
or collar end, presses against the cartridge and draws, or
pushes the charge back about half-an-inch out of the
barrel.
The value of this arrangement is so much to the
comfort of every sportsman, that it is very highly ap-
preciated. No spring, no delicacy, no chance of getting
out of order, being an application of a well-understood
mechanical principle, it is, indeed, very highly spoken
of. It need only be mentioned , that, however cold the
hands may be-if they have only power to load the gun-
this self-acting Extractor enables them to withdraw the
empty cartridges with the greatest ease.

PROVED CERTAINTY OF ACTION .

This extractor is very powerful in its action , and has

ample strength for the work it has to perform ; indeed , it
is the only contrivance of its kind that is certain in its
working at all times ; it cannot fail, has no weak point,
and may be safely and confidently depended on, under
every variety of circumstances, and upon all occasions.
Other plans have hitherto been found too weak-even the
best of them-to force out a tight-fitting wedged cartridge.
To enumerate the previous attempts that have been
made to produce a cartridge extractor that should leave
nothing more to be desired, would be to recount the par-
ticulars of many failures.
The desideratum was sought to be attained by having
the slide-bars working in two grooves, from the top to the
bottom , in the centre, between the barrels. The delicacy
of these slide-bars, however, is such an incurable source
of weakness, that very little dependence can be placed
upon them.
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PATENT CENTRAL-FIRE CARTRIDGE. - See page 15.

FIG . 1

E
N
T
PATENT
0
12.G. 12.G

FIG. 2

FIG. 3

DAWS

PATENT

Fig. 1. Central-fire Cartridge-full size.

Fig. 2. Section of ditto, showing the cap.
Fig. 3. Cartridge, reduced size.
 THE CENTRAL-FIRE CARTRIDGE— THE LEFAUCHEUX. 15

Having now given an outline of the principal parts of

the gun, I will say a few words for the purpose of explain-

ing the nature of the cartridges. I trust that, in doing so ,

I shall be able to make myself understood ; but, in the
event of not overcoming the difficulty of conveying
mechanical constructions clearly to the mind, by the some-
what imperfect medium of sentences, the reader will be
able to make out my meaning with the assistance of the
illustrations.

DAW'S PATENT CENTRAL -FIRE CARTRIDGE.

In describing this cartridge the aid of the artist will be

called in and illustrations placed before the reader, so as to
convey a definite notion of what the thing really is. And
first of the

DISADVANTAGES OF THE LEFAUCHEUX.

When the cartridge took the place of the powder

flask and shot belt for sporting purposes , a great step in
advance was made, and in connection with breech loaders,
that known as Lefaucheux became the desired substitute.
It has been very popular, and very successful, and will ,
no doubt, hold its own as long as the guns constructed for
it are in use.It is true the Lefaucheux cartridges laboured
under disadvantages which sometimes turned out sources of
disappointment and annoyance to the sportsman. This
cartridge, as every one knows, is exploded by the hammer
striking an upright brass pin, the lower end of which
communicates the blow to a small cap fixed in the inside of
the base.
Now, if in the packing, or the carriage in the field,
or in loading, this pin got bent by any accident out of its
proper line, it became perfectly useless. No gentleman
16 DISADVANTAGES AND DANGERS OF THE LEFAUCHEUX.

requires to have particular instances given to prove this,

beyond what he knows himself from his own personal
experience ; but many a fine day's shooting has been sadly
marred through accidents to the pin of the cartridge.
There are dangers also in this direction , such as the
accidental discharge, through the pin being struck whilst
handling, blowing the pin out whilst firing, sticking in the
barrel, and other drawbacks well enough known to every
shooter of this gun .

I long entertained the belief that it was possible to

produce a cartridge perfectly free from all those defects, and
I have happily succeeded. I have succeeded in more than
that, I speak confidently in saying that I have not only
produced something free from the dangers and defects of the
pin one, but that the central fire possesses important advan-
tages which the other could never command.
The advantages will be pointed out after the cartridge
has been described.

DETAILS OF THE CENTRAL-FIRE.

The patent central-fire cartridge presents a similar ap-

pearance to the one just alluded to, with this great and
important exception, there is no brass pin. The reader, on
examining the woodcut, will see that the detonating cap is
in the centre of the cartridge, and slightly below the surface.
By this depression, the base can be struck with any amount
of force without the cap itself being touched . Here is a
great element of safety ; the cap must be actually struck by
something resembling the piston before any explosion can
take place.

CONSTRUCTION.

The construction of this part of the cartridge is as fol-

lows :-In the centre of the base is a metallic cup, with
 SAFETY AND ECONOMY. 17

a touch-hole drilled through the top. This cup is so attached

that it forms part of the base itself, the part with the touch-
hole projecting forward, inside, so as to be embedded in the
powder. Then a small four -grooved " anvil," with a point
like a Jacob's rifle-shell, fits loosely into the cup, and upon
this " anvil " is placed the percussion cap.
It will thus be seen that when the hammer strikes, the
cap explodes within the breech, and the flame darting down
the grooves of the " anvil," having only a tenth-of-an inch
to go to the centre of the charge, instantaneous ignition is
always the result. There is no escape of gas nor flash of
the cap in the eye to glare upon it, or impair its accuracy
for the next fire ; no danger of a piece of the copper flying
off against the face.
Another quality of this cartridge is , that it can be kept
anywhere and sent anywhere, and carried about with the
greatest confidence.

SAFETY AND ECONOMY.

It has been already stated that, on account of the cap

in the centre being lower than the surface of the base, the
cartridges could be struck violently on the whole of that
surface with the most perfect impunity.
But there is more than this : these cartridges can be
refilled two or three times over, four times have been
repeatedly managed ; they can be sent, without any de-
tonating ingredient, to wherever the sportsman wishes, as
he can carry the percussion caps in his own portmanteau ,
and cap as many cartridges over-night as he thinks he will
be likely to use next day.
Gentlemen, with the experience of a couple of seasons,
have told me that the saving of sporting ammunition in this
way, by carrying, as it were, the key of each cartridge in
the pocket, has been of the most satisfactory nature. The
next thing of which an explanation will be given will be : -
18 LOADING- VALUABLE PECULIARITIES.

HANDLING THE GUN, ETC.

Take the gun in the left hand by the grip across the
barrels in the ordinary way, letting the butt of the stock
pass under the right arm and against the right side. Then,
with the right hand thumb, smartly jerk down the lever
that rests along the trigger-guard, as far as it will go.
This unlocks the breech-bolt, when the stock, being
guided gently by the arm against the right side, will drop a
few inches rapidly and easily. Both barrels are now open
from end to end.
Next place the cartridges in the breech, still hold-
ing the gun in the same position with the left hand,
and with the right hand gripping the " small " as if to cock,
close the breech action of stock and barrels together.
After this, raise the hammers to fire in the usual way, for
both barrels are now loaded and capped ready for dis-
charge.

VALUABLE PECULIARITIES.

It cannot be too strongly impressed upon the owners

of the Central-Fire Breech - Loader, that the whole of the
loading can be done in any position almost instantaneously,
and without for one moment removing the eyes from the track
of the game.
Now this is a peculiar property of the Daw Gun,
and one that has never before been attained since the
invention of fire-arms. Nay, more ; a person going at a
" field trot," under the shelter of a hedge, looking stead-
fastly in front of him, can load or unload both barrels as he
chooses. On account of there being no pin to put into the
right place, whichever way the central-fire cartridge gets
into the barrel, it is sure to be right. I found this peculiarly
advantageous when shooting in Scotland over rough ground.
 TO DISMOUNT THE GUN. 19

NEED NEVER BE PUT AWAY LOADED. - CHARGE

INSTANTLY EXTRACTED.

Such an arrangement as this reduces the chances of

accident by loaded fire-arms, placed out of the hand, to the
point of improbability .
I wish particularly to impress here that no breech-
loader of this patent need be taken loaded into a house,
or laid down under any circumstances with the charges
in, as both cartridges can be taken out and put in the
pocket in less than four seconds. Therefore , it must be
clearly understood that, except through sheer and culpable
negligence, none of these guns need be carried loaded ,
unless actually in the pursuit of game.
I sincerely trust that these instructions may be always
acted upon, as they cannot fail to enhance the reputation
of the gun wherever they are heard.
The reader is now requested to compare the new
cartridge with the ordinary pin cartridge, when he will
immediately see the indisputable superiority of the Central
Fire system, and the strong claims it has upon the patron-
age and recommendation of all sportsmen . The illustra-
tions will enable him to form an opinion upon this point.

TO DISMOUNT THE GUN.

Draw the side bolt in the fore part out, lower the stock
from the bands as if going to load ; then, holding the stock
in one hand, push the barrels with the other towards the
breech, gripping them tight, as this last action liberates
them, and, unless a caution was given, their coming so sud-
denly loose in the hand, might cause them to be dropped
on the ground.
C2
20 TO RE-MOUNT THE GUN.

TO RE-MOUNT THE GUN.

Let the side bolt be out as before, then hold both stock
and barrels firmly, as when dismounting. Run the steel
bolt on the barrel lump at the breech end, into the socket
that lies across the hinge of the fore-part ; put in the side-
bolt that fastens the barrels down, and the gun is ready for
loading.
It may be satisfactory to know that no washing out is
required, but that, after use, merely passing an oiled flannel
up and down each barrel several times is all that is necessary
for preserving them in order ( see some ofthe letters of testi-
mony.) It will be better to keep the breech part nicely
oiled and clear from rust, so as to render the working of the
cartridges as freely as possible. The pistons can be re-
moved by any ordinary nipple key when required.
Previous to re-filling old cartridges , take care and push
out the exploded cap with the small re-capping implement,
and then put in a fresh cap, after wiping the anvil , or a new
one of the latter, as may be most convenient. The pointed
end of the " anvil " should rest against the top , or priming
part of the percussion cap, and the flat end at the bottom
of the cap over the touch-hole.

The following implements will be found in every gun

case belonging to these guns :-
CARTRIDGE BLOCK.- A small boxwood cartridge
block, with cap-hole in the centre, to place the empty
cartridge case on to push out the exploded cap with.
THE RE-CAPPER.- An implement with long handle to
fit down the empty case, and having a short steel pin at the
end to force out the anvil and old cap.
 LIST OF IMPLEMENTS IN GUN CASE. 21

A POWDER MEASURE to measure the charge for re-

filling the cartridge case with either powder or shot.
CARTRIDGE GAUGE. -A strong square iron plate hav-
ing an aperture in the centre, the exact gauge required.
By forcing the cartridge through, all inequalities and dents
in the case are removed .
A CUTTER for cutting off the end of the cartridge,
This implement
* should it be found too long when loaded.
has a handle to it, having a small thumb lever on the top, to
the end of which an angular cutting tool is attached. The
cutting end of the implement is passed into the cartridge to
the required depth, when the cutter is let down. The
cartridge and cutter are then turned in contrary directions,
and the portion required is taken off.
A TURNING-IN MACHINE.-This is a small machine
that screws like a portable vice to the edge of a plank or table.
The filled cartridge is passed, open end first, through the iron
tube collar, under the steel claw, the claw is afterwards pressed
on the base and holds it there tightly. The cartridge being
fixed in, turn the handle of the machine two or three times
round, and the work is finished. This is a very rapid
method of turning in the edges of cartridges.
A BREECH CLEANER in metal cylinder cover, having
strong breech action to clean out the breech ends ofthe barrels.
A BARREL CLEANER in small pocket book, leather case .
A NIPPLE KEY for turning out the nipples.

The superiority in principle of the Central-fire Breech-

loader obtained the Prize Medal in the International Exhi-
bition of 1862.

Mr. Daw will have pleasure in shewing any Sportsman

who will call at 57 , Threadneedle Street, a Double Gun on
his patent principle, from which has been fired upwards of
5,000 shots, without a miss-fire or any signs of wear.
22 PRIZE MEDAL- SUMMARY OF VALUE.

International Exhibition 1862. Prize Medal.

At the International Exhibition of 1862 , the Jury of

CLASS XI, SECTION C, " ARMS AND ORDNANCE," awarded
a prize medal to the Central-Fire Breech- Loader. When it is
stated that this jury was composed of some of the leading
authorities in Europe on fire-arms, both practical and scien-
tific, the value of the invention will be easily understood .
There were the Superintendent of our own Royal Gun
Factories, a Lieut-General of the Royal Corps of Artillery
of Italy, the Commander of the Artillery of the 1st Division
of the French army, the Sub-Inspector of the Manufacture
of Arms for Belgium, a Colonel of the Russian Imperial
Guard, one of our leading rifle makers ; and the President
of the Ordnance Select Committee, with several others,
whose names will be found in the Jurors' report of that
department.
In order to make it clear to the Jury what it was that I
claimed for the " Central-fire " as patented property, I sent
in a written statement of each improvement, showing in how
many respects those improvements were in advance of all
others of the same character that had gone before.

SUMMARY OF VALUE.

Such is the Patent Central-Fire Breech-Loader. It

is much superior to any breech loading gun that has hitherto
been brought before the notice of the public , and is applic-
able to every description of fire-arm. Its lightness , elegance,
and simplicity, combined with its superior shooting qualities
(such superiority being obtained by the complete prevention
of all escape of gas) , which have been tested by ample
practice, recommend it to the due appreciation of every
sportsman.
 DURABILITY AND RELIANCE . 23

In opening or closing the breech there is but one

simple movement, that of the thumb pressing down the
In other breech loaders the
lever on the trigger guard.
barrels fall , in this gun the stock only is lowered, the
barrels remaining in their proper position as gripped by the
left hand after the discharge .
Furthermore, in addition to all this, there is the cartridge
which stands unrivalled in its excellence.
It can be placed ready for firing quicker than a copper
cap can be put on the nipple of an ordinary muzzle
loading gun.

With good caps miss-fires are impossible by this Cen-

tral-Fire principle, whilst the cartridges having no brass
pegs, or other dangerous projections, can be carried in any
manner with perfect safety ; the discharged cases after
explosion can never stick in the barrel nor require the force
of the ramrod to batter them out.

DURABILITY AND RELIANCE .

The ammunition is waterproof, and the old cases can

be re-filled and re- capped for use several times, whilst its
moderate first cost is not its least recommendation.
It is the only breech-loader known whose cartridge cases
can thus be repeatedly re-filled and re- capped for use.
Again, the gun can be readily used under any circum-
stances. It has few pieces, is very substantial, has no delicate
parts to be affected by grit, rain, rust, or wear, and is not
likely to get out of order.
It can be rapidly loaded or unloaded, either with the ham-
mers down, or at half, or full cock, if desired, with the
greatest safety, whilst the severity with which it has been
tested by some of the best sportsmen of the day, and the
uniformity and hardness of shooting which they have
24 PUBLIC TESTIMONY.

obtained, have induced them, unsolicited , to pronounce both

gun and cartridge the very best that has ever been placed
at the disposal of the sporting world.
The various parts are made by patented machinery of
a special character, which insures a more perfect weapon ,
both in quality and price than could be produced in any
other manner.

PUBLIC TESTIMONY.

I, therefore, fearlessly and unhesitatingly furnish the

foregoing statements, and, in order to show that I am not
alone in this confidence, I beg to submit those extracts
from sporting newspapers, letters, &c., to the perusal of
the reader, which will be found in the appendix,
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RIFLED SMALL ARMS .

EARLY ORIGIN OF THE RIFLE SYSTEM.

THE establishment of the Rifle Volunteer system in this

country and throughout the British dominions, over the world
generally, has directed public attention to fire-arms in a
most remarkable manner, and more especially to the nature
of the modern rifle. Many persons with whom I have
conversed on the subject, were of opinion that rifled arms
was an invention of the early days of the Georges, and that
the Brunswick dynasty and the Brunswick rifle came to
rule in England in company with each other. This is a
mistake.

On consulting reliable writers it will be found that the

rifle system dates much farther back than that ; for, a
German gunsmith, about 1567, is recorded as having first
applied grooving to gun barrels. But, curiously enough,
he applied it to a very different purpose to that for which
it is used at the present day ; he merely intended the
grooves to be drains, or receptacles for the " fouling " matter
to run into, so as to leave the barrel in a more cleanly state
than had previously been attained. His object was effected ;
for, balls shot from such an arm flew with greater accuracy
than those from a gun of the ordinary form. A new dis-
covery was thus opened up to the hunters of large mountain
and forest game, which they were not slow to avail them-
selves of, and it was very shortly pronounced 66 a most
desirable improvement . "
26 FIRST FORM OF RIFLING- RIFLE ACTION.

FIRST FORM OF RIFLING.

This rifling, however, was simply two grooves, cut in

a straight line opposite each other, from muzzle to breech.
That style of rifling lasted for a long time and was very much
used. From the straight groove to the twisting one, would
naturally be an easy transition, and it was fated to a clever
gunsmith of Nuremberg, named Koster, to achieve that
honour. But Koster was not aware himself of the value of
his improvement from a scientic point of view. He obtained
accuracy and power in a manner that astonished more learned
folks in Germany than he was.
The spinning ball, imperfect though it was, let in a
flood of light upon the best form of the most destructive
missile of the modern world ; for the round rifle bullet pre-
pared the way for the elongated shot.

RIFLE ACTION DEMONSTRATED BY A TOP.

Every one is acquainted with the movement of the

spinning peg-top ; how few are aware as they look at it,
that its action exemplifies to the eye, exactly that which
gives precision and value to the conical rifled shot ! When
the top is thrown from its string by the hand of the boy,
it receives its rifling by the rapid uncoiling of the cord, and,
as soon as it settles with the point of its peg on a smooth
surface, it will spin with a motion so rapid as to be at times
imperceptible. It is then said to " sleep," for the eye can-
not see its whirl, and the elongated heavy conical piece of
wood is revolving at this wondrous rate upon the fine point
of a conical steel pin -spinning so fast on its axis that,
until the rifling power imparted by the string is exhausted,
it cannot move the smallest hair-breadth away from the
exact spot where it has settled.
 RIFLE GROOVES. 27

Nothing can be more beautiful than this illustration of

the common peg-top ; its motion is that imparted to it by
the " rifling " power of the string only, and hence we are
enabled to see immediately under our eye, in the simple
school-boy's top, a practical demonstration of one of the
most marvellous truths throughout the whole range of
dynamical science.

RIFLE GROOVES- EXCELLENCE OF THE JACOB

SYSTEM- STRENGTH OF THE ARM.

There is no part of the science of gunnery that has

received greater attention than that appertaining to the
form and number of grooves in the barrel. All numbers
have been tried , from two almost up to infinity— I have
never heard of a one-grooved rifle—and of all degrees of
depth, from the eight-of-an-inch up to vanishing point,
where, notwithstanding assurances to the contrary, a micro-
scope would fail to detect any rifling at all.
The 2 -grooved plan was found unable to prevent, to
satisfaction, the violent oscillatory motion of the shot after
it was started by the suddenness of the explosive force.
Then came the 3-grooved, but in both, as the Brunswick ,
and the first Enfields, there was an unsteadiness of flight
which nothing in the projectile seemed to be able to cure.
In the Enfield weapon it was laid down as a condition
that the grooves should be no more than three, and that no
greater spiral was wanted than what was necessary to keep the
bullets in the grooves. Some fair practice was occasionally
made with it, but there was always a tendency for the
bullets to slip the rifling altogether, on account of the
shallow hold upon them, and fly off " anyhow." I have
some by me that have done so.
The form of grooving to which General Jacob's ex-
periments led was the 4-groove, with the grooves and lands
equal, as shown in the engraved section. This he found,
28 RIFLE GROOVES.

when combined with the longitudinal projection on the

bullet, and the sharp turn in the rifling, held the shot firm
in its place, to receive the propelling force of the powder
to the fullest extent that was obtainable. Besides, the
depths of the grooves were made to coincide with the
action of such increased force, being cut deep enough to
serve as reliable guides to the projectile in its course down
the barrel.
Under these circumstances it will easily be seen that
there was no possibility of the Jacob bullet over riding the
rifling, unless the whole interior was scooped away alto-
gether, or in other words the barrel burst,
How far the latter contingency may be feared can be
calculated from the following experiment related by Mr.
Hans Busk in his extremely useful book, The Rifle and how
to use it.

" It is only, perhaps, fair to Mr. Daw, to give publicity

to the following fact, which of itself would establish, if
need were, the excellence of his materials and workman-
ship."
He then relates the bursting of a gun barrel in 1859,
at the practice ground at Kilburn, bearing the name of
another firm , but no proof mark, through which accident the
Gunmaker's company prosecuted the said firm to conviction
for selling unproved arms. Mr. Busk then goes on to state
the test he subjected one of my rifles to (which he selected
at hazard) at the same place, in consequence of the above
accident.
" I had it loaded and fired with two regulation charges,
A CLEAR SPACE OF FOUR INCHES having been purposely
left between the apex of the first and the base of the second
bullet. This tremendous trial the barrel stood, without any
injury beyond a slight bulge not perceptible externally, and
scarcely amounting to the thousandth of an inch at the part
where the second bullet was placed !"

1
 RIFLE GROOVES. 29

" The rifle is at present in my possession, and may be

seen by any one desirous of satisfying himself of the enor-
mous strain which a gun barrel of really good quality will
resist."

In order to show the value of resistance of the shot in

a barrel until all the powder has exploded, it must be borne
in mind that the force of projection is expended upon the
shot directly it leaves the muzzle of the gun, and, as the
flight will all depend upon the amount of that force which
the shot receives in the barrel, it is of the first importance
that it should receive as much as possible.

It is well known that a rifle shot must spin at a certain

rate in order to keep it exact to the line of flight, and that
""
the rotatory power can only be obtained by a good " grip
and smart turn in the rifling. When, therefore, a shot is
used with moulded projections to fit the grooves, it holds
better, that hold running throughout the entire length of
the barrel in an even ratio, produces much less friction, and
offers far less resistance to the air than any " set up " shot
possibly can do.

The reader will readily understand from this that the

4-grooved form being an equal division of the entire circuit
of the barrel—is stronger than any other. There is a re-

gularity combined with this strength which no other form

of rifling has yet attained.

A great point. is equilibrium of movement, a balance

between motion and friction in a gun barrel. The Jacob
form of shot and groove give that admirably, because the
hold is equal all over, and there is no antagonistic agency
to disturb the projectile in its course to the muzzle of the
gun. When a greater number of grooves are used, there
is a weakening of the holding power on the projectile,
which consequently re-acts injuriously on the precision of
its flight.
30 SCIENTIFIC WRITERS ON RIFLED-GUNNERY.

It must follow then, assuming this reasoning to be

correct, that any rifling which gives a jagged base to the
shot, increases atmospheric resistance to a considerable
extent, and also deteriorates from the rectitude of its path.
Here we have a plain conclusion from plain reasons,
with respect to the extraordinary precision, power, and
range of the Jacob rifle, which, as I remarked before , have
never yet been rivalled by any form of rifling whatever.

SCIENTIFIC WRITERS ON RIFLED- GUNNERY. - LEUT-

MANN EULER, BORDA, GASSENDI , ROBINS , HUTTON.

From the application of this discovery to guns , more

than a hundred years elapsed before the natural philosopher
elevated it to scientific proof. Leutmann, the eminent mathe-
matician of St. Petersburg, in 1728 , and Euler, Borda , and
Gassendi in the South and West of Europe. In the year
1747 , Mr. Benjamin Robins, our own countryman, carried
out a series of experiments for himself. Mr. Robins, up to
this period was, comparatively, an unnoticed man, but of
his pre-eminent merits there can be no dispute . In Col.
Boxer's able, and scientific Treatise on Artillery-one of
the authorised text books of our own service - the subject
of this paragraph is thus spoken of.
" To our distinguished countryman , Mr. Benjamin
Robins, is due the credit of not only being the first practi-
cally to determine the enormous effect of the resistance of
the air in retarding the motions of military projectiles, but
also of pointing out, and experimentally proving, other facts
with regard to this resistance, which will be noticed when
considering the subject of the deviation of shot from the
intended direction."

Speaking on the subject of the rifling twist, Mr.

Robins says, " that the degree of spirality, the number of
 APPEAL TO GOVERNMENT TO ADOPT THE RIFLE. 31

threads, or the depth of the channels , is not regulated by

any invariable rule, but differs according to the country
where the work is performed , and the caprice of the
artificer. "
Robins has long been looked upon as the ablest writer
that has, as yet, written on the question of Gunpowder in
its application to fire-arms. He almost speaks in the spirit
of prophecy about the breech-loading system of the present
day-
66
Something of this kind, though not in the manner
now practised would be of all others the most perfect
method for the construction of these sort of barrels ! "
Mr. Robins died in 1751 , and Dr. Hutton taking up
the cue of his experiments, added by his own subsequent
ones many interesting facts in relation to projectiles, and
considerably increased our knowledge of it. Most of the
Continental philosophers and mathematicians followed the
course of study from such learned scientific guides.

ROBINS'S UNSUCCESSFUL APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENT

TO ADOPT THE RIFLE . THE AMERICAN REVOLU- IN
TIONARY WAR. FIRST RIFLE CORPS IN THE
BRITISH ARMY.

Such were some of the leading principles that gradually

developed the rifle system, but, for a long time, it did not
find much encouragement from any military power, and
centuries almost elapsed from the discovery of the value of
a spiral twist in the groove, until it was admitted " into the
service " as a soldier's weapon. Before speaking of other
governments, I will just allude to our own of that day.
Mr. Robins strongly advocated its use for military
purposes in 1747, when that master of scientific artillery
was only beginning to be understood by his countrymen .
32 APPEAL TO GOVERNMENT TO ADOPT THE RIFLE.

He tried to force the rifle, imperfect as it was, on the

military authorities of the day, and demonstrated, both in
theory and practice, the infinite superiority of the system
over the smooth-bore. Alas ! he might as well have demon-
strated and argued before the Horse Guards ' clock-turret
with a view of changing it, " Presto " fashion , into ornamented
gun-metal. No, not even the unquestionable evidence of
mathematical and practical truths could move any body in
authority from the ancient tenour of his way.
When the thirteen original states of the American
Union revolted from British rule they, poor and ill -found as
they were, took care to have as many rifles among them as
they could command. With the ill-formed rifles of the time
they dealt out such damaging blows to the British troops
that the latter staggered under the infliction, and com-
manders hardly knew what to be at ; this old American
rifle contributed most materially to the success of George
Washington, and his co-patriots in their determined and
heroic struggle for independence. The American rifle, indif-
ferent as it was, inspired a wholesome dread, and a respectful
distance in its opponents, and was spoken of with the
greatest possible reverence for generations afterwards.
It will hardly be believed that, in the face of such
convincing experience, our authorities at home turned a deaf
ear to all entreaties, and held hard and fast to the smooth
bore. Not but that the rifle was to be found in the Army,
here and there, from Charles the Second ( 1680) downwards,
still, it was not until 1794 that it entered the 60th, or
66
Royal American Regiment," as they were then called, as
a weapon of military service. As it increased in reputation
its use was extended, the whole regiment was ultimately
armed with it, and Celer et audax (swift and daring) became
a terrifying motto from the great battles of Spain and
Portugal to the fierce contests of British India.
In 1800 the " old fighting 95th " was transformed into
 IMPROVEMENT OF THE RIFLE IN FRANCE . 33

the present Rifle Brigade, and these two regiments formed

until a very recent period, the only Rifle Corps in the
British service.

THE SAME APATHY ABOUT IMPROVING THE RIFLE IN

FRANCE. CAPT. DELVIGNE ,

In justice, however, to " the other side," I must not

omit to mention that the great Napoleon- an authority of
some note- denounced the rifle in his day, as " the worst
weapon that could be put into the hands of a soldier."
This made the authorities very conflicting, and it can
scarcely be wondered at, after all, that our own military
powers were so difficult to move in the face of the opinion
of the greatest general of the age.
But if our military authorities did not particularly
distress themselves in their exertions to introduce improved
arms into the service , they had good warranty from their
neighbours across the channel. Capt. Delvigne brought out
his improvements in 1826-the easy method of rifle loading
belonging to him-he suffered so much annoyance in his
unceasing contention against the ignorance and prejudice of
his " authorities," both civil and military, that he lived
almost the life of a region not mentionable to ears polite-
except military ears ! He showed , up to 1837, that the
picked regiments of France had been repeatedly driven
from the field by bands of peasantry armed with the Swiss
rifle.

During the conquest of Algeria ( 1838) the French

officers and men were picked off so rapidly by the Arabs,
that the Duke of Orleans was almost beside himself. One
of the Chasseurs d'Afrique, armed with a Delvigne ,
brought down his enemy at such a distance as to settle the
rifle question on a firm basis ; the rifle killed at 600 yards.
D
34 NEW INVENTIONS.

THE BAVARIAN RIFLE. FREDERIC THE GREAT.-

SHARPSHOOTERS OF THE TYROL. - ARTILLERY
MUSEUM OF PARIS.

But to go back in history a little. The two-straight

grooved rifle was a military arm in several of the smaller
states of the Germanic Confederation. Bavaria for instance,
as far back as 1645, nearly 220 years ago, and in the Prus-
sian Campaign on the Rhine, in 1674 .
When Frederic the Great afterwards in his German
wars was harrassed by the Austrian flying infantry ,
especially the Sharpshooters of the Tyrol, who have long
maintained a famous reputation, he was compelled to follow
a similar example. About the same period Louis XIV. got
some rifled carbines for his cavalry ; some hundreds of
specimens may be seen in the Artillery Museum of Paris.
The grooving mentioned as being cut in these barrels,
is of the most diverse kind, nor is the turn less so. There
is the " gaining twist," and the " decreasing twist," whilst
some had a combination of both twists in the same barrel.
The turn of the spiral from the breech to the centre in-
creases, where the bullet gets its greatest " nip," and after-
wards by the decrease of the turn, the shot having obtained
its riffing, leaves the remainder of the barrel freely.

SEVERAL SO-CALLED NEW INVENTIONS , OLD AND OB-

SOLETE.-POLYGONAL RIFLING.-THE OVAL BORE .
-OLD HUNGARIAN RIFLE.

It is a remarkable fact, that two systems of rifling

which have obtained considerable attention of late, were
considered obsolete at the beginning of the present century .
Col. Beaufoy in his book called Scloppetaria, 1808 , says
at p. 87.
" But while we are thus enlarging on rifles with grooves,
 THE BRUNSWICK RIFLE . 35

let us not pass over a very old invention, though quite ob-
solete in our time, which is the method of making a plain
barrelled gun possess the advantages of a rifle, and yet not
be liable to detection unless more minutely examined than
common inspection usually leads us to expect."
This was neither more nor less than the present oval
bore , which has been revived within the last few years as
some wonderful modern discovery in rifles ! The hexagonal
system, too, as well as the polygonal, is equally ancient ;
some of the barrels nearly two hundred years old, having as
many as twelve grooves ! I have, myself, seen an exact poly-
gonal groove bore in the possession of Capt. Blakely, having
been purchased by him at a large sale of old Hungarian
arms, by the Austrian Government, which took place in
Liverpool some five or six years ago. The weapon carried
its own age upon its face, and was very, very old—a perfect
antique curiosity.

RIFLES FIRST IN THE ARMY IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES .

THE BRUNSWICK RIFLE.

I have already mentioned that the Life Guards of

Charles the Second had the rifled carbines of that day, but
only in the proportion of its non-commissioned officers.
Sweden was the next cavalry, in 1691 ; then followed the
Prussians in 1700 ; the French served them out to the
infantry in 1793 or 4, but soon abandoned them in conse-
quence of the difficulty of getting the ball down after a
few rounds firing, on account of the fouling choking up the
grooves.
When Rifle Brigades were first formed in the British
Army in 1800, the weight of the weapon, sword bayonet
included, was nearly twelve and a half pounds ! Light
Cavalry regiments had previously tried and abandoned this
kind of arm .
D 2
36 OBSTINACY OF THE AUTHORITIES, ETC.

The grooves were seven, eight, or ten, as was thought

best.
Then came the Brunswick Rifle in 1836 , but the fouling
of the two grooves became so great that loading was ex-
tremely difficult, making the practice correspondingly bad,
the belt on the ball, too , being a great cause of irregularity
and retardation in flight. An " Enfield Committee " sat
upon it in 1844, and after taking considerable experimental
evidence, reported, " That all firing with the Brunswick
Rifle, beyond 400 yards, was too wild to give a correct angle
of deviation. "

OBSTINACY OF THE AUTHORITIES , Repulse of Del-

VIGNE, JACOB'S NAME.

Notwithstanding such positive condemnatory testimony,

when the talented Delvigne was astonishing the military world
at Paris with the performance of his then new cylindro-
conical bullet, the Woolwich authorities of that day could not
be persuaded that any rifle could, by any possibility be made
superior to the Brunswick. Mr. Lovell the then Inspector
of Small-arms went over to Paris, introduced himself, and
was furnished by Delvigne with every information and all
his models to bring home.
A great deal of official correspondence ensued, in which
Sir John Burgoyne, the late Marquis of Anglesea, then
Master-general of the Ordnance , Sir Frederic Smith, and
others of lesser note took part. Marshal Marmont, the
French Minister of War, even supplied our people with one
of the new muskets ; still the Woolwich " Authorities "

would not be beat, and held fast to their impracticable

obstinacy up to the last moment.
The experiments that were everywhere being carried
on with success at last cleared the way a little, and the
 OBSTINACY OF THE AUTHORITIES , ETC. 37

proceedings of Lieut. -Colonel Jacob in Upper Scind,

introduced us to a new era of which the foregoing has been
a kind of prefatory sketch to the reader.
Such were the principal features attending the origin
and progress of the introduction of the rifled system of fire-
arms. As the race is not always to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong," so is reward not always to the deserving,
nor honour to the winner. Volumes have been written ,
and more are in embryo, about the treatment of deserving
inventors. Delvigne was officially kicked out of Pall Mall,
without fee or reward, and Jacob was even worse treated.
It will thus be seen that if the inventive progress
of nations did not possess an unextinguishable power,
hurrying them onward against all obstacles, the discoveries
of one century would not be much on the credit side
beyond that of another. Whether it is right that it should
be so or not, I will not now stop to inquire, but proceed
immediately to the celebrated weapon that follows this
paragraph.
 T OF
N
E FI
T CE
A
P

LIBRARY

THE DAW-JACOB RIFLE .

GENERAL JOHN JACOB.

THE name and memory of the late Brigadier General John

Jacob are what the soldiers of the Indian Army will not
willingly let die, whilst the rifle with which that name is
identified will maintain a position and hold high repute in
the very foremost rank, as long as the combination of " lock,
stock, and barrel " will form a weapon of destruction . I
feel proud, and I hope justly proud, in the honour reflected
upon me by my connection with the deceased warrior. I
was much in his confidence, and the satisfaction that he
always evinced at the mode in which I carried out his
instructions will ever be a source of pleasure to me. I

have considerably improved upon those instructions since ,

and the Daw-Jacob Rifle, the senior of the present system
of arms of precision, will never be found in any respect
inferior to its younger rivals.
This weapon is the result of some five and twenty years
incessant study and experiment. All forms of bullet and
all plans of rifling had been tried by the General before he
determined on the " winged missile ; " and winged it is,
indeed, when it can commit devastation at the enormous
distance of 2,000 yards -about one mile and a fifth . The
famous Scinde Horse- Jacob's Horse- as they were called ,
were armed with these rifles, and by their means made
themselves the terror of the disaffected native tribes in that
part of India, who were absolutely panic-striken by the
deeds they saw effected by those-
" Leaden messengers,
That ride upon the violent speed of fire,"
DCH
- AWE

J
DAW
w
,TheACOB
RIFLE
ith
Sight
range
38
- ee
Slong
-
.page
 T OF
EN FI
AT
TP . CE
.

LIBRARY
 JACOB'S EARLY EXPERIMENTS. 39

JACOB'S EARLY EXPERIMENTS. ANCIENT FIRE-ARMS.

General Jacob was enabled, as far back as 1846 , to

submit to the then East Indian Government, a 4-grooved
rifle with a double banded spherical shot, by which a man
could be hit at the distance of 1,000 yards, in addition to
the weapon having an effective range of 2,000 ! Any
one who is old enough to remember the belted ball and the
Brunswick rifle , with which special rifle corps were formerly
armed, will also remember the difficulty of loading, which
that particular form of shot imposed. The General's experi-
ments were directed to obviate that, and, if possible, obtain
in addition an amount of accuracy greater than any that had
been previously achieved.
He commenced those experiments
at Jacobabad, in Upper Scinde, having for his range the
great desert of that region.
The belted bullet was found not to be the best shape
that could be used, but what shape that would ultimately be
had yet to be determined. Without going into scientific
details on the theory of projectiles and projectile forces, it
will be necessary to state an occasional ascertained fact, with
the view of keeping the line of the argument before the
mind of the reader.
The first thing to consider is the force of gunpowder,
and the mode in which that force can be best employed.
Everything relating to fire-arms must be rendered subordi-
nate to that point ; but bearing in mind that the gunpowder
of the present day is very different to what it was two
centuries ago ; the destructive force and its agents have
kept pace together pretty well. As an illustration, I beg to
diverge a little for the purpose of mentioning an incident
upon this point.
I have before me an old book on Fortification and
Artillery, dedicated to his grace the Duke of ORMOND.
40 EXPERIMENTS ON GUNPOWDER.

It tells us that it was " PRINTED FOR ABEL SWALL

at the Unicorn, at the west-end of St. Paul's Church-
yard, 1691." On looking over it, as a curious relic of the
art of war in a by-gone age, I find a description of the
various guns then in use, the very names of which sound
strange in one's ears. There are the Cannon, or battering
piece ; the Colverin , the Falcon, the Saker, the Petard, and
the Small Petard. These were all arms of field artillery. We
are next given the dimensions of these guns and told what
they can do.
"Lastly. A musquet carries 120 fathoms, and if double-
charged 150, though it will kill a man 300 paces. Discharged
very near it will pierce two planks two fingers thick ; but
discharged at 50 paces it enters according to the substance
of the body it meets with."
Now, as the fathom here mentioned means six feet,
which for 120 fathoms would be 240 yards range, we need
feel no surprise at the duration of the sieges of these days,
nor why " our army swore terribly in Flanders."

EXPERIMENTS ON THE FORCE OF GUNPOWDER. - ROBINS

-COUNT RUMFORD- HUTTON- GUN COTTON.

But to return. The first reliable authority now taken

for the strength of gunpowder is Mr. Benjamin Robins.
In 1742 he published his New Principles of Gunnery, in
which he particularly discussed the force of gunpowder.
He concluded that, at the moment of explosion, the force
exerted was equal to a pressure of nearly 15,000 lbs. to the
square inch. After him, Count Rumford, in 1792, fifty
years later, instituted an extensive course of experiments ;
but, from some cause, probably unknown to the Count at
the time, he arrived at such conclusions, that subsequent
inquiry has rendered useless for authority. Euler, the
 INVESTIGATION TO SUPERSEDE gunpOWDER. 41

great mathematician investigated Robins's theories, and dis-

covered some errors which were corrected. Then came Dr.
Hutton and others, and the deduction from their joint
labours is, that the absolute value of the force of gunpowder
has not yet been determined, though sufficient has been
obtained for almost all practical purposes in the art of war.
This subject is mentioned in this way to inform the
reader, that while the scientific mechanic is taxing his brains
and energies to improve the weapon and the shot, the intel-
lects of the most eminent philosophers of their age have been
equally absorbed in ascertaining the secrets of the destruc-
tive power. It has been generally considered that the pres-
sure of gunpowder is something like from eleven to thirteen
tons to the square inch at the moment of explosion. I
cannot dismiss this part of the subject, in connexion with
the propulsive power of projectiles, without making some
mention of other means that were intended to supersede
gunpowder, especially gun cotton.

INVESTIGATION BY FOREIGN CHEMISTS TO SUPER-

SEDE GUNPOWDER - EXPLOSIONS AND FAILURES IN
FRANCE.

In 1699, a chemist named Bouldoc, in France, discovered

an explosive composition of such a powerful and practicable
character, that, it is said , so frightened him, that he carried
the secret to his grave. At a later period , the Memoirs ofthe
French Academy of Sciences mention, from 1712 to 1714 , a
similar discovery, which was to aid the wars of Louis the
XIV; and, again in 1774 , Bayen, another Frenchman, shows
something more in advance for the interval of the sixty-two
years. But, Bayen bore a high scientific reputation ; and
was, moreover, a great chemical authority, being the chief
pharmaceutical officer of the French armies. He directed
42 INVESTIGATION TO SUPERSEDE GUNPOWDER.

his investigations principally to the analysis and composites

of the fulminate of mercury, of which he may be said to
have been the discoverer.
Several of his countrymen laid claim to the honour, and
the mercurial preparation was finally reduced to a practical
formula by Howard, an Englishman , about the beginning
of the present or immediately at the close of the last century.
Others, in their endeavours to simplify the manufacture
of gunpowder, have come upon some strange explosive com-
binations, among those who have done so may be named
Berthollet. He wanted sub-chlorate of potasse for salt-
petre in the manufacture of gunpowder. He tried its
mixture with sulphur, with charcoal, and with phosphorus,
and in each case found that he could easily explode it by
the blow of a hammer.
Furthermore, all the ingredients where whisked round
in a mortar by the pestle, and they gave out a succession of
cracks, like small detonating caps, accompanied by crimson
and violet flames. From this he went on until he obtained
a production three times the explosive strength of gun-
powder, and at last the Government manufactory, at
Essoune, was placed at his disposal ; a terrific explosion,
however, that became a public calamity, destroyed the
whole establishment, and a number of lives. Berthollet,
himself, escaping by the merest accident.
This suspended operations for several years. M. Letort,
the Director of the Manufactory- an enthusiast in the
success of the new agent-was, unfortunately, with his
daughter, among the killed .
In the meantime, the great and devastating wars of the
French Republic had assumed all their terrible proportions,
and the nation, finding itself branded as a public enemy of
Europe, revived the hope that it could yet call in to its aid
the destructive agency of Berthollet's discovery. So the
authorities once more set him to work. Every possible
 DANGERS OF EXPERIMENTAL CHEMISTRY 43

precaution that foresight or prudence could suggest was

taken, yet, all was useless, for a second explosion again laid
the buildings in ashes, and with them all idea of superseding
gunpowder at that day. There could be no doubt of the
tremendous power of the composition, but the fatality
attending its preparation was sure to cause its abandon-
ment.

DANGERS OF EXPERIMENTAL CHEMISTRY. - ROUELLE'S

ABSENCE OF MIND CLIMAX- BURNING LIQUID
FOR NAVAL ACTIONS.

The manufacture of explosive agents, must ever of

necessity be attended by so much danger, that the most con-
stant watchfulness is always necessary ; though, to see the
chemist in his laboratory, with his sleeping spirits of
destruction bottled around him, only awaiting a mistaken, or
a careless touch, to awake and shiver everything to atoms,
one would think that they were spirits of another stamp
altogether. And, here, I will mention an anecdote of the
coolness with which men of science often pursue their fear-
ful experiments .
It is related of Rouelle, the celebrated French analysist
of the middle of the last century, that he was one of the most
absent-minded men of his day, and that this absence of
mind was never so conspicuous as when he was demon-
strating the properties of his dangerous compounds. Now,
when it is considered that of all qualifications for such work,
presence of mind, including the greatest caution, is, beyond
all question, the first, the reader may judge how easy and
comfortable must have been the feelings of the Professor's
pupils when he was dilating on the fearful power possessed
by some newly-discovered composition.
He generally had his brother and nephew, very clever
gentlemen, to assist him, and who always prevented his mental
44 DANGERS OF EXPERIMENTAL CHEMISTRY.

aberration producing disagreeable consequences . However,

as the prince of mischief would have it, both brother and
nephew were absent one day, and he was, as a matter of
course, left to himself, " free as air. " He was, as usual ,
among the " explosives," and was demonstrating before a
large class.
" You see, gentlemen, this cauldron on the furnace ?
Well, if I discontinue stirring it for a single moment, an ex-
plosion would take place that would blow us all into the air.”
And so he stirred away for a few seconds ; but a new
thought being born in the Professor's teeming brain, he
suddenly raised the hand he was stirring with to welcome the
little stranger to life , when, in another moment, “ bang "
went the contents of the cauldron , smash went the windows,
and some two hundred people found themselves " anyhow
and everywhere," several having been blown through the
windows of the lecture room.

There was the theory of science and its application to

practice with a vengeance ! Fortunately, no one was seri-
ously injured, which is attributed to the fact of the furnace
chimney being unusually large to carry off the vapours of
the various materials used, and the great force of the
explosion consequently passed up, whirling the learned
gentleman's wig along with it.
During the intended invasion of England he offered to
the First Napoleon a liquid that would burn either on or
under the water, but it is extremely singular that he never
wrote anything. The reason given is that he was fearfully
frightened of the discovery of his secrets.It is as a modern.
French writer expresses it :-" By a strange fatality for the
name and scientific repute of the eccentric but gifted Rouelle ,
at a period when the literature of France beamed with
intellectual light upon the whole of Europe, he, Rouelle,
the father so to say of chemical science in that country,
never put pen to paper. "
 GUN COTTOn reduceD TO PRACTICAL PURPOSES. 45

GUN COTTON REDUCED TO PRACTICAL PURPOSES .

OTHER VEGETABLE EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCES - NEW
INVESTIGATIONS IN ENGLAND AND FRAnce.

As the compositions already mentioned were , on account

of their dangerous manipulation, excluded from the la-
boratory of war, chemical attention was directed into other
fields, and the next seemingly practicable substance that
we hear of is gun cotton. The more sanguine made sure
that the problem was solved at last, and that gunpowder
might retire to the unseen silent world with javelins, cross-
bows, match-locks, and old flints. Here was a substance
that could be easily and safely prepared, economical in
price, and from six to eight times as powerful as " the
villainous saltpetre " it was about to supplant !
M. 》་ Braconnot, another French chemist, residing at
Nancy, discovered , during his experiments with starch, that
some of the chemical acids would produce an explosive com-
pound in combination with it. Nothing worth notice was how-
ever done in the matter, until 1838 , when M. Pelouze, another
chemist of reputation, followed up the investigations of
Braconnot, and, passing through the arcana of that gen-
tleman's discoveries, found that the same fulminating
properties could be imparted to a variety of simple vegetable
tissues, such as linen, paper, and cotton.
But, strange to say, like the men of the time who never
thought of adapting the theory of Newton about the form
of least resistance to fluid, to projectiles, which will be found
further on, M. Braconnot never for one moment dreamt of ap-

plying his discovery to fire-arms : that was reserved for Pro-

fessor Schönbein , ofthe University of Basle, in Germany, and
its introduction to the public as an agent of military force at
the time referred to, will be within the recollection of many
of my readers.
Since that period it has been considerably improved
46 GUN COTTON REDUCED TO PRACTICAL PURPOSES.

upon ; various Boards of Artillery of Continental Europe

have " sat " upon it, but it is still in the preliminary
stage of admission to the different armies. It fouls very
little, projects strongly, and produces an inappreciable
quantity of smoke. Perhaps the latter quality—the absence
of smoke- is the reason why it has not been adopted, for a
battle without smoke would rob an action of all impetus to
daring and excitement. Should it come into military service
either in conjunction with, or in the place of, gunpowder,
we need have no fear of being in any way shot by it,
during the life-time of this generation.
Though, whilst I write in this present month of March,
I read in the newspapers that a Board of Officers have
commenced their experiments at Woolwich. Their ob-

ject will be to test gun cotton in every known way, both

with large and small arms, with a view of ascertaining,
whether or not, it can be introduced into the service. I
have not as yet heard what progress they have made, or
what success they have had ; but, let us hope that they will
not set an inconsiderate, prejudicial example to those below
them in the world by showing themselves in a hurry.
His Imperial Majesty of France , also having heard of
the great advantages to be derived from a new and much
improved preparation of gun cotton, the production of
Baron Lenck of Wolfsberg, has that learned personage now
in Paris to communicate the whole of the modus operandi
to the Emperor. We read in the French correspondence
of the London papers that His Majesty is so well pleased
with the invention, which promises to produce a great
change in Artillery practice, that he not only expresses his
great satisfaction to the Baron, but further conferred on
him the cross of Commander of the Legion of Honour, and
presented to him a snuff-box set with diamonds and bearing
the Imperial cypher.
Now, when it is considered that the Emperor of the
 SLOW, BUT SURE. 47

French is himself an Artillery Officer of considerable- not

to say great, ability—the information given above looks
rather portentous, indeed, we may again be on the eve of
another great revolution in the agencies of projectile warfare.
Our war-office authoritics are far too cautious to
trouble us with a new invention in war, upon the mere
proof of its goodness by the general public, until years
after every Battalion on the Continent has had it. It
was so with the percussion gun taking the place of the
old flint lock, the new rifle for the old Brown Bess, and,
as the auctioneers say, 66 many other things too numerous
to mention. "

SLOW, BUT SURE.

I once heard a story of an old Dutch farmer, one

of the true Washington Irving, Knickerbocker School,
who lived a considerable distance from New York. The
railway had been recently opened to a station close to him,
and ran by the end of his farm. He had never been many
times "to town," and when he had gone it was generally
the " fall " of the year, his mode of conveyance being his
own waggon and a pair of strong, patient, sturdy bullocks ,
whose pace was " slow, but sure." Mynheer had not much
" change " left out of a fortnight when he had finished his
New York journey, and rolled silently into his own farm
yard again.
His neighbours used the rail and tried to prevail on him
to do the same, but he steadily refused for a long time ; at last
he rather sulkily consented. When they started in the morn-
ing, went to New York, and returned the following evening,
after transacting their business, he would'nt believe that they
had been more than twenty miles away, and were simply
hoaxing him. As they told him what they had seen and
done, he would " puff, puff " away at his long Amsterdam
48 INVENTION OF THE PERCUSSION CAP.

pipe, until speaker and hearer would be enshrouded in

smoke ; then another tremendous " swig " at the oft emptied
but inexhaustible beer jug, to keep down the flames that
were ready to kindle inside, and , shaking his bristles like
an old boar being imposed upon, he " woulds sees them alls
ats the bottoms of thes rolling Zuyder Zee,' befores he
woulds swallows suchs t-ds nonsenses."
However, as time is the soother of all troubles, the
Dutchman's incredulity didn't escape ; he was at length seen
in the train moving away to New York, his faithful bullocks
ready yoked to the waggon, standing by the station and
" mooh-ing " him off, lest he should alter his mind at the last
moment. He returned home safe the following evening, and
it was thought the cure was complete. Alas, his friends had
" reckoned without their host," he was not " one in " with
them, as they imagined. On being applied to for his company
on the same journey again, he very indignantly replied
" Naa, naa, no mores ; I hads only two days's ridths on
thes railways fors my moneys, vens I cans have tens days in
mys own vaggons fors very littel mores, vich is much longer
rides. Naa, naa, de bullackses, de bullackses, for mees."

Is it too much to imagine that the Dutchman's type is to

be found much nearer Whitehall than many people are disposed
to believe ? The " slow " in certain quarters can be easily
vouched for, whilst the " sure " may be left an open question.

INVENTION OF THE PERCUSSION CAP.

It would hardly be logical if, in speaking of explosive

compounds as applied to weapons, I should omit mention of
the percussion cap. With the generality of the public the
percussion plan of exploding charges is supposed to have
been discovered only within the last five and twenty years.
 FURTHER EXPERIMENTS. 49

Some little surprise is pardonable when I tell my readers

that the application of the first percussion mechanism to
guns dates as far back as 1807.
We owe it to the French, for a celebrated gunmaker
of Paris, whose talent and workmanship procured him the
distinguished friendship of the great Napoleon, invented
and constructed the earliest contrivance for superseding
the flint and priming pan. M. Lepage, for that was
his name, was an honour to his craft. He first used the

fulminating composition as a primer, loose in a small hollow,

upon which a punch headed hammer fell and exploded it.
Shortly afterwards the late Rev. Mr. Forsyth improved
upon this mode, without departing from the principle ; it
is curious now, as nearly presenting the appearance of the
lock and nipple of the present day, with a small flat metal
box attached to it.

The part that represented the nipple was fixed to the

lock-plate, and moved round on a pin or small roller, it had
a kind of magazine in it to hold the detonating powder, and
from the top rose a small punch pin. On moving the hammer
back to cock, the priming nipple was moved also , but
separately by the hand, by which means a few grains of
the priming passed through a small hole in the roller, and
under the punch. When the hammer went down it struck
the upper end of the punch, as the nipple is now struck,
whilst the other end, as a matter of course, struck the
detonating powder, and produced a flame that ignited the
charge by a touchhole.

FURTHER EXPERIMENTS.

This method was thought very ingenious at the time, in

fact, so ingenious that it was honoured by a drawing and
notes of explanation in a work of standard authority upon
practical science. Sometimes, however, the whole of the
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50 EXPERIMENTS FOR ACCIDENTS.

priming charges in the little magazine box exploded at once,

and sometimes more often than agreeable—there would be
no explosion at all through damp getting in.
We smile now, as we read, especially when we have
come to the conclusion that the nipple is doomed , and that
" capping " itself will be altogether swept away by the
central-fire system, before many years have passed. The
fulminating powder in its naked form was found to have
many disadvantages ; varnishing it to protect it from
moisture was tried by Prelat, of Paris, in 1818 , but he
soon discovered that this expedient was of little use.
A new preparation of fulminate of mercury was dis-
covered by the Hon. Mr. Howard, who reversed the mode
of mixing the ingredients, increased the power and cer-
tainty, and removed the previous dangers of preparation.
One experiment led to another, and one idea led to
another, until the copper cap made its appearance. This
again we owe to a Frenchman, as Deboubert, of Paris,
and another gentleman named Blanchard established the
nipple plan of the present time.

THE MODERN SYSTEM. -EXPERIMENTS FOR ACCIDENTS.

SAFETY ESTABLISHED .

In 1831 the Board of Ordnance, approving of Dr.

Ure's experiments in gunpowder, requested him to make
such researches as would enable the authorities to introduce

the percussion system into the army. It was found that

the quantity of gunpowder ignited by a percussion cap was
8 to that of 10 ignited by the flint, to produce the same
projectile force. To this saving was to be added that of
priming the pan of the flint lock, and the advantages were
self- evident.
Then the safety of the caps for military purposes had
next to be considered. Upon this point Mr. Lovell, late
 FIRST INTRODUCTION INTO MILITARY SERVICE. 51

of the Royal Arms Factory , Enfield, set about ascertaining

what liberties could be taken with them.
Here again some singular results were shown. Some
of the composition for the caps was exploded in various
ways, covered over with and surrounded by gunpowder,
without exploding the latter, although blowing it away
in all directions; had the explosion taken place through the
nipple into the breech of a gun, it would have been a very
different affair.
A tin box containing 500 caps had a hole made in the
top , and one of the caps was exploded by a hammer and
punch through the hole, when only two others went off,
although the explosion took place inside the box, the re-
mainder were discoloured . This experiment was re-

peatedly tried, but never more than three or four caps

fired. A steel hammer was next made red hot, and plunged
into the box, right among the caps, but it only flashed those
where the iron actually touched the fulminate composition.
A few grains of gunpowder were next introduced into the
box and ignited, when the flame of the latter blew off every
cap instantly.
The same experiments have been gone through at
Woolwich with similar results, large quantities of caps
-several thousands- have been fired into with bullets
from fire-arms, when it has been found that only those
actually hit by the shot have exploded . These experiments
were, therefore, considered conclusive with respect to the
portable safety of percussion caps.

FIRST INTRODUCTION INTO MILITARY SERVICE.

The first government that adopted the percussion cap

for the use of the army was that of Austria. A man
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52 RESISTANCE TO FLYING SHOT.

named Console, in the Arsenal of Milan, discovered the

mode of making and charging the caps in one uniform
style for soldier's weapons. Experiment succeeded experi-
ment, and in 1840 the cap had entered the army. France
followed in 1842, and Great Britain in 1843.
Thus it will be seen that it took thirty-six years from
the first practical application of the principle before it
was handed over to the use of the soldier ; an entire genera-
tion had passed away in that time.
The reason why I have taken so much time to explain
these matters is that I mean this little pamphlet to be some-
thing more than a mere descriptive Trade Circular ; to give
points of information in connexion with fire-arms that may
be deemed useful and interesting at a distance.
After the explosive forces being ascertained, we are
next directed to their control and application to fire-arms,
the resistance which the projectile has to overcome in its
flight, such resistance acting against the propelling force.
This naturally brings us to the laws of motion, a course
which the reader will see bears directly upon the nature of
the weapon to be used.

RESISTANCE TO FLYING SHOT- CAUSES-

SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

Here again, let us pass by the purely scientific phase,

and say that a ball in motion has, the instant it leaves
the muzzle of the gun, to contend against or more cor-
rectly speaking is acted upon by the resistance of the
air, the action of the wind, if any, over its path, and the
attraction of the earth. If it were not for these forces,
the scientific men say that a shot fired from a gun would
travel on for ever, as the opposite of the same law of
motion, that a shot in a state of rest in the barrel of a
 RESISTANCE TO FLYING SHOT. 53

gun would never move unless something set it going.

We need not stop to argue these points, because any gen-
tlemen having a rifle may try the last-named experiment any
day he chooses, whilst with respect to the first, it will be
far easier to take the philosopher's word, than to set about
the proof for one self.

From what has been already stated , the reader will

have no difficulty in understanding that the gun and shot
that overcome those resistances in the amplest manner
must be the best gun. It is perfectly understood by all
gentlemen conversant with a few of the leading prin-
ciples of gunnery, that the moment a bullet leaves the
muzzle of the gun, it begins to diverge from the line of aim
and travel on the path of a curved line, which is known to
us by the name of the Trajectory. Now the great object is
to obtain a gun that shall give a low trajectory, and a bullet
that suffers the least resistance in its course through the
atmosphere.

These are the two important points that govern the

construction of all rifle systems, and to this purpose all
experiments and inventions are directed. The same law
of fluid resistance affects ships at sea in their build and
rates of speed ; the atmosphere is also a fluid, but of a
more rarified nature.

Sir Isaac Newton did not permit many subjects in

the physical sciences to escape his investigation, and
amongst those he examined is to be included the form of
a solid body that should meet with the least resistance
in passing through a fluid ; that form he found to be cylin-
dro-conoidal. Is it not, therefore , really surprising that
with such information, coming from the greatest philo-
sophical genius in the world in his day, the artillerists of
the time should have left the practical application of this
truth entirely to the consideration of the ship builder ?
54 JACOB'S EXPERIMENTS SUCCESSFUL .

JACOB'S EXPERIMENTS SUCCESSFUL.-REJECTION BY

THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT.

It was in 1853, that the late General Jacob matured

his experiments in the improvement of the rifle, and com-
menced what had the character of a series of official trials
upon this very interesting question. He was at that time
a Lieut.-colonel in the Scinde Horse-afterwards called

Jacob's Horse-in Upper Scinde . He bore all the expense

himself, and reported the progress of his labours from time
to time to the Bombay Government. The results seemed
so astonishing that in April, 1856 , the Commander-in-chief
of the Presidency, with all the military authorities, saw on
the practice ground at Bombay, performances with a rifle
such as they had never before witnessed.
But we must go back some years. The incurable

trouble of getting the old belted ball down the two-

grooved barrel was what General Jacob at first endea-
voured to find. What was wanted was more easy load-
ing, and from that sprung other ideas. He had a rifle
made with four grooves instead of two, and also a double-
belted ball. The practice was beyond his expectations ;
even with a loosely fitting bullet he obtained a range and
accuracy that had far surpassed anything then ascertained.
He now felt that he was really in a position to do good
service to the country , by the discovery of a weapon and
missile that would double , or treble the value of every
soldier in the service .
Accordingly, in 1846 , the year following, he submitted
his proposition to the Government of India. The reply
was worthy the officials, whom a wealthy, intelligent nation
like ours 66 occasionally deputes to manage its affairs.
The weapon was proved as to its quality beyond all ques-
tion, but, to increase the power of the English army in
 JACOB'S EXPERIMENTS SUCCESSFUL. 55

India by its use was another affair altogether—a horse of

quite a different colour, It was consequently rejected ;
and upon what grounds, the reader will ask ? Oh ! the
answer was quite in keeping with the reverential transitions
of the Gog-Magog idols of Routine and Red Tape. The
old Brunswick rifle had been a long time in use, and as
the royal army had it, " what was good enough for the royal
army was good enough for that of the Hon. East India
Company " ! There was reasoning.
If military men, with advanced ideas of progress in
military weapons, could not understand its clearness and
force, that was no fault of the Indian War Office authorities
of the day ; for, surely it is not to be expected that they
were bound to find their subordinates in the requisite amount
of brains to understand the " good enough " part of the
decision.

However, JACOB, although " repulsed," was far from

beaten. He went on with his experiments, but altered the
form of the bullet into the conical or pear-shaped, some-
thing like the American " picket,” but on the broadest part
of the base he cast four square projections to match with
the grooves of the rifle. The practice with these bullets
opened a new discovery upon him ; namely the value of the
conical form for shot. From this he went to a cylindro-
conical shot with an iron cap, but was not satisfied with
the practice. A number of various kinds were tried, when
the " picket " was finally put on one side, and the projectile
took its stand upon true scientific principles. The annexed
illustration on page 60 will explain this.
This shape was only arrived at after experiments to the
number of hundreds of thousands had been made with every
possible form of projectile that imagination could reduce to
practice. The steady bearing which the projecting lands
along the cylindrical part of the bullet give to its flight is
unrivalled. These four small lands, lying length ways, fit
56 JACOB'S EXPERIMENTS SUCCESSFUL.

so accurately into the grooves of the rifle that on emerging

from the muzzle they act as wings, or the feathers of an
arrow, and enable the projectile to maintain an almost un-
dimished velocity, even beyond 1,200 yards.
I have considerably improved this bullet, by doubling
the length of the cylindrical part, casting cannelures, or a
screw thread, upon it, the groove lands lying over these at
an inclination coincident with the turn of the rifling. The
prolongation of the bullet, therefore, is now to two diam-
eters, instead of one and a half as formerly, whilst the coni-
cal portion is now only half a diameter instead of one and
a half.
The value of the change is, that the centre of gravity
is nearer the centre of length, but still behind it, and
the shot will, consequently, always keep its point to the line
of the trajectory, instead of having a tendency to droop at
the base, and present its side to the course of flight at a
low velocity. Another advantage is, that when a lubricat-
ing composition is used, the cannelure spaces retain such a
quantity that it is sufficient to effectually clean out the
barrel from the fouling of the previous shot. The illus-
tration to this page gives a full-sized figure of this bullet.
In addition to the bullet, there is the " Jacob Rifle
Shell." This shell consists of a detonating copper tube of
the length of two diameters of the bullet, fitting into the
leaden shell ; it is filled with gunpowder, and explodes by
percussion on the point striking any object. The shell as
charged, and the tube by itself, are shown full size in
the engraving. This shell was also exhibited to the Indian
Government in 1856, and an official report was made, which
stated : -

" That at ranges from 300 to 1,200 yards, the flight of

the shell was always point foremost, and the elevation at
the extreme range inconsiderable. The shells which struck
the butt invariably burst with full effect ; and practice was
JACOB'S RIFLE BULLETS, SHELL, RIFLE BORE, &c.
See page 56.
FIG . 1 FIG . 2

FIG . 3 FIG . 4 FIG . 5

FIG . 6 FIG . 7

Seepage 64.
Fig. 1. Jacob Rifle Bullet.
Fig. 2. Jacob Rifle bore.
Fig. 3. Do. do. with cannelures.
Fig. 4. Jacob Rifle Shell.
Fig. 5. Copper tube out of Shell containing bursting charge.
Fig. 6. Appearance of Bullet after striking an iron target.
Fig. 7. Ditto. Shell ditto.
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made by the many officers who attended, at distances which

could not have been attained with any other missile."
In muzzle-loading with these shells, the ramrod has a
hollow to receive the top of the copper percussion tube, so
as to prevent undue pressure upon it, the force of the ramrod
being borne by the shoulder of the leaden cone of the shell
itself. The fulminate is placed in the pointed part of
the tube, the remainder being filled with fine gunpowder,
which is then closed up and secured from damp by thick
varnish .

So far so good. But in order to deprive the " Report"

of any value to the public service, some sapient intellect of
the committee, with a " marvellous " knowledge of the
subject, the result of most inexplicable understanding,
succeeded in attaching a paragraph like this :-
" That rifle shells and bullets of the form recommended
by Lieutenant- Colonel Jacob be brought under the special
attention of the Home Authorities , for they can be equally
well adapted to the Enfield-Pritchett rifle now being intro-
duced generally into the Royal Army ” ( ! )— And this, too, in
the face of a declaration by General Jacob himself, that
"these missiles cannot be used effectively from a long
thin piece like the Enfield rifle ;" and, again, " a short,
stout barrel is essentially necessary for accurate distant
practice. "
The General knew that the thinness of the Enfield
barrel makes it vibrate like a bell in its long range practice
—such long range as it is—and , therefore, he was specially
guarded and emphatic in what he said .
Manufacturers and other people who are not versed
in such matters often wonder, when they read a report like
the above, what can be the official meaning of such official
language. The everyday common sense meaning can be
easily got at. I suppose it is the old story over again— that
one man can't possibly know everything.
58 TREATMENT OF INVENTIONS

However, the Jacob rifle was politely bowed out of

Bombay, and sent to recover its temper among the cooler
breezes of Upper Scinde, and to astonish the native tribes
of that somewhat troublesome region.

TREATMENT OF INVENTIONS BY " THE AUTHORITIES ,"

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE .

Another invention of a very important kind in relation

to maritime chronometry was, after a great deal of bandy-
ing about, quietly knocked on the head, after its excellence
had been ascertained , for the simple reason that the inven-
tor had no high official influence.
Volumes of this description might be written. Look
at Trotman's anchor, Coles's cupola ship, and, in addition
to all, look at Blakely's cannon. He can make artillery
guns for every government in the world but his own !
This is the experience of only yesterday, and the
talented mechanician having devised and made an economi-
cal and perfect machine for the purpose, was obliged to
submit to a commercial failure, and seek for patronage where
so many clever men have sought before, namely in the wise
appreciation of foreign governments.
I once called at the War Office to see a gentleman
connected with gunnery, and to speak to him upon the
Jacob rifle. He asked about the book of experiments
which had been published by General Jacob, candidly con-
fessing that he knew very little of the subject. This
sounded somewhat strange to me ; for, curious to relate,
this very gentleman happened to be invested with sufficient
power, and clothed with sufficient authority to render his
official judgment on the rifle question a matter of some
importance to people like myself. Many other instances of
a similar character might be related if it were necessary.
 BY 66 THE AUTHORITIES." 59

With his new improvements, Jacob found that all his

previous practice, good as it was, had been immeasurably
surpassed with the additional advantage of only requiring
half the quantity of powder. Then rose the fame of the
percussion rifle shell, " the most formidable missile ever
invented by man, " which seemed to settle the power of
the new discovery for some years. In common with General
Cavalli , in Italy, Jacob wanted to apply the new projectile
to Artillery. He did not know that he, as well as Norton,
were of the few-- the neglected few- who had been born
before their time. Norton still lives an example of official
heartlessness and neglect.
Still, the determined Jacob persevered until he found
that his bullets were effective up to 2,000 yards range, with
a penetration of four inches in hard sun-burnt Indian brick,
nearly like stone ; and almost twelve inches at 1,000 yards.
He now saw, beyond all question, that he had obtained both
the scientific and the practical data for a first class military
arm . In 1854, he submitted his weapon again, but with
no better result ; until, at last, private enterprise had to
step in to make the Jacob- rifle known beyond the confines
of the Anglo-Indian soldier.
From the lines in front of the Scinde Irregular Horse,
Jacob erected his targets and expended gunpowder and lead
by the ton, as if he was an independent Rajah, working out
with his own hand and by his own means, the best mode
of arming his troops.
The precision which the Jacob rifle reached, swept
away for ever the almost magic impunity with which
artillery could operate in the field . He erected a target
50 feet by 40 feet, at a range of 2,000 yards, on the 13th
of July, 1858, and with a double rifle of my manufacture
he made 13 hits, and 1 bull's eye , out of 14 shots.
No other weapon had ever before, nor have I heard
that any has since equalled such a performance. Why,
 60 TREATMENT OF INVENTIONS

the size of the target at such an immense distance, a mile

and one-seventh, would only appear to the eye about a
quarter of an inch square. The rifle was 32 gauge ; weight
of barrels, 8 pounds ; charge of powder, 24 drachms ; weight
of bullet, 575 grains. Wind from the rear-right of the
shooter.
Subjoined is a diagram of the target alluded to with
the shots upon it.

Let us suppose that either cavalry or artillery were

being massed in force, or that guns were feeling a position,
how long could field batteries work in the face of such
tremendous weapons ? Depend upon it . that rifle infantry
were never held in such respect at a distance as they are
now . Whilst upon this part of the subject we may as well
revert to the rifle shells, and state what has been done with
them .
As far back as October, 1856 , I received a letter
from an officer of the 9th Lancers, then stationed at Kur-
rachee, containing the following sentences :-

" After repeated trials with Lieutenant- Colonel Jacob, with every
description of rifle by nearly all the London and other makers, your
* *
rifles have given the greatest satisfaction. Our late
experiments here have been very successful, and the blowing up of 55lbs .
of powder at 1,800 yards, and ammunition boxes at 1,200 yards, was
• done with your small 32 rifle."

Blowing up ammunition boxes at 1,200 yards ! What a

happy chance for artillerymen serving guns, covered at this
distance by such rifles !
Before I give any more examples of the performances
of this rifle, I will here introduce a short description of it.
and in doing so, my endeavour will be to make it as clear as
possible. The illustration shown here represents the rifle
in its ordinary appearance, with the sight up for long range
practice.
The pattern rifle recommended by General Jacob him-
 THE TARGET.

Each square represents ten feet.

GENERAL JACOB'S TARGET,

40 feet high, 50 feet broad, `2,000 yards. Indian brick.- See page 60.
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self is a double-barrel, of 32 gauge, four grooves , DEEP, and

a breadth equal to the lands, with four-fifths of a turn in
the length of the barrel. The barrels are the best that can
be made, 24 inches long , and weighing—for very long range
-not less than six pounds. There is a patent breech, no
side vents, and, in a muzzle loader, there are four steel
points inside, near the breech, for the purpose of tearing the
cartridge open when rammed down whole. The rifling is
four-fifths of a turn for the length of the barrel, or one
complete spiral in thirty inches.
The General stated that which will take some readers
by surprise, namely, that he found the double-barrelled rifle
shoot better than the single one, and in consequence of that
opinion, double rifles are more frequently ordered - especi-
ally for Indian and Colonial use-than single ones. This
may arise from the fact that the union of two barrels on the
same stock may produce a mutual supporting power to resist
the force of the concussion at the moment of explosion ,
greater than what a single barrel can have under the same
circumstances.
Such is the formidable DAW-JACOB RIFLE. It has
the patent breech loading central-fire action attached to it,
and it is in a position to question the claims of any rival
whatever. This is not said either as a boast, or to depre-
ciate the productions of other inventors, excellent as so
many of them are, but to show that the confidence which
has been so long reposed in this unfailing weapon has cause
for satisfaction, and that the result of five and twenty years
scientific and practical application by the able and lamented
officer whose name it bears, retains it still in the foremost
position of rifled arms, notwithstanding the newest and most
elaborate inventions of the day.
The effect of these shells bursting in timber, or any
combustible material, is terrific, and General Jacob himself
often declared " that two good riflemen armed with them
62 TREATMENT OF INVENTIONS

could annihilate the best field battery now existing, in ten

minutes ." And , furthermore , that " the army which should
first secure the adoption of these missiles, would obtain as
great an advantage as the exclusive possession of fire-arms
would have secured a century ago." One result at least is
certain, they would tend to render all field artillery to a
great extent useless.
In that admirable little work The Rifle, and How to Use
it, Mr. Hans Busk, the able author, says--" Should anyone
be desirous of experimenting with such formidable missiles ,
it may be advisable to state that a 32-gauge rifle ( 529 of an
inch in diameter, that of the shell being ⚫524) will suffice for
any purpose. A correct range of more than a mile can be
obtained with one of these shells propelled by two drachms
of powder. I may also add that Mr. Daw, (57, Thread-
needle Street), the manufacturer of the Jacobite Rifle,
supplies the tubes, the moulds for shot and shell, and , in
short, all the material required."
In order to have as perfect a mould for the casting both
of the shot and shell as was obtainable, I tried a number of
plans, and at last was successful to satisfaction. A practical
authority on the subject says " Mr. Daw contributed by
far the best mould that has yet been produced ; it is extremely
simple, and the bullets turned out from it are almost as per-
fect as those formed by compression ." When I tell my
readers that the machinery to make by compression can only
be used, on account of its great working expense , by govern-
ment establishments, they will, I think agree with me that
the above-quoted testimony is very high indeed.
Annexed are two illustrations of my improved bullet
mould ; one is a front, and one a full view.
In the late Italian war of Independence, under Gari-
baldi, an officer of the Army, writing to Bell's Life in
London , says : -
" We also tried General Jacob's shells, and blew up a
DAW'S PATENT BULLET MOULD - Open and Closed .- See page 62.
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caisson of gunpowder in a most satisfactory manner. There

can be no doubt but that this arm is one of the most
formidable yet invented, whether for the Army or Navy, as
no battery of Field Artillery is safe from them at fifteen
hundred yards. I will send you the official report by the
next mail. "
In October, 1858 , the rifle was tried up at the Practice
Ground of the Royal Victoria Rifles. The range was 500
yards distance, and the target was only 72 by 24 inches.
Yet, notwithstanding that the wind was strong across the
range, out of 36 rounds fired, 32 were hits, 4 were bull's
eyes, 2 on the edge of the bull's eye, and about a dozen
clustered within six inches of it. The rifle was a 32-gauge,
barrel, 24 inches in length.
Speaking for myself in respect to the workmanlike
quality belonging to these weapons, I may be permitted to
quote from a letter which I received from the General in
acknowledging the arrival of some arms :-

" Jacobabad, 25th November, 1855 .

" I have duly received the Rifles and Revolvers advised

in your letter of 17th September last. Everything is very
good indeed. All arrived in perfect condition, and I am
more than satisfied with the manner in which you execute
the orders. " ( Signed) " John Jacob.”

Again, one of the Commissioners in Scinde says, in

another letter : -

" I am sure you will feel flattered when I tell you that
General Jacob has selected you in preference to any other
celebrated maker for these particular rifles."

Another officer, who then held the rank of Major in

the BOMBAY CAVALRY, thus writes of a gun I made for
him . " I have never seen so good a gun in my life, and I
64 TREATMENT OF INVENTIONS " BY THE AUTHORITIES.'

have shot with every good maker in England and Ireland

and even Scotland. Nothing can touch my gun. It is
greatly admired ."
I now conclude my remarks on the DAW JACOB rifle,
how it has sustained its reputation has been seen, and,
as a finale I will merely refer to the subjoined notices
in the Appendix , taken from the columns of the principal
London papers, and also letters, and extracts from letters
from various gentlemen, and then pass on to other matters.

APPEARANCe of Bullet and Shell AFTER FIRING.

Opposite this page are two illustrations showing the

appearance of the Jacob rifle bullet and the Jacob rifle
shell after being fired at an iron target. These specimens
are rather uncommon, because on account of the momentum
which the missiles obtain in the course of their flight they
are generally shattered to pieces immediately at the moment
after impact. On examining the flattened bullet the con-
tour of the base will be seen to have been preserved, and
even the point in the centre is discernible ; the elongated
shot has become a small " pancake" of lead.
With respect to the shell there is only a portion of it
preserved intact, the remainder having been blown away.
It will be seen that the copper tube that contained the
bursting charge has been completely flattened by the force
of the blow upon the target ; still it retains its central
position, having forced the lead away all round it.
The engravings of both these missiles will give an
excellent idea of the fearful devastation which can be pro-
duced by them, especially the shell when used in actual
warfare. Their recognition and acceptance in connection
with military purposes is only a question oftime ; their
qualities have been settled, non-officially, by officers of both
services long ago.
 OF
ENT FI
PAT CE

LIBR
ARY

B L
 THE DAW-RIFLE SIGHT.- See page 65.

FIG.I FIG.2
DAWS
PATENT NOT

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DAW'S
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DAW'S BAEWNET
PATENTNO- PAT NO
PATENT
DAW'S
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FIG
.4
2

TAY
A. LOR
 T
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LIBRARY

THE DAW - RIFLE SIGHT .

REQUIREMENTS-CHARACTER.

The great length of range which rifled arms of the

present day command, called, from time to time, for me-
chanical assistance to the eye, that should stand the wear of
actual service. Combined with this it was to be sufficiently
scientific and correct for its purpose to assist the vision, and
to enable the marksman to shoot with a greater degree of
accuracy than by any other means except the telescopic.
The Daw-Rifle Sight is the result of some attentive
labour and experiment, and embraces great simplicity with
the necessary scientific requirements. As it is raised , from
one range to another, it shuts out all the under light, as will
be seen on reference to the illustrations, and only permits
those rays to fall upon the eye that are of value to the
person shooting.

VALUE OF GOOD SIGHTS.

Every rifleman will acknowledge that however well

constructed a rifle may be, it is not equally complete with-
out a good sight. Upon the sights in their mathematical
co-incidence, front and back, depends that delicate precision
which is making us so famous in the estimation of Europe
as its crack shots,
F
66 THE MECHANICS' MAGAZINE.

I have seen many forms of Sights, and have tried them

all, but until I put this one to the test, I was compelled to ad-
mit a want in this respect. The one I have patented appears to
me to be everything that could be desired. Instead of looking
over the top of the sliding bar, the focus of the eye is con-
centrated on the aperture through which the object aimed
at can only be seen, and the vision is well protected and
guided in the act of aiming.
When it is considered that hardly any two men possess
the organs of vision in the same degree, the value of an
aperture sight will be at once apparent.

THE MECHANICS' MAGAZINE ON RIFLE SIGHTS.

The Mechanics' Magazine of February 19 , in introduc-

ing the new Daw-rifle sight to its readers, thus alludes to
the question of rifles and rifle sights :-" As arms of pre-
cision make their appearance, and assert their claims to
superiority, one after another, the skilled mechanician,
following in the pathway of practical science, is as busy
with his rules as the theorist is with his principles. There
was a time, at the beginning of the present generation , when
the Kentucky rifle, or the " long American" rifle , with the
heel hollowed out to fire from the arm, or the Swiss rifle, or
the Brunswick rifle, were thought supernatural weapons in
their day. We have got over all that now ; we can distance
all the world in rifles and rifle practice, and we are looking
out towards all points of the compass for " sights " to keep
up an equality with the rifles. Your 1,800 and 2,000 yards
range men want something more than the quarter or half
inch flap brazed on the breech , so " sight" inventors are
busy. The latest we have to introduce to our readers is the
one mentioned above. This sight is the invention of Mr.
 DESCRIPTION. 67

G. H. Daw, the well-known gunmaker, of Threadneedle-

street, City, and manufacturer of the celebrated Jacob rifle
and rifle shell. "

DESCRIPTION.

In order that a correct idea may be arrived at, I beg to

present the reader with four illustrations, of the actual size
of the instrument itself, from which its form may be as
readily understood as if it was on the table before him.
Fig. 1 is a front view, representing the sight raised on
the barrel and sighted for the long range practice ; a is a
space at the top, through which the marksman takes aim,
the only remaining portion of the slit that admits a view of
the object to be fired at. b is the sighting-bar, which slides
up or down to whatever range may be desired. c is a small
milled head screw that screws the bar tight to the side of
the index plate when the range is ascertained, so as to pre-
E
vent its being shaken from its place by the concussion of
the discharge. d is a pinion, having also a milled head.
This pinion works on the double rack e e, and moves the
sighting-bar up or down as may be wanted. ƒ ƒ is the
index plate of the sight upon which the different range
distances of the rifle are engraved ; down the centre of this
plate will be seen the longitudinal slit through which the
light is admitted . It is all darkened by the curtain g, except
the small long range space at the top, a, already mentioned.
Fig 2 is a side view, showing the curtain g in a slant-
ing position and attached to the back of the sighting bar by
a hinge b¹ the lower end being in the bed g g. The letters

b, c, d, e, and f, will apply the same as in fig. 1. g g is a

side view of the bed of the sight as it lies on the barrel of
the rifle ; and h shows the head of the hinge pin, upon
which the hinge of the index plate works. The bed g g is
only partially represented in its length in order to give
greater prominence to the view of the sighting part.
F 2
68 DESCRIPTION.

Fig. 3 shows the sight laid flat upon its bed, for hori-
zontal or short-range firing. In the centre, between bb, is
a gold line for that range. This line can be also cut as a
fine hair slit, or in the form of the usual v notch, as desired.
The same letters of reference will be understood here. h is
a front view of the hinge that the whole sight works upon.
On reference to the position of the back flap, or curtain g, it
will be readily understood that, as the sighting bar bis
raised by the pinion d and the rack e, the curtain must rise
with it. To effect this, and keep the curtain steady, it has
two studs , which terminate its lower end and project into
two small guiding grooves, cut on each side of the sight
bed. The bottom of this bed cannot be shown here,
but, along the centre of it is a flat steel spring lying
quite flush ; this spring is fastened at the back end of the
bed, whilst its loose part moves freely on the hinge of the
index plate, thereby imparting to it all the properties of a
spring hinge. This part of the sight is protected in front
by the front end of the bed , which front end also serves as
the back sight for short range.

It is very neat and compact in appearance, and lies

flatter on the barrel when down than any long range adjust-
ing rifle sight at present known, in fact it can hardly be
seen. When not in " work " it falls towards the muzzle ,
and adds very little to the ordinary appearance of the
barrel.

Fig. 4 is a three quarter back view, looking at the

sight, from the muzzle. The same letters of reference will
answer as in the other illustrations. The slope of the
curtain g will be more plainly seen and understood, on
comparison with the side view as shown in Fig. 2 .
With the desire of testing it as widely as possible I
will sanction its application to first-class rifles whenever
the request may be made to me.
 THE HANS-BUSK RIFLE . 69

SPECIAL SUPERIORITY.

It will thus be seen that nothing can exceed the sim-

plicity of such an arrangement. There is no part suffici-
ently delicate to have a fear about getting out of order ; no
plates on the Venetian-blind principle, sliding one behind
the other, with an uncomfortable liability to rust and foul,
and stick fast, perhaps, as is generally the case, at the critical
period when most wanted.
This rifle-sight will always recommend itself, for a
glance at the illustrations will satisfy any rifleman of its
strong, solid, durable, and correct mode of construction. I
can, therefore unhesitatingly recommend it to marksmen as
an important addition to their weapon, and another step on
the road towards the perfection of rifle shooting.

THE HANS-BUSK RIFLE.

ITS CHARACTER.
1

This rifle is a modification of the Jacob principle of

grooving, inasmuch as that it has four grooves with corres-
ponding projecting lands on the bullet to fit them.
It is the invention of Captain Hans Busk, so well
known to volunteer riflemen as the earliest advocate of the
rifle movement. He is also the author of two excellent
books on the subject- namely, The Rifle and how to use
it, and The Handbook for Hythe. He gives it the name of
THE PERFECT RIFLE, and states from a prolonged series
of trials that it has no rival among all the existing rifles
except the JACOB.
1
I have said that the Hans Busk Rifle is a modification
of the Jacob principle , so far as the grooving and the bullet
are concerned . With that portion of the grooves and lande
the similarity ends.
70 SHOOTING QUALITIES.

In this rifle the grooves are rounded off on one side to

the level of the " lands," the lands on the bullet being
moulded to fit in the same style. The ends of the shot are
acorn shaped, the front being in a trifling degree more
pointed than the base. The turn of the rifling is one com-
plete twist in twenty three inches. The form of the bullet
is peculiarly adapted to avoid friction, and carry power
in it.

It may be as well to state that it is equally adapted for

military or sporting purposes, or for match shooting. As I
am the sole manufacturer, and, as the cost of producing this
weapon is precisely that of the Jacob rifle, the purchaser
may thoroughly rely on the quality of the arm he orders
for himself.

SHOOTING QUALITIES. - CAPT. NORTON'S OPINION.

The following is the result of some trials with the

much lauded rifles of the day, and clearly shows what the
Busk rifle is capable of.
Its " penetration," as contrasted with the WHITWORTH
and the ENFIELD, stands as follows :-

CAPTAIN BUSK'S 14.41

WHITWORTH'S 13.50
ENFIELD 11.08

It has, furthermore, been proved to be a better weapon

than either the Whitworth, or the Enfield, as per under :-

5.12 per cent. superior to the WHITWORTH.

20.76 99 ENFIELD.
 IMPROVED PATENT REVOLVERS. 71

That gallant old veteran, Capt. Norton, than whom a

better judge, or a more thoroughly practical man does not
exist, thus speaks of both the Jacob and the Busk rifles :-

Hitherto, Field Artillery threw its shot and shell

over whatever swell of ground concealed masses of the
enemy's cavalry, infantry, or artillery, at distances of from
1,500 to 2,000 yards ; that duty can now be performed with
elongated rifle shot discharged from rifled muskets , such as
that of the late Colonel Jacob, or the improved rifle by
Captain Hans Busk, the trajectery being so great as to
cause the shot, shell, or spinster to fall among the concealed
masses of cavalry, infantry, or artillery ammunition waggons
and all.

J. NORTON. ”

The illustration on page 70 shows the form of the

bullet and the bore of the barrel.

IMPROVED PATENT REVOLVERS.

I now come to speak of an arm that has become so

popular as to render its possession an absolute necessity, for
every one who has to use fire-arms for self-protection,
either at home or abroad.

ANCIENT REVOLVERS .

Before I do so, however, I will just glance at the

question of revolving fire-arms.
On examining authorities I find that here, again , we
must go back to the early part of the 16th century.
When persons come over to this country, as foreigners
from another, having something to dispose of, unless they
are well guided, indeed , they oft-times manage to surround
72 FIRST ATTEMPTS.-- REVOLVING CHAMBERS.

themselves by parties whose exertions occasionally show

more zeal than discretion. This was particularly the case
when the revolver was revived in this country from
America.

AN OLD INVENTION.

It seems to have been utterly forgotten , or ignored

that the principle of such a weapon is nearly as old as the
European knowledge of the existence of America itself !
I have before me at this moment an engraving of a
five-shot revolver, of the beginning of the 16th century, in
which the rotating principle is the same as those of the
present day. It has only one lock and cock, but each
chamber has its separate little priming pan, which came
round exactly as the nipples and caps do now.

FIRST ATTEMPTS.

But the first attempts at revolving fire-arms were much

earlier still ; they were called " Turning guns." One barrel
was fixed above the other, and when a shot was fired from
the upper one, a turn of the hand placed it underneath ,
elevating the second. Then came four barrels, then six,
then any number. It was only a few weeks ago that I had
a twelve barrel revolving rifle in my hand , small bore.
In some of the earlier four-barrelled guns each barrel
had a lock and trigger to itself, but it was self- evident that
such a clumsy expedient would soon improve itself, and so
it did.

REVOLVING CHAMBERS .

The fixed single barrel and the revolving chambers , or

breeches, next arose, and the users of fire-arms hailed its
appearance with joy, because, whilst an addition of fire was
 FOREIGN REVIVAL THE CAUSE OF ITS SUCCESS. 73

obtained, the weight of the weapon was decreased to a

degree that was little anticipated. The extreme ponderosity
of a four-barrelled gun can only be realized by handling
one.

ANTIQUITY OF THE PRINCIPLE.

Several gentlemen, both in England and on the Conti-

nent, have many of those antique curiosities in their
cabinet museums. When, therefore, with such dates as
“ 1517 ,” “ 1632 ," " 1788," and downwards, engraved on
old revolvers , we may claim to be relieved from the pressure
of credibility attempted to be put upon us ; namely , that
we knew nothing of repeating fire-arms in this country
until some twenty-five or thirty years ago !

FOREIGN REVIVAL THE CAUSE OF ITS SUCCESS.

It is not at all unlikely but that the fact of the weapon

having been modernized by a person foreign to England,
was the principal cause of its success upon revival. Taking
that, probably, with the superior quality of gunpowder, and
other appliances into consideration, it may have exerted a
strong influence in that direction.
Had an Englishman made the attempt, it would not
have needed much of the prophetic spirit to have proclaimed
that he would have failed miserably, so far as the " Heads
""
of Departments were concerned, and have gone down to
his grave as poor Jacob did- unrequited, and almost
repudiated .
For those who are curious in these matters they could
not do better than obtain a copy of the Woolwich catalogue
of ancient fire-arms. Some wonderful descriptions will be
found therein. Both the English, French, and Belgian gun-
makers have been working at revolvers for the last fifty
years.
74 FORMER STYLE OF LOADING.

GREAT EXHIBITION, 1851. - AMERICAN SOCIAL LIFE.

When the first International Exhibition of 1851 was

held in Hyde Park there was a large display of revolving
arms. Hearing of the great mercantile success of that
weapon in America, the English trade were not slow to
follow in the wake. But, there was one thing in the social
life of America, which from its entire absence amongst
ourselves, we quite overlooked. That was, that the re-
volver is there considered as much a part of a gentleman's
walking, or visiting appointments, as a pair of gloves, a
cane, or a watch is, in this enslaved country of ours. The
"freest nation on earth " across the Atlantic are, at times,
so beset with " difficulties," that there seems no way out of
them except by the agency of a " six shooter.
That, again, on the revival of the repeating principle
would tend to make it popular, if not universal .
We have repeatedly here, in this country, been told
that their ladies too carried their pretty little ivory handled
pets in their fair bosoms, lest an " accident " might occur, for
such things will sometimes happen , even in the best regulated
familiés !

FORMER STYLE OF LOADING.

When the modern pattern came into use, the powder was
simply poured loose into each chamber, then the ball was
rammed and jammed down upon it, without any wadding,
and afterwards the piece was capped and ready for use.
Now, however, since the cartridge has come into such
extensive practice the old plan is very properly abandoned,
and, consequently the arm can now be loaded much more
safely and quickly.
 VALUE OF REVOLVERS. 75

VALUE OF REVOLVERS .

Of the value of revolving, or repeating arms for cases

of extreme emergency in close quarters, no one will for a
moment dispute. The American-Mexican war resolved
that problem beyond all further question, whilst the fullness
of it was brought home to ourselves during our struggle in
the Crimea and the subsequent mutinies of the native troops
in India.
I have supplied a large number, and the demand is by
no means on the decrease. If our cavalry were all armed

with these repeating pistols instead of the clumsy, almost

useless carbines, they would be able to give a better ac-
count of anything appearing suddenly in their front than
they can, by any possibility, do now.
Boarding ships in naval actions, I suppose we may look
upon as a thing of the past ; the days have certainly gone
by when the heaviest metal on board a 120-gun ship of the
British Navy was a 24-pounder. But sailors will still have
occasion to be out, prowling about in ships' boats ; they
ought to have revolvers, every man of them. Nobody, I
hope, will accuse me of treason when I say that the present
Naval pistol is a libel on the talents and intelligence of the
English gunmaker.
Probably they will have to wait until we get into a
war in some corner of Europe, or another, or to wrest the hand
ofthe " chivalrous, gentlemanly " Fillibuster from the throat
of Canada. We are not easily awoke in this country, and,
very likely , the gallant ancient Lieutenant who implored
the Admiralty the other day, to keep up the working staff
of the old semaphore (arm) telegraph all over the country,
lest the electric should turn lazy, or go on the sick list, was
a truer representative of one trait of our national character
than we are always willing to acknowledge.
76 THE DAW-REVOLVER.

THE DAW-REVOLVER.- ITS SERVICE - THE TIMES

CORRESPONDENT.

An illustration of this revolver is before the reader ;

it has five chambers, and the double action trigger. That
is that the trigger will both discharge the weapon and cock
it, or the cocking action may be left to lie dormant, and the
thumb used to lift the hammer in the ordinary way, if
preferred. On examining it, the strength and solidity of all
its parts for real hard service will be at once apparent.
With respect to arms of a special character for mo-
mentary use, there are few more captivating to the sight
of the amateur than a highly polished, light limbed " dandy'
looking revolver. The inexperienced will admire when
admiration can only show the absence of correct judgement,
for, frequently, the article they praise is merely intended
for a garden toy. But the man of experience who has had
often to rely for personal safety upon the enduring character
of his weapon, will shake his head and smile doubtfully
upon any filligree work that may be presented to him as so
much useless show.
The soldier, the seaman, the traveller, the emigrant,
the pioneer, nay, even the suburban dweller, or the denizen
of our rurul districts, feel none the less comfortable during
the twenty-four hours, in the knowledge that they have
something they can rely upon to protect them against the
lawless of mankind. Among the numerous patterns of re-
peating pistols, which have from time to time made their ap-
pearance, I have noticed points of weakness that should
not have been overlooked.
It must not be forgotten that pistols have never been
wanted for any other purposes than close quarters , i.e. , hand
to hand conflict.When it was required to attack or defend
with the greatest suddenness and rapidity possible, the
pistol was the weapon. Its improvement, then, in the
 E
T
A
P

DESCRIPTION 77

repeating form was an advantage which was not permitted to

become a dead letter.
Keeping this part of the subject well in view, I have
every reason to believe that I have produced a weapon,
combining all the good and desirable qualities of its class
to such an extent that I should be slow to credit the ex-
istence of a superior.It has seen hard, very hard service
on most of the battle fields of Europe, from those of the
Crimea down to the plains of Lombardy, not alone in
English, but in other armies of the continent. Nor must I
omit to mention the evidence that was borne to its invaluable
services during the terrible Indian mutinies.
Mr. W. H. Russell, the special campaign correspondent
of the Times, thus wrote about them :-
" Daw's Patent Revolvers have got into the hands of
some officers, who speak very highly of them."
As a matter of course testimony coming from such a
source will be accepted as of the most impeachable cha-
racter.
i

DESCRIPTION.- SAFETY & SURETY.

The Daw Revolver has a boss in front of the lock

action that rises hemispherically so as to completely cover
the nipples of the chamber cylinder with its flat side. The
fire is horizontal ; that is that the passages through the
nipples are on a line with the bore of the barrel. The
upper part of the boss already mentioned is cut away like
the lower end of a U, to the extent of the breech part of
the space of one of the chambers. This answers two pur-
poses ; it gives the opening through which the hammer falls
on the nipple, and it supplies the only place where a cap
can either be put on, taken off, or otherwise meddled with.
In some revolving arms having bosses, these bosses
have been cut away on each side. The result has been that
78 SUPERIOR CONSTRUCTION.

caps have been accidently struck and exploded, producing

both fatal and serious accidents. Again, on the other side
it has occurred that caps have slipped, or been shaken off
during a run or ride, and when the hammer came down
there was nothing to produce the exploding spark.
In the Daw Revolver the impossibility of such acci-
dents is unalterably secured. The nipple once capped it is
passed round in front of the flat side of the boss , so close
that there is not room enough for a loose cap to get off the
nipple ; it rests against the boss until it comes up in front
of the hammer. The caps are put on when the hammer is
at half cock, because at this position the chamber cylinder
turns round without stop from right to left.
But I would wish to draw particular attention to the
cock as possessing a quality that might not be observable,
unless some other revolver was used alternately with it.

SUPERIOR CONSTRUCTION.-UNRIVALLED PECULIARITY.

I spoke, just now, of the upper side of the boss being

cut out in the form of the lower part of the letter U,
so as to allow the hammer to come down on the nipple.
Now, the crown of the hammer, or cock is shaped ex-
actly in the same way, so that when it is down it
fills up to a mechanical nicety the space cut out in
the boss, fitting so neatly that it all looks like one
piece. The value of this shape is that by being part and
parcel of the boss itself when down, it follows that upon
exploding a cap on the nipple it acts as a shield to the eyes
of the shooter, and thoroughly prevents any splinters of the
cap when exploded flying rearwards in his face.
This is the only repeating Pistol in use that has such
an arrangement.
No one, except those who have been hit in the eye by
a piece of exploded cap, can fully realize the worth of the
 DOUBLE ACTION TRIGGER. 79

certainty that, with this pistol at least, they can never be so

hit again.
Between the nipples are stop- studs, upon any one of
which the hammer can be let down to rest ; the latter has a
notch undercut in its nose into which the stops fits. By
this contrivance the revolving breech is held firmly immov-
able, and each nipple may be capped and the pistol carried
about with the greatest confidence in its safety.
It will be observed on reference to the engraving that
there is a lever ramrod attached, but, contrary to most
pistols of the repeating kind, this ramrod is fixed under the
barrel, and works in a tube slide by a double link action.
By such a position being given it, instead of looking cum-
brous and unsightly, as those do that have two ramrods at
the side, it looks neat and strong, and imparts to the weapon
a remarkably elegant and finished appearance. It is " snap-
ped " up near the muzzle by a small spring catch bolting
into an eyelet stud.
1

་
DOUBLE ACTION TRIGGER .

I have said that it was fitted with the double- action

trigger. That is so , but the trigger need never be used for
cocking the pistol, unless the user chooses, some persons
object to double-action triggers altogether, on the ground
that working them destroys all aim in firing. Others, again,
say that they would not be without the double-action for
any consideration, and they give very tangible reasons for
their opinion also. They say, and I fully agree with them,
that persons living under circumstances requiring the pos-
session of fire-arms for personal protection may be so placed,
that the cocking of a pistol by the thumb, or the trigger,
may just make all the difference between a bullet through
them, or a bullet through their enemy.
80 LOADING AND FIRING.

Under such limited conditions of choice, between the

two alternatives, every man with whom I have conversed
earnestly assures me that he would prefer the latter by a long
way. As it is just possible, however, that there may be
people of another way of thinking. I can only answer in
the words of the old saying " Every man to his taste."
When the hammer is at half- cock the cylinder is free to
revolve in one direction only, but, when the full cock is set,
the act of setting also sets the trigger, upon which a strong
flat bolt shoots thro' the centre of the under side of the stock,
against the projecting " fence," that divides each chamber
breech and encloses each nipple. This bolt wed ~ es the
cylinder tight and holds it so until the trigger is let go after
firing ; it then sinks into its slot and remains until it is
re-set by the hammer being again placed on full-cock.
The strength of this adapted contrivance it would be
difficult to over rate.

LOADING AND FIRING.

To load this pistol it is only necessary to flash a cap on

each nipple to clear them all put it on half- cock, then place
the charges in the different chambers one after another and
ram them home, place the caps on the nipples, cock and
fire.
If not for immediate use, let the hammer down on the
stop-stud, when the cylinder will be held firm in its place
and all chance of accident removed. The cylinder cannot
move, nor can a cap be struck either by the hammer or any
external means whatever.
In connection with the cylinder and the space between
the nipples and the flat side of the boss, it may be as well
to mention that, although a cap cannot work off, yet, any
portion of one, can easily fall through when the nipple
moves on for the next shot. This is of the very first
 NATURAL GRIP- ITS ADVANTAGES. 81

moment, for I have been told of pistols bearing very good

names, but which, from the unavoidable fault of their
design, have had the whole rotatory motion brought to a
stand-still , by exploded broken caps getting wedged down
between the nipple face of the cylinder, and whatever was
placed to represent the flat side of the boss. This pistol can
never " stick " in its action in the manner mentioned.

TAKING AIM. -FIXED SIGHTS.

The mode of taking aim is by a back and front sight

on the breech and muzzle of the barrel. In some pistols
the crown of the hammer is notched to do duty as a back
sight. This is not thought the best form, and for several
reasons , although the hammer of the Daw-revolver is in the
centre, right along the line of sight, and could be much
more easily rendered available for the purpose than making
a sight on the breech.
It must be remembered , however, that persons who
shoot with pistols, shoot also with guns, and that the eye i
1:
having been trained to take aim from breech to muzzle,
along fixed sights, can not readily adapt itself to any other
form ; at least that is what I have been assured by persons
who have tried both modes. The hammer of this pistol,
therefore , does not in any way interfere with the aiming,
for, when at full cock, its crown is on a level with the
chamber cylinder, and below both sights altogether.
In the stocking and mounting it has heen sought to
combine something approaching to artistic grace, with facility
and power, and in this I have good reason to hope that I
have succeeded.

NATURAL GRIP. - ITS Advantages.

On referring again to the illustration, the reader will

observe that the curve of the handle is so angulated as to
G
82 RECOMMENDATORY QUALITIES.

give the best possible natural grip that the hand of the
shooter is capable of, in conjunction with the ready present-
ment of the line of aim along the barrel, and the eye. This
is a point not to be lost sight of, and forms no inconsiderable
one for appreciation in the use of a weapon that is exclusively
meant and intended for sudden operations at close quarters.
The general weight, too, is brought well back, so as to
rest as much as possible on the grip of the handle, where
there is the greatest strength to bear it. This arrangement
gets rid completely of that objectionable heaviness forward,
which turns the barrel into an oscillating lever, and almost
renders it impossible to hold the weapon with any degree of
firmness ; there is, besides , a shoulder at the " small " of the
handle against which the butt of the thumb and fore-finger
can press, in order to steady the grip.

RECOMMENDATORY QUALITIES .

Should it be desirable to use an extra cylinder, all that

is necessary to replace the empty one is, to pull out the side
bolt, when the fore-part and cylinder will slide off the axle-
pin, and can be replaced again in a few seconds.
The mechanism of this pistol is not of a nature liable
to derangement. The simple pull of the trigger turns the
cylinder, cocks, and fires. The instant the pressure of the
fore-finger is taken off, the trigger jumps forward and re-sets
itself for the next pull.
These are the salient features of the Daw-Revolver.
It has, it is true, cost me a great deal of anxiety and atten-
tion, but when I hear the unanimous satisfaction expressed
about it on all sides, I have great cause for thankfulness.
Its attraction to the eye of the purchaser may have had
something to do with the extensive patronage it so rapidly
received, but when to that, all the requisite qualites which
such an arm ought to possess, were super-added , there can
 DAW'S REVOLVER. 83

be no difficulty in accounting for the enviable position it at

present holds among the patrons of the gun trade.
Its adaptability either for the pocket, the belt or the
holster, can hardly be overrated ; whilst the best procurable
skill and materials expended upon its construction, will en-
sure the certainty and confidence that may be always placed
in its working action.

Extract from "THE BOOK OF FIELD SPORTS," by HENRY DOWNES

MILES. Vol. 1 , page 89. Chap. 8- Revolvers.

DAW'S REVOLVER.
“ Mr. G. H. Daw, one of the very first of our practical gunmakers—
a fact sufficiently vouched by the celebrated General Jacob, having
specially selected him as the artist to carry out the important improve-
ments in the weapon, known in its latest perfection as the Jacob Rifle-
has a revolver called by his name, which for beauty and solidity of work-
manship, convenient firmness of grip, smoothness of action, and harmony
of parts, deserves high consideration.
" The specimen submitted to us by the maker is worthy of his
reputation. Its form is of the handsomest ; its finish exquisite ; and as
i
we have said before, it is one of the pleasantest in the hand of the many
varieties of revolver we have examined . Daw's revolver has a speciality
in the arrangement of the sights, both of which are upon the barrel ; and
in
the hammer is so placed that it does not interfere in the movement of
cocking with the line of sight. The hammer too differs in form -the
shield or boss for the preservation of the caps being part of its substance.
The action is simple ; the pieces few in number. It can be cocked
either by drawing the trigger, or by the thumb. Between each nipple,
instead of a cavity, there is a projecting pin, which locks into a notch in
the face of the hammer, and thus prevents its revolving. This is a neat
arrangement, and, with the cavity in which each nipple is separately
sunk, prevents accidents from a double discharge. The shield varies
from Colt's in having no cut at the side for putting in the caps . These
are placed on the nipple at the top of the pistol, when at half cock ,
through the cutting where the nose of the striker passes. The arrange-
ment ofthe ramrod is judicious, and extremely convenient in use.
"General Jacob says, ' this is the best and most convenient revolver
to which my attention has been directed. "
G 2
84 DAW'S REVOLVER .

"Captain Llewellyn Jewitt, of the 1st Derbyshire Rifles, bears

strong testimony in his Rifleman's Manual,' to the efficacy of their
revolver. His words are-' Of course in cases of close combat, or
under thousands of circumstances which may arise, it is not always
possible to raise the arm perpendicularly while cocking ; indeed, except
at target practice, it is scarcely to be expected that the operator can do
this . If a man must rely on a revolver for his life under any circum-
stances in which he may be placed, he must have one which he can cock
in any position quickly, and without fear of clogging with exploded
caps ; and one also which will cock with the trigger alone. These are
more important desiderata for actual use than the question of sighting ;
for a revolver necessarily is more often required when deliberate aiming
cannot be taken than where it can. For target practice or drilling,
which God forbid any revolver we are describing may be ever used for,
careful and deliberate aim by fine sighting may be taken ; but for close
combat on the battle field, for security of life on the highway, for defence
of person, home, family and goods from attacks of robbers, sighting is of
third rate importance to ease of handling, quickness of cocking, rapidity
of discharge, and freedom from all chance of clogging.
" We have tried Daw's under a great variety of circumstances (as
we have others) and we have found it to possess those advantages in a
satisfactory degree. Of course each individual has his own opinion of
the merits of such pistols as he may have used ; and unquestionably
every make has some advantage over others. Thus one may have better
sighting, while another has more ease of handling ; one may have
rapidity of action, while another has greater freedom from clogging, and
one may deliver its fire withthe most deadly certainty, while another
may possess greater advantages in cocking. A most elegant breech-
loading practice pistol, invented and manufactured by Mr. Daw, lies
before us. This is one of the most convenient and perfect pieces of
craftmanship we have handled . ** *
The beauty of form and
finished workmanship of these pistols are most commendable to the eye
** **
of taste. + It is however to the leading varieties which have
come under our notice, and are best known to the public, that we have
here confined ourselves . Our object has been to introduce as far as
possible what has been done in the present state of portable fire- arms
towards perfecting those most important agents, which must ere long, by
their general introduction, utterly change the character of both offensive
and defensive warfare ; we mean breech-loading and revolving fire-arms,
199
now apparently so near perfection."
 OPINIONS - JACOB'S . 85

GENERAL PISTOL PRACTICE URGED.

Any gentleman well practised in the use of the repeat-

ing pistol may, in moments of peril, make sad havoc among
enemies bent on his destruction. I have alluded before to the
occasional sudden emergencies, in which either naval, mili-
tary men, or others may find themselves placed . I do so
again for the purpose of impressing upon my readers the
absolute necessity that arises for pistol practice, and also for
a weapon to practice with that has some reliable c laim to
the indispensible attributes which such an article ought to
possess.
Unless this is obtained , the whole affair had better be
let alone, for there can be nothing more dangerous than
using fire-arms that came into the world, Heaven knows
how, and may kill, wound, or maim, Heaven knows whom !

OPINIONS. JACOB'S.

A recent author on fire-arms thus speaks of this re-

volver :-
" I believe that Mr. Daw justly claims the merit of
having first brought out pistols of the peculiar construction
of those now manufactured by him. They are in every re-
spect beautifully finished, and are spoken of in the highest
terms by those officers who have had opportunitics of testing
their powers in actual warfare.
" Since my first notice of this arm, Mr. Daw has im-
proved it still further. The position and arrangement of
the sights, the action of the lock, the very handy form of
the grip, and the attention obviously given to various
minute, but important parts, fairly justify one in bestowing
upon it the most unqualified commendation. General Jacob
pronounced it to be the best and most convenient revolver
he ever handled."
86 ACCIDENTS WITH FIRE-ARMS.

Gun-building, like any other leading mechanical art,

requires the exercise of skill and application ; and roasting-
jack makers might just as well be trusted with the manu-
facture of chronometers, as some people, who fatten here
and there in the world, on the reputation of gun-smiths.

ACCIDENTS WITH FIRE-ARMS.

ADVICE AND ENTREATY - THE CLERK AND THE CLOCK.

Before I conclude, I must say a few words on a sub-

ject which connot be spoken of too earnestly. I mean
accidents with fire-arms.
And here, at the outset, let me impress upon all per-

sons handling either guns or pistols to always handle them

as if they were loaded !
It would be a painful and weary task to recount what
a gunmaker hears in this way, but my readers will learn
enough from the melancholy accounts that appear from
time to time in the newspapers . Here, however, is an
anecdote of a narrow escape, which the reader may not
have heard of.
A clerk, in the office of a metropolitan railway com-
pany, belonging to a volunteer corps , took his rifle to his
desk in the morning, in order to save himself the trouble of
going some distance home for it at parade time.
Just before he left for " falling in," he was exhibiting
the command he had over the weapon to his fellow clerks.
He took aim at one in particular, who, having read of
accidents, felt very much alarmed, and begged him " not to
be foolish, but to take aim at the clock-face on the wall ,
which would be much better, and frighten nobody." For-
tunately he did so, " snapped the hammer as he thought,
when, bang went the rifle, and the bullet whizzed right
 T
A
P

CAUNONS. COCKING. 87

LI BRARY
through the clock ! He had been at ball practice the week
before, and had forgotten to draw his last charge.
Here was a narrow escape from having unintentionally
taken the life of a fellow creature.

CAUTIONS IN COCKING.

The first thing a person does who is unused to a gun,

is to cock it, and " snap " the hammer on the nipple,
thinking that as they see no cap there, no possible danger
can exist. This is a mistake, as bitter experience has too
often proved, for gunpowder, should any happen to be
loose in the barrel, may most unaccountably get up the
nipple, and explode upon being smartly struck, in the way
that a hammer would strike it.
When half-cocking a gun, always let the hammer down
close to the nipple, and draw it back again to the half- cock.
Many an accident has happened through a person un-
thinkingly letting the hammer down at what they believed
to be half-cock, when the scear has been merely rested on
the edge of the half-bent of the tumbler, and the slightest
shake has sent it off. This has particularly been the case
with double barrelled guns in the field, when re-loading
1
with one barrel charged, and the hammer lying on this
dangerous, false half-cock.
Never rest the hammer on the cap. Remember that
the cap is made of a substance called a fulminate, which

explodes by a blow only, and should anything hit the

hammer, the cap will go off to a certainty.
In either cocking or pulling back for the half- cock,
keep the finger away from the trigger, or the chances are
that a false movement will be the result.
In looking at a gun, even in a gunmaker's shop , always
hold it with the line of fire clear from everything likely to
be endangered. Keep the muzzle away as far from your
own and other people's heads as possible- especially other
88 BEWARE OF MITTENS- RECOIL.

people's -as they, having no control over the handling of

the weapon, should not have their heads unfairly put in
peril.There is much greater latitude allowed to a man
when playing with a gun by himself, because the result of
his negligence, or folly, will only be to the damage of his
own poor, endangered, silly brains.

BEWARE OF MITTENS. -AND HOW YOU LOOK

AT A GUN.

Remember the old proverb, that " The cat in gloves

catches no mice." A sportsman with a glove on his trigger
hand, especially if the glove be thick, may touch his
trigger a little too hard and cause an accident.
As I am speaking of muzzle loaders when I refer to
loading, let me entreat every one to place the butt outside
the position of the left foot, with the muzzle well clear of
the body and head, so that if an accident should unfor-
tunately occur, the fingers will be the only sufferers, which
cannot be helped, and will cause no self up-braiding.
There are very few men who would not rather risk the
fingers than the parts just mentioned.
Some men very foolishly look down the barrel when
loading, as if to see which way the powder goes. This is
very wrong, because it is highly dangerous. Keep in view
the old sportsman's advice, " Look at the gun, but never let
the gun look at you." In loading a second barrel, which
should always be the right one, keep the left hand so clear
that, should it go off, your right hand will be safe.

RECOIL.

Always keep the gun well laid against the shoulder ;

for, the firmer it is held here the less will be the recoil.
"9
Some shooters are always complaining about " kicking '
guns, whilst other shooters with the same guns, find them
work remarkably easy.
 LOADED GUNS .- DANGER OF RASHNESS. 89

LOADED GUNS - CALAMITIES.

Never let a loaded gun out of your hand, nor take

one into a house under any pretext whatever, unless indeed
you mean to shoot somebody, for that is what will very
likely occur, as the records of coroner's inquests too un-
happily prove .
Here again, comes into mischievous action, the almost
criminal practice of merely taking the caps off the nipples,
putting the gun down, and saying all right ; she can't go
off now.'99 But " she," unfortunately does go off at times,
notwithstanding , and in this way.
The fulminating powder by which the charge is fired
is placed inside the crown of the cap. When
When the
the cap is
put on the nipple, this fulminate rests over the nipple-vent,
ready for striking. Let the cap be taken off, and, in nine
cases out of ten, a few grains, imperceptible to the naked
eye, will remain. By some unlucky accident, down comes
the hammer, and bang goes the gun, killing and maiming
somebody. Then, in the midst of grief and horror, the
author of the calamity cries out, " I took the caps off and
I thought all was safe !" They " thought this," and they
66
thought that," and thought everything but the right thing,
which was to have fired off the gun out of doors, and thus
have been perfectly safe inside, without any more thinking
at all.

DANGER OF RASHNESS .

It is like going over a crowded London crossing, how-

ever tiresome it may seem to be baulked, now by a wild
Hansom, now by a desperate " four-wheeler," who dash
along as if they were running a chariot race to the next
90 FOOLISH ECONOMY.

planet, -clean off this world altogether, now by an

omnibus, now by a butcher-boy, or a news cart racing to
beat the electric telegraph ; no matter what it is, railway
van, drag-man, coal waggon, or what you will , it is far easier
to wait five minutes for a safe opening than the risk of
being knocked over, with the probable miraculous escape (?)
of five months in an hospital .

I am not sure, but that it would be pleasanter, and

cheaper in the end, to practice the five months opposite the
Mansion House , or Charing-cross , or Pall Mall , or Regent
Circus, than in the wards of " Guy's," or " St. Bartholo-
mew's," or the " Westminster," in the way named.

Some people will say, " How frightened you are of

the horses." My answer is " No , I'm not ; the horses are
safe enough, but the folks who drive them are what I'm
afraid of. "

It is the same with guns. It is not the gun so much

as what is in it, and who is handling it. No man in his
senses ever wished to play the principal part in a Coroner's
inquest , and he must have got some distance out of them to
assist any one else into the same unenviable character.
Therefore, let me beg and entreat with all the energy
that language can command, " never let a loaded gun have
the chance of doing harm. ”

FOOLISH ECONOMY.

Sometimes the saving of the charge is the object, and

sometimes the trouble of re-loading. But taking things at
their least value, it must be a very poor finger, or eye that
is not worth more than the best charge that ever went down
the barrel of a gun. " A word to the wise," &c.
 CERTAINTY OF N -BURSTING. 91
TE
PA

CERTAINTE FORECT.

Never fire until you are certain of what you are firing
at, and that it is clear of all danger to any one else.

The most melancholy illustrations of oversight in this

respect sometimes occur, though I am happy to say, not
often.

BURSTING.

In speaking of the bursting of gun barrels, I must

be understood to assume that I, in no way, allude to the
quality of the metal ; for, I have a sufficiently good opinion
of gunmakers to believe that no respectable member of the
trade ever did or would send out a gun barrel of the
quality of which he was not satisfied with, under the ac-
tion of fair " wear and tear."

As for the " Twopenny skelp,” and the " Sham-damn,”

as they are technically called , the respectable gunmaker-
not the " pots and kettles" gun dealer-only knows them as
the dangerous, counterfeit, imitations, and the sellers as the
curses of his trade . The man who trusts his life to such
articles is not aware of the extent of his own rashness,
He had better first make his will, if he has anything to
leave, or failing that, transmit a note to his favourite under-
taker, on the evening before the next day's shooting.
The chances are that both arrangements will come
into operation.

Granting then, that the gun is from a respectable man,

the danger of bursting must be looked for in causes origin-
ated by the shooter himself.
92 CAUSES.

CAUSES -THE GUN BARREL PROOF ACT.

First and foremost of such charges is improper loading

when powder and shot are separately used, by which a
space will be left between the shot and the powder. It
does not follow that the barrel must necessarily burst, or
that it will do so, but the danger is always very great, too
great to be trifled with.
That there are exceptions, however, cannot be denied,
as one of my own rifles withstood a test of this kind. But
even these exceptions are only probable when the barrel is
of the best possible quality of iron.
It is very unlikely to happen that, with rifle shot, there
should be no space between the bullet and the interior sur-
face of the barrel, by which the compression of atmosphere,
when loading, cannot take place. There is always some
windage, unless indeed a man should be so foolish as to
drive in a ball larger than the bore ought to take, by which
he will fill all the grooves tight up.
But the greatest danger lies in the shot gun.
It must also be borne in mind that mud, stiff clay, or
snow, must never be permitted to stop up the muzzle of the
gun, for it will then burst if fired in that condition.
Beyond what is here stated , or a great excess of charge,
there is very little danger of a gun barrel bursting. It must
be borne in mind that before it is handed to the purchaser
it has been tested twice by the proper authorities, who
stamp the proof marks upon it.
The first test is called the " provisional proof, " It is
applied when the barrel is in a very rough state, so that,
should it burst, the least possible expense will have been
incurred. When the second proof takes place the gun is
all but finished. The double-barrels must be soldered
together, the breach-plugs turned in, and the nipples fixed,
 BARREL PROOFS- OBJECT OF THE BOOK . 93

so that there shall be no mistake about the character of the

proof. The proof charge each time is about five times the
quantity of powder and shot that the gun is intended for,
so that unless some undiscovered flaw should afterwards
extend and " fly," there is very little chance of the barrels
giving way in actual practice.

BARREL PROOFS, ETC. - REGULATIONS FOR Proving.

The " Gun-barrel Proof Act " was passed in 1855,

and by it all small arms are divided into five classes :—
" 1st. Single-barrelled military arms of smooth bore.
" 2nd. Double- barrelled military arms of smooth bore,
and all rifled arms whether double or single barrelled, not
being revolver or breech-loaders.
" 3rd. Single- barrelled shot guns.
" 4th. Double-barrelled shot guns.
" 5th. Revolving and breech-loading small arms of
every description .”

OBJECT OF THE BOOK.

As this book is not written for the purpose of giving

information to the general public about guns, I have
refrained from noticing many things as I have passed along.
The persons under whose eyes these pages will fall are
assumed to have some knowledge of fire-arms already, and ,
therefore, I have spoken with that idea constantly before
me. I have only put pen to paper to explain my own
patents, and I have kept steadily to that point. It may
have been that my " line of fire " has shown some lateral

deflection. If so, my pen is only obeying the mechanical

laws belonging to my trade, and I can only hope that the
deviation has not been without its purport.
94 RECAPITULATION OF CAUTIONS.

RECAPITULATION OF CAUTIONS- RULES .

I may here be permitted to recapitulate some of the

cautions , given in more detail on the previous pages . I will
put them in the language of the admirable, practical
STONEHENGE, as given in his excellent volume, The Shot-
Gun and Sporting Rifle.
" The following rules should be carefully remembered
and followed, in order to prevent accidents during loading-
“ RULE 1. Always uncock the loaded barrel of your
gun after discharging the other. The loaded one should
be left at half-cock , and the other with the striker down
on the nipple.
" RULE 2. In loading the last-discharged barrel
always keep the loaded one farthest from the hand.
" RULE 3. Never put the caps on before loading- the
caps may slip, even with the best lock. Moreover, the

powder is prevented from reaching the end of the nipple.

" RULE 4. After the caps are on and pushed home,

never leave the cock down on them, as in this position a

blow on the cock, or even on the butt, may occasion an
explosion .
" RULE 5. Never point the gun at any living object
during cocking and uncocking, when the cock is very apt to
slip from the hand of a cold or awkward person ; and to
avoid all danger of this , keep the muzzles pointing to the
ground at an angle of 45 degrees."
There are, however, two other positions in which a
gun may be allowably carried. Those are with the stock
in the hand, the gun against the shoulder, and the muzzle
pointing upwards, and holding the gun with the butt against
the right hip, and the muzzle upwards. It cannot be too
strongly urged here, that you must never bring under aim
with a gun any living thing whose life you do not deliber-
ately intend to take- no matter how sure you may think
 RECAPITULATION OF CAUTIONS. 95

yourself that the gun is not loaded. This is the most

dangerous practice of all. And again, " never kill any
creature that is harmless while living, and useless when
dead."

Always endeavour to produce confidence in the field ,

should you be shooting in company, by the intelligent way
in which you handle your gun. If an old hand at sport,
never be persuaded to " have a bit of a lark " with a young
hand.

The young hand may get dangerously nervous, and,

perhaps, return the compliment by unconsciously shooting
the " old hand," if not himself.
I never think of these things without recalling to mind
an anecdote related by the representative of Bell's Life in
London, in that paper, during its articles on the guns of the
International Exhibition of 1862.

It appears that the writer was out shooting at one

time, in company with a young gentleman who was dis-
porting himself with his gun, after a fashion not quite in
accordance with the usages of such society. He thought it
was necessary to keep a sharp eye on the vagaries of his
companion, until at last, the other noticed it a little rather
surprisingly,
" Hallo !" said he, " What are you frightened at ; did
you never see a gun before ?"
" Oh, yes," replied the soldier of Bell, " I have seen a
gun before, and I have seen you before ; but to be close to
the two things in combination at the same time , is what
bothers me."

He had scarcely got the words out of his mouth when ,

bang went a barrel, and the side of the youngster's face
was instantly " in condition " for a three month's course of
sticking plaster. He had very little to say in the presence
of his sarcastic mentor about guns for a very long time
afterwards .
 96 CONCLUSION- METAL AND MEN.

CONCLUSION.

I think I have nearly said all that I intended when I

made up my mind to put these pages together. If I find
that they answer the purpose for which I have written them
my object will have been achieved, and I may, by and bye,
go a little further into the subject in a future edition.
With respect to the supply of cartridges for my
Central-Fire Breech-Loader to persons residing out of Great
Britain, I am in process of appointing agents in all the
great centres of our colonial empire, so as to obviate any
difficulty upon the point. But at any time the best means ,
which circumstances at present admit of, will always be
turned to the best account for this purpose.
I have placed this paragraph in here so that the reader
may have it fresh on his memory when he closes the book.
I trust that the illustrations interspersed throughout
these pages, will have conveyed a definite notion of the
subjects illustrated, because that was an essential feature
of my plan.

METAL ANDd Men.

In the face of the Jacob rifle as it is now, I wonder

whether the next general war would tell the same story
as the last, should that weapon take part in it ? We have
it on the authority of an officer of the Prussian Artillery
that during the wars of the First Napoleon, it was ascer-
tained from careful calculation, that each soldier killed and
wounded, had had expended upon him his own weight in
lead, and ten times his weight in iron !
At the battle of Vittoria, June, 1813, only one
musket shot in 459 took effect, and this too, was on
the assumed calculation that ninety pieces of artillery
 NATIONS JUDGED BY THEIR ARMS 97

which had been thundering forth all day had hit nobody
at all ! Again, in the Caffre war of 1851 , it has
been ascertained that 80,000 rounds of ball cartridge
were fired in the month of August alone, and the results
were the killing of some twenty native savages - or just
3,200 balls to each Caffre. Now, as every ball weighed an
ounce, and, as there are sixteen ounces to the pound, it
took exactly two hundred pounds weight of lead to ' pot '
every single savage !

NATIONS JUDGED BY THEIR ARMS- A NEW THEORY

OF FOREIGN POLICY.

The gun-making art in England has attained great and

merited perfection , which may have been partly produced
by our superiority in the raw manufacture, and in the manu-
facture of tools. It is a curious fact , and one that was
started as a theory by the writer in the journal already
quoted, when he wrote about the Foreign Gun Department
of the Exhibition. He laid it down that the actual power
of a nation, and her place in civilisation, could be ascertained
by an inspection of her arms.
I am not prepared to contradict this ingenious theory,
and I don't know any better way of concluding this book
than by letting the writer tell the story in his own language.
Here it is, strong, vigorous, and terse to a degree, with just
the slightest dash of the poetical in the world to give it a
palatable flavour to those foreign tastes, that might not
thoroughly understand our homely cookery.
" Let us, however, call into our aid here the philosophic
analysis of fact, as presenting itself to us in this collection of
the arms of war-this gathering of the nations-in that massive
building. Let us do this, and, curious as it may sound and
seem, you can easily read, from the language of guns and
bayonets, the exact political force of every member of the great
H
98 NATIONS JUDGED BY THEIR ARMS.

family of European civilisation. Here is a discovery which

foreign diplomacy is welcome to. Ours is a small, a very sinall
island, with many dependencies—a little mother with a numerous
family scattered over all parts of the earth, from the arctic to
the antarctic circle ; old England has had to fight hard for her
chickens, she may have to do so again, and, in order that she
may be a match for the countless hosts of territories ten times
her size, her intellect must give birth to the essence of inventive
science, and her hands must reduce that science, in the most
artistic and powerful manner possible, to a practical result. We
have many of us seen, and most of us have heard of, the classic
composition of ' Philosophy teaching by example ;' if the blind, un-
reasoning slanderers of this ' tight little, right little island ' were
blessed with only one faint ray of wisdom's vision, they would
see that modern times have produced a new impersonation of
philosophy, and a new reading of the picture. Britannia is the
instructing goddess, and her unsurpassable rifles, in hands de-
termined to use them, are the agencies by which she silently
and passively enforces her lessons on her unwilling disciples of
other lands. Let those who seek for details, find them by the
light of the gunsmith's art. Let us commence our journey at
London, cross the Channel, run along the line of the Bay of
Biscay, pass Cape Finisterre, down the coast of Portugal, and
pause as we enter the Straits of Gibralter. Every league of
that Atlantic coast is a letter in the history of our desperate
courage to maintain our own. Brest, Bayonne, the passage of
the Bidassoa, Corunna, Cape Finisterre, the Pyrenees, Oporto,
the passage of the Douro, the lines of Torres Vedras, the mouth
of the Tagus, Cape St. Vincent, and Cape Trafalgar, with that
crowning keystone of the arch-the unconquerable rock- all
show that what we want in men we must make up in means,
superior to the rest of the world. Let us glide up the silent,
almost tideless sea, the deep blue Mediterranean, and the land-
marks of our prowess are to be found on every side, from
Algiers to Alexandria and the Nile. These are names that ought
to make us proud of our blood, and ready to shed it in the cause
of our liberty again. Let us continue our course up the Grecian
 NATIONS JUDGED BY THEIR ARMS. 99

Archipelago, and on through the Bosphorous into the Black Sea,

travel along the borders of the great empire of Russia, skirt the
far-off Ural Mountains, and change our path by the borders of
the frozen Arctic Ocean. Even then, throughout all that ex-
tensive European progress by land and sea, we will have found
no weapon at all to be compared to the one we carry in our
hand. We will turn again southward, down the stormy Baltic,
and circumnavigate the rock-bound kingdom of our future
brother, the royal Dane,' cross the restless bosom of the Dutch-
man's pride, ' the rolling Zuyder Zee,' past the Texel, and home by
the northern tide, back again to the mouth of the Thames. After
completing this tour, which any one may do easily for a shilling
and an eighteen-penny dinner at South Kensington, five days in
the week, the voyageur will be surprised and instructed at the
descending gradations in fire-arms from Great Britain down-
wards, and the wonderful affinity each gradation has to the
degree of position which the State from which the weapon is
produced, occupies in political influence. Now, here is a new
method of weighing the power of kingdoms in the balance ;
and, what is very recommendatory of the plan, it is inexpensive,
easily learnt, and certainly not difficult of operation. Fancy a
despatch from somewhere telling us that a particular State had
shown symptoms of going on the rampadge,' and, instead of
the Foreign Minister having to hunt up all kinds of information
in blue-books and blue-boxes, he would merely ring his bell and
order the musket of the unruly country to be brought before
him from his secret cabinet of arms ; by this alone he would be
enabled to dictate an ultimatum to our Minister on the spot, and
give final instructions to the Secretary at War."

H2
100
ENT OF
FI
PAT C

GENERAL GARIBALDI .

PARTAKING of the national feeling of admiration

for the noble character of the Great Italian Patriot

Soldier, I obtained an interview with him, which the

following paragraph from the Daily Telegraph of

April 22nd, will sufficiently explain :

" Yesterday Mr. Daw, of Threadneedle Street, waited by

special appointment on General Garibaldi, and presented him with

a Patent Breech-Loading Gun of novel and simple construction ,

together with a handsome Double- Action Revolver. Upon each

weapon, on a gold plate, was engraved the following inscription :-

' Presented to General Garibaldi, from the maker, George H. Daw,

April, 1864.' The General, on receiving the presents, said : " This

is very kind. I thank you, my friend, for your handsome and

useful presents .' Referring to the Breech- Loader, he said :

' I am grateful to you for it, and will use it for your memory—

the system is so simple and so good.' "

 M ES4467
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APPENDIX .

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS

ON

DAW'S PATENT BREECH - LOADER

AND CARTRIDGE .

Extract from BELL'S LIFE, November 8, 1861.

"We have now to describe an entirely new gun and cartridge, the
introduction of Mr. Daw, the well known city gunmaker of Thread-
needle street, to which we bespeak the reader's attention . •
We have carefully examined the weapon ourselves, and we earnestly
recommend it to the attention not only of our sporting readers, but also
to the whole gunmaking fraternity."

THE FIELD, December 21 , 1861 .

“ The gun which is represented above has been tried in our presence
with complete success, by Mr. Daw, the well known gunmaker of
Threadneedle Street, London. We believe that its method of detonation
is far superior, and that the several plans of locking and detaching the
barrels, and of extracting the cartridge cases, as well as re-capping them,
are far more simple than in the Lefaucheux, and will, therefore, be more
efficacious in use, while they promise to be less amenable to wear and
tear.' We have fired the gun in the dark without detecting the slightest
escape of gas. We, therefore, do not imagine that there will be the
slightest tendency in this gun to get out of order ; and, as far as we have
been able to try it, we have the highest opinion of its merits."
102 APPENDIX.

MECHANIC'S MAGAZINE, 22nd November, 1861 .

" DAW'S CENTRAL-FIRE BREECH-LOADER.- Mr. Daw, gunmaker, of
Threadneedle Street, City, has brought out a new patent gun and
cartridge, which appears likely to remove every objection to the breech-
loading principle for sporting purposes. These cartridges
are manufactured by machinery, at a lower price than brass-pin cart-
ridges. The principle is being applied to rifles. Its value for military
purposes, especially for cavalry, where a man could load his carbine
while in the bucket, with the swivel attached, with one hand, seems very
obvious. As ordinary breech-loaders can be altered to use the new
cartridge at a trifling cost, we expect to hear of their conversion becoming
as general as that of the flint lock to percussion, after the introduction of
the copper caps."

FIELD, 1st November, 1862.

Letter from the HONORABLE H. Coventry.

66
Having read Woodcock's inquiry as to where to get the best
breechloader, I am anxious to recommend him and all other sportsmen
in search of such guns to inspect one patented by Mr. Daw, 57, Thread-
needle-street. For simplicity of mechanism, quickness in loading, and
beauty of workmanship, it is quite perfection, and the cartridge has not
the objectionable truss fire which is so much deprecated in most others ;
and, last not least, the price is very moderate. The shooting qualities
are excellent. I had a good trial at blue or mountain hares, and killed
some very long shots quite dead. I first saw the drawings and descrip-
tion of this gun in your valuable paper, and beg to offer you my best
thanks for having been the means of placing so good a weapon in my
hands.-H. COVENTRY, (Preston Hall, Ford, Edinburgh)."

BELL'S LIFE, October 31st, 1863,

In its 3rd article of the review of a pamphlet on the respective systems

of breech and muzzle-loading, which has attracted a good deal of atten-
tion, thus alludes to this gun. The writer has been bearing witness to
the excellence of English guns and gunmakers, and says :- "There is
another, however, of which we expressed a somewhat sanguine opinion
when it was first submitted to our notice about two years ago ; we mean
 APPENDIX. 103

the Central-fire patent of Daw, of Threadneedle Street. It has had a

very successful run, so far, and continues to advance in favour ; and,
speaking on the authority and assurance of Mr. Daw himself, it has
exceeded his utmost hopes or expectations, letters coming daily from
all quarters. "Daw's Central-fire " is worked by a lever under the
trigger-guard, which admits of the stock dropping and opening the
breech. There are " drop-stocks," and very good ones too, but in this
one the bed of the breech-end of the barrel is solid tempered iron, whilst
the lower part rests on a very strong cross -bar at the bottom of this bed,
which also serves to wedge it tight. In the event of a windy day's grit
getting into the closing surfaces, the lever underneath is sufficiently
powerful to make paste of it in the locking to. The cartridge contains
the detonator, the gun is pulled up and locked , and as there is no capping
you need only present and fire. The abolition of the cap and nipple is
a great step gained, whilst the rifle cartridge is the handiest and simplest
that can possibly be imagined . When we examined this principle
about two years ago, we spoke highly of it, as possessing the elements of
a first-class breech-loading sporting weapon, and from the testimony of
a number of sporting gentlemen which was submitted to our perusal,
recently, our opinion has been fully borne out and confirmed in every
respect. We must now take this gun as having established itself, and
fully maintained the warranty of its patentee and maker during the two
years of its existence."

In connection with the Fire-arms in the International

Exhibition of 1862,

ILLUSTRATED TIMES, October 18th, 1862,

" Ofsporting-guns and rifles there are a large number of exhibitors,

most of whom show arms on the breech-loading principle. This plan,
as opposed to the slower and more dangerous mode of loading with a
ramrod at the muzzle, is very rapidly superseding the old double gun.
The system adopted in France, and on the Continent generally, is that
of Lefaucheux, in which the barrels of the gun fall on pulling round a
104 APPENDIX.

lever with the right hand, exposing their rear ends, into which a paper
cartridge-case, containing powder, shot, wad, and cap, is inserted. The
detonation is effected by the hammer striking on a projecting brass pin
in the cartridge, which has to be carefully fitted into a groove, made for
its reception in the barrel, to allow of the breech closing. These guns
are open to the objections of miss fires, ifthis pin gets in the slightest
degree bent, of the cartridges sticking in the barrel after discharge, and
of the pinhole and joints wearing away rapidly. Several makers have
done away with the brass pin, and secured a central fire. The plan
adopted by Mr. G. H. Daw, of Threadneedle-street, appeares to be by
far the best breech-loading principle in the exhibition. Instead of the
barrels falling, as in the Lefaucheux gun, by moving forward a small
lever, which fits closely over the trigger- guard, a springbolt is drawn
back and the stock drops sufficiently to insert the cartridges. When
loaded, the stock is brought up into a line with the barrel, the bolt then
slips into its place, securely locking the gun ready for discharge. This
solid springbolt works through the body of the piece, and locks into a
solid slot, under the breech end of and between the barrels . A great
improvement is made in the mode of attaching the barrels to the stock.
Instead of making the socket in which the hingebolt plays in two pieces,
one-half attached to the barrels and the other fixed to and removable
with the fore end of the stock, in Daw's breech-loader the fore ends of
the stocks are closely hinged together, and the barrels are fixed to the
former by dropping a stud into the socket and bolting both securely
together by the ordinary sidebolt. The cartridges employed with this
gun are cylinders of stout paper, or of brass tubing, terminating in a brass
capsule with projecting rim, and having in the centre of the rear end a
chamber just large enough to hold a common percussion cap. This
chamber is conical in form, having at the bottom a small hole for com-
municating with the powder. Before inserting the cap a small brass
anvil is slipped into it. This brass anvil has a conical point and four deep
grooves extending to its base. When the cartridges are charged the caps
are below the surface of the rear end of the cartridge, out of the way of
any accidental blow. Stout steel pins, terminating in a false nipple, pass
at an angle through the body or frame of the gun, and come out opposite
to the centre of the cartridges . When the hammer descends these pins or
pistons strike the centre of the cap, which is driven on to the anvil, and
the ignited fulminate passes readily along the grooves in the anvil through
the hole in the bottom of the chamber and explodes the powder. A self-
acting steel slide draws out the exploded cartridge-cases, which may be
several times reloaded, as recapping (the great difficulty in the ordinary
 APPENDIX. 105

pin cartridge-case) is effected by pushing out the exploded cap and anvil
from the front, fitting the latter into a new cap, and dropping it into
its place. This principle, which is of course applicable to every de-
scription of small arm, appears to obviate every objection to the breech-
loading system , and to leave very little to be desired."

COURT CIRCULAR, May 17th, 1862.

"Public attention must be specially noted to the newly invented and

patent Central Fire Breech- Loading Rifle of Mr. Daw, the well known
gunmaker of Threadneedle Street."

MORNING HERALD & STANDARD, May 15th, 1862.

" CLASS XI.— Among the rifles in this class, which are sure to attract
public attention, must be especially noted the newly invented and patent
Central-Fire Breech-Loading Rifle of Mr. George Daw, of Threadneedle
Street, a name as well known as the Enfield Rifle itself. Besides this
excellent rifle, Mr. Daw exhibits several Daw-Jacob ' rifles and Indian
ball guns, for either shot or ball."

LLOYD'S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER, 25th May, 1862.

" Mr. Daw's collection is on the whole the most complete of any
private individual in the class."

BELL'S LIFE, June 15th, 1862.

"We pass over one or two minor matters this week in order to give
prominence to a Gun and Cartridge on the breech-loading principle, that
is at present creating considerable interest in the sporting world. When
the original model was finished, and had passed through its ' proof
trials,' it was first introduced to public notice through the columns of
Bell's Life. The gun we allude to is the Patent Central-Fire Breech
Loader, the property of Daw, of Threadneedle Street. At the time we
first examined it, we pronounced it to be an immense advance over
anything we had seen, and cordially recommended it to our friends.
During the past eight months it has been well tested by some of the
106 APPENDIX.

keenest shots, and has sustained the opinion we expressed concerning it.
Such are the opinions we have heard from all who have seen or tried the
central-fire principle, that, without in any way wishing for one moment
to even seem to cast a shadow on the merits of other inventions, we are
only giving just currency to what we know, by publishing those opinions
in these columns. Shooting gentlemen are making Daw's
new gun a speciality of their visit."

MORNING POST, May 17th, 1862.

" GREAT GUNS AND SMALL ARMs.- The plan adopted by Mr. G. H.
Daw, of Threadneedle Street, appears to be by far the best breech
loading principle in the Exhibition. . This principle, which
is of course applicable to every description of small arm, appears to
obviate every objection to the breech-loading system, and to leave very
little to be desired."

OBSERVER, June 1st, 1862 .

"That by Mr. Daw appears to be the best breech-loading principle in

the Exhibition."

CASSEL'S ILLUSTRATED EXHIBITOR, 1862.

(Part 6, Page 253.)

" Of all the sporting guns and rifles which the Exhibition of 1862 has
brought into use, none are so important as ' Daw's Patent Central Fire
Breech-Loader.' This valuable gun has been patented by Mr. G. H.
Daw, of Threadneedle Street, and promises to become the sportsman's
weapon par excellence. Mr. Daw's system of breech- loading is certainly
superior to any other yet brought forward, being at once correct in its
principle, simple in its application, certain in its purpose, and apparently
* * * **
incapable of getting out of order.
* ** * *
* It is needless to say Mr. Daw has ob-
tained the Prize Medal for ' improvements in breech-loading small
arms,'
 APPENDIX. 107

"Prize Medals have been awarded to several foreign exhibitors,

especially to the French, who show some admirable weapons ; but, for
perfection of manufacture, truth of principle, and simplicity of design,
the Daw Breech-loader is admitted to be the most valuable weapon
shown in the International Exhibition of 1862."

BREECH-LOADING GUNS AND CARTRIDGES.

"We this week introduce to our sporting friends a novelty in breech-

loading guns and cartridges, which deservedly gained a prize medal, and
attracted more attention and curiosity than any other inventions con-
nected with fire-arms in the Exhibition. We refer to the patented
improvement of Mr. George H. Daw, gunmaker, Threadneedle Street,
London, whose fame as a rifle maker is well known to many of the
present age who take an interest in fire-arms. From the high testi-
monials of many of our best-known sportsmen who have severely tested
these improvements, the gun bids fair to be universally adopted by all
who value a perfect weapon, as beyond doubt it is the most perfect
system in breech-loading yet produced. The principal advantages in the
gun are, simplicity, durability, lightness, rapid and easy loading, safety,
and certain ignition , uniform hard shooting, and no possible escape or
** * ** *
There are other
leakage of gas at the breech.
improvements over everything of the kind before used in breech-loading,
which makes Mr. Daw's principle so perfect.- Daily Telegraph."

DAILY TELEGRAPH, October 22nd, 1862.

" Two small-bores are shown by Mr. Daw, of Threadneedle-street,

for which, apparently on good grounds, a high degree of merit is claimed.
The one is the famous rifle of the late General Jacob, modified and fitted
with a projectile to suit the 451 gauge, the other is a rifle on the prin-
ciple of Captain Hans Busk, of the Victoria Rifles. Both of these rifles
are on what is called the moulded system, that is, the bullets are cast
with projections to fit into the grooves, so as to be independent of the
principle of expansion. In the Daw Jacob rifle the barrel has four
grooves, the width of the grooves and lands being equal. Their depth
is 025 of an inch, and their spiral and regular turn in two feet. The
108 APPENDIX.

projectile employed by General Jacob in rifles of this description was a

bullet with four projections to fit into the grooves, with a long slender
point admirably adapted to cleave its way with little resistance through
the air, but open to the objection of being liable to injury and being dis-
torted by the pressure of the column of air in the barrel when fired with
heavy charges of powder. Mr. Daw's modification of the bullet consists
of shortening the conical point sufficiently to obviate this drawback,
making it solid-based, and of introducing shallow cannelures between
the wings or projections on the bullet to contain lubrication. The bullet
weighs 530 grains, and the charge of powder is three drachms. Captain
Hans Busk's rifle has four cycloidal, or one-sided grooves, with a regular
turn in 23 inches. The projectile has corresponding projections to fit
the grooves, and has the peculiarity of convex ends, the front of the
bullet being rather more pointed than the base. The charge of powder
used is about three drachms, the bullet being of the regulation weight.
A carefully conducted trial of penetration through 4-in. seasoned elm
planks, placed one inch apart, with rifles of the Government gauge ·557,
gave the following results as average penetration :
PLANKS .
Daw Jacob .. 13.83
Enfield 11.08

" A similar trial of small bores, 451 gauge, with equal weights of
powder, and bullets of 530 grs ., at a range of thirty yards, gave the
following as the average of planks penetrated by the different rifles :

Daw Jacob 16.20

Lancaster 14.25
Whitworth 14.00
Henry · 13.25
Turner 13.25
Westley Richards 13.00

As penetration under equal conditions is but another name for lowness

of trajectory and length of range, the Daw-Jacob appears to have estab-
lished a high reputation in these important points.

" Several other exhibitors show target rifles of the 451 gauge, each
having some peculiarity in the principle sufficient to establish an in-
dividuality, and each having its admirers. Those referred to, however,
are the best known, and suffice to give a general idea of the salient
features of this class ofsmall arms.
 AP N 109
E
T
A
P

FURTHER TESTIMORE JACOB RIFLE.

LIBRARY
" KURRACHEE,
"27th October, 1856 .
*
* " After repeated trials with Lieut. Col. Jacob, with
every description of Rifle, by nearly all the London and other makers,
your Rifles have given the greatest satisfaction. * * * * Our late
experiments here have been very successful, and the blowing up of 550
lbs. of powder at 1,800 yards, and amunition boxes at 1,200 yards was
done with your small 32- Rifle."

Letterfrom an Officer in Scinde Police.

“ KURRACHEE,
" 8th August, 1858.
"SIR,-I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
* * ** I am glad to be able to tell you
dated 25th January last.
that the last Rifle reached me per Ship 'Ladoga,' in excellent condition ,
not being the least tarnished from the effects of the voyage. I am highly
pleased with the Rifle, the finish of which reflects the greatest credit on
your workmanship, and all whom I have shown it to are of the same
* * *
I would again thank you for the great care with
opinion.
which you have carried out all my instructions. I will take every
opportunity of bringing your name to the notice of my sporting Friends.

" Mr. G. H. DAW, Gunmaker, & c. &c."

"PORTMADOC,
" Mr. G. H. DAW. " October 6th, 1862 .
"SIR,-I have been lately prevented, owing to business interfering,
from target practice, but have, notwithstanding, attended occasionally to
a little position and aiming drill. This morning, being disengaged and the
weather being suitable, I went down with another member of the corps,
both using small bores, to practice at 800 yards at regulation targets,
the marker, a Staff Serjeant, being previously instructed to keep a
diagram. We fired 10 rounds. My practice was 1. 1. 1. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2.
2. 1. = 16 10 hits =26. According to Wimbledon scoring it was
2. 2. 2. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 1.= 25 + 10 hits = 35.
110 APPENDIX.

This is quite equal to the best practice made in July last, in the
International match at Wimbledon. The position was lying down,
ammunition, “ Eleys,” 44 2 diameter bullet, 2 drachms powder, the
elevation almost exactly 8 as marked on the flap. The rifle does not
kick in the least, and is, in my opinion, a really excellent weapon. I
think you ought to be persuaded to put in six of these rifles for the small
bore competition. You must be very near, if not quite A. 1 , if you will
pay nice attention to the sighting. I believe your rifles will yet become
the most popular, they only want a fair trial by steady shots to be
approved of. I enclose you the diagram of the practice as copied from
the original.
" Believe me,
"Yours, very sincerely,
"BENJAMIN WYATT."
" MR. DAW."

Letterfrom an Officer in 2nd Maharatta Horse, Gwalior.

"I don't quite recollect what remarks I made in a former letter on

Daw's Rifle, but I could not have praised it too much. His Rifles are
coming into fashion out here very fast, now that Jacob patronizes them.
With my Rifle, and using Jacob's bullets, I can beat with ease any Rifle
in the place, the Enfield not excepted . At 400 yards it carries very true,
so that you can hit the target, (regimental) 6 feet by 1 , twice out of
three times, and that I call first rate shooting. With the Enfield you
cannot make sure of in 6 at that distance. His Rifles are much
praised, and I could get rid of mine at a good profit any day I like, but
I don't wish to part with it."

Extracts from " Rifle Practice, by The late GENERAL JACOB, C.B., ofthe
Bombay Artillery." (London : Smith, Elder, & Co.)
PENETRATION.
"At Kurrachee on the 26th September, 1856, an iron-pointed ball ,
fired with a charge of 24 drachms of powder, at a distance of twenty-five
yards, penetrated clean through eighteen deal planks, each three quarters
of an inch thick, and smashed itself all to pieces against stones on the
other side."
"Present,-Colonel JACOB.
Captain SCOTT, A.D.C.
Lieutenant MACDONALD, Rev. Survey."
 APPENDIX. 111

Again, " At Kurrachee, on the 29th September, 1856, an iron-pointed

ball, with a charge of 24 drachms of powder, was fired at twenty-five
deal boards, each a little more than three-quarters of an inch thick, the
whole thickness of all the boards together being twenty inches ; the
boards were packed close, one behind the other, and wedged fast in a
box. The rifle was fired at twenty-five yards distance. The ball pene-
trated clean through the whole twenty-five planks, and buried itself its
whole length in a block of hard wood 24 inches thick, which was behind
the mass of boards, breaking this block into two pieces."

Extract from a Report of the ADJUTANT-GENERAL ofthe Army, to the

SECRETARY to Government, Military Department, Bombay, dated
16th April, 1856.

ACCURACY.

" The accuracy of flight attained by projectiles of the peculiar form on

which Lieut.-Colonel Jacob's shells and balls are cast, has now carried
the use of firearms far beyond anything which has come under the notice
of officers in this country, and the experiment * made at Bombay can be
attested by the following gentlemen, who witnessed the practice : —

His Excellency Sir HENRY SOMERSET.

Honorable ARTHUR MALET, Member of Council.
Major-General LESTER, Commandant of Artillery.
Colonel GREEN, C.B. , Deputy -Adjutant General of the Army.
Colonel WILLOUGHBY, C.B., Principal Commissary of Ordnance.
Lieut.- Colonel SWANSON, Member of Military Board.
Mr. BELLASIS , Civil Service.
Major STOCK. Assistant Adjutant-General.
Major SHAW, Assistant Commissary-General.
Major WOOSNAM, Agent for Gunpowder."

* See " Rifle Practice, by Colonel John Jacob, C.B. "

112 APPENDIX.

The following Extracts from Letters received from the Commander-in-

Chief, at Jacobabad, dated 18th June, 1861 , and 6th February,
1862, give the latest information relating to the efficiency ofthe
Jacob Rifle.

"I have repeated accounts of Gentlemen in pursuit of large game,

who express themselves in strong terms of approbation of the accuracy
of the Jacob Rifles, and the tremendous effect of the shells fired from
them .
"The Targets at Jacobabad range from 100 to 2,000 yards, and ex-
cellent practice has been made at all the distances. The Henry is
decidedly superior to the Enfield, and about equal to the Whitworth,
both are inferior to the Jacob Rifle, as I hope, some day, will be clearly
and indisputably proved."

Extract from UNITED SERVICE GAZETTE, 25th December, 1858 .

DAW'S REVOLVERS AND RIFLES.

" Two or three weeks ago we alluded incidentally to an improvement

which Mr. Busk stated, in his little treatise on firearms, had been made
in the action of revolvers by Mr Daw, the inventor and manufacturer, of
Threadneedle Street. It seemed, by the description, to have been a very
material improvement, affording effectual protection against the possible
accidents to a revolver from the escape of ignited powder between the
cylinder and the barrel. We have now had an opportunity of personally
inspecting one of these pistols, and readily add our own testimony to that
of Mr. Busk, to the excellence of the contrivance by which all possibilty
of danger is averted . At the moment before the discharge of Daw's .
repeating pistol, the barrel enters to the extent of only the eighth part of
an inch (quite sufficient for the purpose) into the chamber which contains
the cartridge, and this produces an uninterrupted prolongation of the
tube.

" This, however, is not he only particular in which Mr. Daw has
advanced upon his predecessors in the manufacture of pistols. He has
introduced a better form of protection to the caps after they have been
placed upon the nipple. The opening made for the purpose of adjusting
the cap is at the top, forming part of the hammer (by which it is drawn
back and replaced), and each nipple is in a separate compartment, which
 APPENDIX. 113

prevents the cap from falling out, or its explosion from affecting its
neighbour. The stock or hand of the pistol is longer than in others, and
from its form and lengthened surface affords a better grasp, while
the slope of the trigger guard enables it to rest with greater ease upon the
fore-finger. Even to the ramrod, improvement is carried out, and the
fittings ofthe case are unexceptionable. We can well understand why
General Jacob, the greatest connoisseur in fire-arms of the present day,
has pronounced Mr. Daw's weapon the best and most convenient
revolver to which his attention has been directed .'
" But General Jacob has not confined his approbation of Mr. Daw's
workmanship to a mere expression. He has ordered several from the same
superior manufacturer, for his own use ; a couple of 24 and 32-gauge
double-barrelled rifles for sporting purposes, we have had the pleasure of
inspecting before their shipment for India. The directions forwarded to
Mr. Daw were the result of 25 years' experience, and at a cost of many
thousand pounds. Repeated trials with these weapons show the value of
the General's principles, and the perfection attained, which cannot be
surpassed by those of any other known rifle of the present day. The
rifles in question are, without exception, of the very best material and
workmanship that can possibly be turned out of hand. The simple but
useful improvements in the shape of stocks, locks, and finishing of these
guns, are the same as those which the maker brought out some time
back. They are quite different in style from those of other makers, and
39
have been greatly admired by some of the first sportsmen of the day.
" The sights are regulated from 100 up to 2,600 yards. The barrels
are prepared in a novel manner-that is to say, the upper part of the
barrel is roughed or filed, so as to give a more distinctly clear sight than
is obtained in ordinary rifles, and prevents the possibility of the glaring
sun acting or interfering with the sights. Each rifle is fitted with a neat
and ingenious spring at the end of the stocks, in order to take off recoil
when a large charge of powder is used. The internal arrangements of
the cases are also new, and are well adapted for hot climates.
" One of the Commissioners in Scinde, writing to the maker, says : —' I
am sure you will feel flattered, when I tell you General Jacob has select-
ed you in preference to any other celebrated maker for these particular
rifles.
" To this we may add the testimony of a Major of the Bombay Cavalry,
who says (speaking of a gun made for him by Daw) , ' I have never seen
so good a gun in my life, and I have shot with every good maker in
England and Ireland, and even Scotland. Nothing can touch my gun.
It is greatly admired .' ”
I
114 APPENDIX .

VOLUNTEER SERVICE GAZETTE, Saturday, April 9 , 1864.

THE JACOB RIFLE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE VOLUNTEER SERVICE GAZETTE.

" SIR,
"My attention has just been drawn to a letter in the Gazette
of the 12th inst., signed by · Telegraph,' asking for information relating
to the Jacob rifle. In answer to the inquiry whether I think it neces-
sary to have such a cartload of wood and iron as a 15lbs. rifle to get a
range of 2,000 yards,' I say it is not. My rifles, on General Jacob's
principle, of much less weight, have proved it beyond doubt ; and it is
with no small amount of pleasure I see the principles I have for the last
ten years advocated and brought to perfection at last believed in and
found to be correct, though cleverly disguised and re-christened by
certain imitators, who have received no end of praise and the help of the
public purse. Whatever they presented to the public was considered
wonderful, while other valuable and more simple productions were dis-
carded . Now, if those who wish to bestow honour where honour is due,
would carefully examine the alterations the famous imitators have from
time to time made in their arms and projectiles during the last few years,
it will be found they closely resemble a system generously offered to the
public by the great General Jacob, and all attempts to evade these
valuable productions have proved a waste of time, and only profitable to
the scientific schemers who had not the honesty to acknowledge the
excellence of a perfect system. Dispite the good practice my rifles have
made at long distances, I have been told by several in my trade that the
weapons were too short and thick in the barrels, the twist in the rifling
too great, the bullet was too sharp in the point and too thick and heavy
behind, besides a variety of other not over- wise remarks. Now that the
subject is better understood, those who have given it attention are at
last realizing the fact that General Jacob was no idle theorist. It is to
be regretted that it takes so many years to get fair play in one's own
country on a subject of such importance to the nation . If our Govern-
ment is anxious to adopt the most simple and perfect rifle and ammuni-
tion for our Army, and will give the Jacob system a fair trial, they will
find it the most accurate and deadly weapon that can be placed in the hands
of our troops. Having devoted eighteen years to the study of rifles and
projectiles, and conducted a vast number of experiments to test the merits
 APPENDIX . 115

of various systems, I have no hesitation in saying that for power of

penetration and lowness of trajectory the Jacob system is unequalled
and with a mechanically-fitting ball, such as I have adapted to it, the
loading is easy and rapid, and does not require complications or special
scrapers to keep the inside of the barrels clean. The small-bore experi-
ments for some time past have been more a trial of rests than of rifles .
The Jacob system has never been thoroughly tested for Army purposes .
Should a fair trial be allowed, I shall be happy to assist in proving its
excellence. The shell fired from my twenty-four gauge rifle at Kur-
rachee, and which exploded the powder at 1,800 yards, weighed 786
grains, was three diameters long, and fired with 2 drams of powder.
Many interesting details furnished me by the late General Jacob I will
relate at some future time.

"I have the honour to remain, Sir,

Your obedient servant ,
“ GEORGE H. DAW.'
"57, Threadneedle - street,
17th March , 1864.”

I2
116 APPENDIX.

LETTERS FROM SPORTSMEN ON THE CENTRAL-FIRE GUN.

The following letters are a limited selection, from a very large

and dailyincreasing number, offlattering Testimonials and
Opinions of Sportsmen, who have used Daw's new Patented
Central-Fire Breech-Loader and Cartridges :-

Extract of Letter received 25th July, 1862, from Lord Clarina's

Brother-in-Law.

"ATTYFLIN PARK, LIMERICK,

" 24th July, 1682 .
" DEAR SIR,

" I only returned home yesterday from my shooting quarters in the

County of Clare. I had excellent sport at the rabbits, and was able to
test the shooting of the new gun quite to my satisfaction. Thus being
in a position to pass an opinion thereon, it gives me great pleasure to
say (as no doubt it will be to you to hear) that its performance has
delighted me. I have knocked over several rabbits at from 50 to 60
yards, and though I have had muzzle-loaders made by Lancaster, John
Manton, Westley Richards, Rigby, and Trulock, also breech-loaders
by Purdey, and none of them do I consider to have been better
shot-guns than the one you have made me ; as to principle it is
perfect in all its parts, and so convinced was I of its merits, I have
written to my friend and relation Lord Clarina, who is now in town ,
recommending him to call on you, and if he still retains his idea of
getting a breech - loader, to order one such as you have made for me-
indeed he need go no further. I don't think I ever had a gun to suit
me so well, and I anxiously look forward (Please God) to the havoc I
shall do with it during the winter. Having been a constant shooting man
for the last 30 years, I don't consider myself a very bad judge of the
merits of guns, and in stating what I have done, I consider I am only
doing you common justice. Knowing something of simple mechanics,
I scarcely have a doubt of the durability of my gun, all the parts seem
to work so nicely and in such concert .
"Wishing you every success to repay you for your outlay and
anxiety in getting up such a boon to the Sportsman, as your new Central
Fire Gun certainly is,
" I remain, dear Sir, yours truly,
" GEORGE H. DAW, Esq." (Signed) " JOHN WESTROPP."
 APPENDIX. 117

Extract of Letter received from the Marquis Carmarthen,

15th August, 1862.
" BARMINGHAM PARK, DARLINGTON ,
66
Thursday, August 14th .
" MY DEAR SIR,
"I promised to write you some account of the New Breech-
loader, after I had tried it at something besides Pigeons and Rabbits .
I told you I was very pleased with what I saw of it at that work, but
thought I would wait for a fairer trial. I have shot with it for the two
last days, and like it immensely. It is uncommonly handy, shoots very
hard and close, in fact does all that a gun should do , and I don't think
I ever shot with one I liked more ; in fact, with regard to the Gun
itself, it is at present all that can be wished for ****
I remain, yours,
(Signed) " CARMARTHEN."

Extract of Letter received 15th August, 1862.

" CLEISH CASTLE , Kinross,
" 14th August, 1862 .
" DEAR SIR ,

" I have much pleasure in testifying to the excellence of the

Central- Fire Breech-Loader. Without exception, it is the most perfect
weapon of the day. There is nothing to get out of order, and a miss-
fire is next to impossible. I find I load as quickly again as with the old
style of breech-loader. My friends who are shooting with the latter are
quite out of conceit with their guns
"I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully,
“ GEO. H. Daw, Esq., (Signed) " H. M. SIMONS ."
" Threadneedle Street, London ."

Extract of Letter received 27th August.

" GLENLEE, NEW GALLOWAY, N.B.,
“ 26th August, 1862.
" DEAR SIR,

"Owing to the great scarcity of birds in this part of the country

I have not had quite so much shooting as I expected, but it has been
118 APPENDIX.

sufficient to satisfy me ofthe excellence of your Gun, and the advantage

that it possesses in point of simplicity and quickness of loading over
any other Breech-Loader that I have yet seen.
"I am, yours truly,
(Signed) "JNO. STEWART OXLEY."
"G. H. DAW, Esq.,
Threadneedle Street, London."

From A. Cockell, Esq.

"ATTLEBOROUGH, NORFOLK.
" SIR,
" I have been shooting with one of your Patent Breech-loading
Guns since the first week in November last, and have much pleasure in
stating I am perfectly satisfied with it, and prefer your principle to any
I have seen . " I am, &c.,
"A. COCKELL.”

From J. Westropp, Esq. (Second Letter.)

" BELVEDERE HOUSE, TRAMORE, C. WATERFORD,
" 19th July, 1863.
" DEAR SIR,

" After I got the gun from you last June twelvemonth, when I
used it rabbit shooting, it pleased me so much in every particular that
I wrote a letter testifying my approval ; but now that I have had a
full season's trial of it, I am more convinced than ever of its merits, both
in principle and hard shooting powers, the former very far exceeds in
the Breech-loading way any that has been brought out, and though I
have had guns made by Purday, John Manton, Lancaster, and Westley
Richards, all first- rate, to none will yours yield the palm for hard
shooting.
"From all the expense and anxiety you have taken to bring such a
gun before the Sporting world, you deserve to be patronised, and I
wish your new Central-fire Breech-loaders may make you a rapid
fortune.
"With my best wishes, believe me, &c.,
"JOHN WESTROPP."
 APPENDIX. 119

From H. Bayley, Esq.

" Freeburn, INVERNESSHIRE,
“ Tuesday, Aug. 18th, 1863 .
" DEAR DAW,

"I don't suppose that my testimony in favour of your excellent

Gun will be of any service to you as its merits have already been
fully acknowledged, and you have doubtless been complimented on its
success by others who are better qualified to give an opinion than I am.
"You will be glad to learn, however, that the gun you selected for
me suits me admirably in every respect, indeed I never wish for a
better. Our birds are very scarce indeed, and the weather very
unpropitious, nevertheless, when I have got within any reasonable
distance of the grouse, I have generally put some of your number
five in the right place. I had fifteen successive shots the other day
(some of them very long ones) and brought down every bird. M.-
is equally pleased with his gun, and has been shooting very well.
With best wishes, believe me, &c.,
" H. BAYLEY.”

From J. S. Brooking, Esq.

" LIDWELL, Gondhurst, Kent,
" September 28, 1863 .
" DEAR SIR,
66
' Although my shooting has not been very good, I have had
sufficient trial of my new gun to enable me to congratulate you as the
maker, and myself as the possessor of a perfect weapon.
"As an ordinary fowling piece, it shoots strong and well, and without
any sensible recoil, while as a patent article it entirely fulfils every
promise of your prospectus.
"The ease, quickness, and comfort of loading it are beyond all praise ;
and I have never had a miss fire, or hang fire, nor has there been a
single instance of a fracture of the cap, or the least escape of smoke or
gas at the breech.
"I have not had the slightest difficulty in inserting or withdrawing the
cartridges, and having, by way of experiment, re- capped and re- charged
some spent cartridge cases ; I fouud no difficulty in the operation.
"Only in one instance has the head of a cartridge broken off from the
tube, and that really goes for nothing, because the case was one of your
120 APPENDIX.

original green ones, which you have now replaced by better, and more-
over it was one of my own filling, at a time when I was new to the
operation, and it is very likely I had given it too hard a squeeze in
turning down the edge. The tube came out quite easily.
"You may rely on my taking every opportunity of recommending
your gun to my acquaintances, and heartily wishing you success in your
manufacture,
" I remain, &c.,
"J. S. BROOKING."

"P.S.-The fouling of the barrels is so slight that, by merely drawing

the drag through them after every day's shooting, I have kept them as
bright as when they left your shop ; and simply wiping the outside with
an oiled leather is all that is required."

From E. Hunter, Esq.,

" COOLBALLINTAGGART, AUGHRIM, C. WICKLOW,

"October 20th, 1863.
DEAR SIR,

"The Breech-loader does well, it is pronounced the Gun of the

County, it is a puzzler to any one who has never seen the principle to
know it from a muzzler,
" Yours, &c.,
"EDWARD HUNTER ."

From F. Le Mesurier, Esq.

" 14, ST. JAMES' SQUARE,

"November 27, 1863 .
"C SIR,

"The Patent Central-fire Breech-loader which you made for me

last May, I have shot with almost daily during this season. It has given
me in all respects entire satisfaction.
" The absence of the slightest escape of gas at the breech obviates any
oxidation, an advantage hardly to be appreciated unless tried. Hard
hitting and cleanliness are also obvious results.
" Many of your cartridges I have used four times, have re-capped
them with ease, and have never had a missfire.
 APPENDIX . 121

“ The gun cannot be fired unless the barrels are dead locked, without
this qualification no breech-loader is safe.
"During three years I shot with a pin-cartridge breech-loader, and I
am entirely of opinion, that any system of breech-loading which embraces
the use of a pin-cartridge, or any other cartridge which admits the
escape of gas, is a step in the wrong direction.
" I remain, &c.,
"F. LE MESURIER."

From G. Goldsmid, Esq.

" 103, PICCADILLY.
"8th December, 1863.
“ SIR,

" I have had in constant use your new Patent Breech-loading

gun for the last three months, and I should not be doing justice to you if
I were not to express in writing my entire approval of the workmanship
and of its efficiency. I have not the least doubt that it will supersede
the ordinary pin gun.
" I am, &c.,
"GEORGE GOLDSMID ."

From J. H. Schroder, Esq.

" KNOWLE COTTAGE, TONBRIDGE,
" December, 14, 1863 .
" DEAR DAW,
" Too much cannot be said on the score of comfort in shooting
with a breech loader, and I have made some of the best shots I ever had
in the two or three days I have shot with your gun.
" Yours, &c.,
" J. H. SCHRODER."

From F. Walker, Esq.

" CLAXTON GRAnge, York,
" December 31st, 1863,
" SIR,
"I have much pleasure in being able to inform you that my gun
which you supplied me with at the beginning of this season, has given
me the most complete satisfaction.

6
122 APPENDIX.

" I have shot with it regularly throughout the season, and find it works
admirably, and shoots remarkably strong. My own opinion is, that the
Central-fire Breech-loaders will entirely supersede the others, as they
are so much less liable to get bent at the breech.
"I find your cartridges reload extremely well and without difficulty,
mine I have all used regularly twice this season, and many I find will
do three times. A little improvement in the cardboard would, I have
no doubt, allow of their being fired four times.
" I am, &c.,
"F. WALKER."

From the Rev. H. J. Knightly,

"January 14th, 1864.
"DEAR SIR,
"I have shot regularly with your gun the whole of this season,
and am perfectly satisfied with it in every respect.
"It works well in all its parts, throws the shot very close and strong,
and certainly is not equalled by any gun that I have seen, in respect to
escape at the breech. I have used nearly 300 shots in the day, and the
joint at the breech has been as clear at the end of the day as it was at
the beginning.
" Believe me, &c.,
" H. J. KNIGHTLY."

From C. CARNAC, Esq., Calcutta.

Extract from a Letter dated January 6, 1864.

"I have tried the guns and am delighted with them ; they shoot
splendidly, and are the admiration of all who see them."

Extractfrom a Letter from an Officer in the Bombay Staff Corps, dated,

" POONAH,
"27th December, 1863.

"I have received the gun safely, and have every reason for being
perfectly satisfied with the way in which you have executed my com-
mission.
"I am very much obliged to you for having sent the gun so expe-
ditiously."
 APPENDIX. 123

Letter received 20th April, 1864, from J GIBBS, Esq., H.M. Bombay
Civil Service.

" THE FIRS, UPPER NORWOOD, S.,

66 April 19th, 1864.

" DEAR MR. Daw,

" I have much pleasure in giving you my opinion of your Breech-
Loading Gun. I shot with the twelve bore you made me on your new
principle for the first three months of last season, and after that, chiefly to
try my old favourite gun against the breach-loader, I used the gun you
made and sent me to India for the last two months of the season. So I
think I am in a position to judge between them. As far as simplicity in
the mechanism, facility of loading, changing the shot, &c., are concerned,
I never had a doubt but that the Breech-Loader was by far the better,
the only point on which I required practical proof was the power of its
shooting. On this point now I can speak with certainty, for, although, a
harder shooting gun than my old double I have never seen, I found the
Breech-Loader come up to it. The only drawback I met with was an
occasional bad cap in the cartridge. I think I had four instances of
this only, not more than I have met with in an equal amount of shooting
with Eley's best caps .
" I have no hesitation therefore in according my approbation to the
Breech-Loader. I have seen and compared other Breech-Loaders with
it, and yours has decidedly the palm. They would be most useful in
India, and, as you know, I intend having a rifle on the same patent to
take out with me. In these days of rapid invention it is of course pos-
sible that an improvement may be made even in your patent, but it will
not be in any material point, I feel assured.
" I have taken every possible means to recommend your principle to
my friends, and I feel sure that when my gun is seen in India you will
receive many orders for similar weapons.
" Wishing you every success, believe me,
" Yours very faithfully,
" J. GIBBS,
“ H. M. Bombay Civil Service."
" G. H. DAW, Esq.,
" Threadneedle Street, London."
124 APPENDIX.

" LONDON, APRIL 4TH, 1864.

"SIR,
" I have much pleasure in bearing testimony to the perfect
efficiency of your gun. I have shot with it during the past season in all
weathers without having a single miss-fire. It shoots both strongly and
closely, and there is not the slightest escape of gas. Its mechanism is as
ingenious as it is simple, and cannot with ordinary care get out of order.
In short, I could not wish for a better gun in every respect.
" I am, Sir,
" Yours, obediently,
" GEORGE BALDOCK."
66
Major, H.M. Indian (Madras) Army."

11, GROVE ROAD, ST. JOHN'S WOOD,

"April 26th, 1864.
" DEAR SIR,
" Having used your Central Fire Breech-loader now two seasons
I cannot do otherwise than offer to you my unqualified approbation of it
as the most perfect gun for field purposes yet invented, its simplicity of
construction rendering it almost impossible to get out of order.
" The greatest of its good qualities is, in my opinion, the quickness
with which you can load, attributable to the single action of the lever
under the trigger guard, and consequently the dropping of the barrels,
the exploded cartridge is (by your principle) rendered easier of extrac-
tion than by any other patent ; in fact, I consider that I can load 30 per
cent. quicker with yours than with any other breech-loader that I have
seen.
" The cartridges act very well, and I do not see that you can make
any improvement in them.
" Yours, very truly,
" (Signed) "W. A. TINKLER."
 APPENDIX. 125

[APPENDIX NOTE. ]

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

The following letter which I was compelled to publish

in Bell's Life, the Field, and elsewhere, will sufficiently
explain itself. In order to perpetuate the nature of the
injury sought to be done me, I re-produce it here.

" DAW'S BREECH-LOADING GUNS.

" SIR,-Will you be kind enough to afford me an opportunity of
correcting what is to me a serious and most injurious circulation of un-
truth ? As a manufacturer and patentee of some standing, I cannot
allow the matter to pass unnoticed.
" For some time past it has been falsely reported that Mr. Lancaster,
of New Bond Street, had issued an injunction against my patent breech-
loading gun and cartridge. I beg to say, up to this day no injunction
has been issued against any of my patents, and that the two principles
(Mr. Lancaster's and mine) are totally different. It was not my inten-
tion to have troubled the papers with further reference to this matter
beyond what has already appeared, but, from the fact that in a conver-
sation a few days back in the Conservative Club, several members who
intended purchasing my new guns were assured by a distinguished
member (whose name I can furnish) that I could not supply the guns in
consequence of Mr. Lancaster stopping me. Relying upou your sense
of justice you will, I hope, grant me space to contradict such statements,
and to inform the sporting world that it was not until I had commenced
legal proceedings against Mr. Lancaster were any attempts made to
interfere with my patents ; even then an action for infringement only
was brought, which I was fully prepared to meet and negative in this
most conclusive manner ; but on the eve of trial Mr. Lancaster's attor-
ney's formally discontinued it, undertaking at the same time to pay my
costs.
"It will thus be seen that my right and. power to manufacture my
patent breech-loading gun and cartridge are beyond all question ; and if
it were not for smarting under the injuries of untrue statements, I would
not trespass on your valuable space.
"GEORGE H. DAW, Gunmaker.
"57, Threadneedle Street, E.C. , Jan. 13."

JOHN KING, & Co. , Printers, 63, Queen Street, Cannon Street, London, E.C.
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