Breech-loading

Receiving the charge at the breech instead of the muzzle. A feature of modern small-arms. The principle, however, is very old, as some of the earliest guns were breech-loaders. A gun of the time of Henry VIII. still extant is substantially the same as the modern Snider . Puckle’s revolver of 1718 was mounted on a tripod, and was very much like the Gatling gun in its general features. The first American patent was to Thornton & Hall, of Ma achusetts, 1811. These guns were extensively i ued to U. S. troops. There is a specimen in the West Point Museum. Prior to 1861 the best known breech-loading small-arms were Sharps’ , Burnside’s , Maynard’s , Merrill’s , and Spencer’s . See Small-arms . In modern times the breech-loading principle for heavy ordnance has gained and lost favor at different epochs. On the continent of Europe it is generally accepted. Italy, however, has committed itself in the largest calibers to the enormous 100-ton muzzle-loaders of Sir William Armstrong. The same inventor introduced his breech-loading field-piece in England about 1850. His principle was approved and adopted for various calibers about 1858, but partial failures in his system led to an investigation by a committee of the House of Commons, 1862-63, and after a tedious discu ion, the breech-loading principle was officially discarded (1866), though many of the guns were retained in the service. The succe ful application of hydraulic machinery in handling and loading heavy guns (1876) confirmed the government in its choice of muzzle-loaders. The difficulty of muzzle-loading in a turret and the impo ibility of employing the great length of bore nece ary to obtain the best results was, up to this time, the strong argument in favor of breech-loaders . Loading by hydraulic machinery from beneath the deck through a trap-door outside the turret obviated these objections to muzzle-loaders, and gave the gunners ample protection by closing the port, thus placing these guns for the time being on a par with breech-loaders. The bursting of the 38-ton gun on the “Thunderer” (1878), however, which has been generally attributed to double loading, has shaken confidence in hydraulic ramming, and now there is a strong current in favor of a return to breech-loaders. The splendid performance of Krupp guns on the practice-ground at Meppen, 1879, and the numerous misfortunes which have recently befallen the Woolwich and Elswick systems, have doubtle had their weight in this change of opinion.