Tige-arms

Sometimes called pillar breech-arms. Arms with a stem of steel, screwed into the middle of the breech-pin, around which the charge of powder is placed. The ball enters free and rests upon the top of the pin, which is tempered, and a few blows with a heavy ramrod force the ball to fill the grooves of the rifled arm. This invention was an improvement by Capt. Thou venin on Delvignes’ plan of having a chamber for the powder smaller than the bore. Capt. Minié’s invention superseded the tige-arms, by means of a bullet which is forced to fill the grooves by the action of the charge itself at the instant of the explosion.