Identifier: floridagamewater00inroos (find matches)
Title: Florida and the game water-birds of the Atlantic coast and the lakes of the United States : with a full account of the sporting along our sea-shores and inland waters, and remarks on breech-loaders and hammerless guns
Year: 1884 (1880s)
Authors: Roosevelt, Robert Barnwell, 1829-1906
Subjects: Waterfowl shooting Shotguns
Publisher: New York : Orange Judd Company
Contributing Library: University of Pittsburgh Library System
Digitizing Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

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more frequently than most persons sup-pose ; with the breech-loader, the barrels are openedand fall into such a position that no discharge cantake place, and never point towards the person oftheir owner. Several of the writers friends have been maimedfor life by the premature discharge of a load in themuzzle-loader from a spark remaining in the barrel;the risk connected with it has always seemed vetygreat; and even with the patent flasks, which arehardly practical inventions, more or less unavoid-able. This danger is entirely obviated by the breech-loader, which cannot go ofi until the barrels arerestored to position after the charges are inserted ;cannot leave hidden sparks to imperil the ownerslife or limb; never expose the hand over theloaded barrel, that may have been left at half-cock,if the sportsman is liable to thoughtlessness orover-excitement; and which can be loaded withoutdifticulty in the most confined position. So, notoidy do we have rapidity, but entire safety in load-
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MUZZLE-LOADERS AND BREECH-LOADERS. 177 The objections, however, urged against breech-loaders have not been few, and, if well founded,forbid the use of the gun; if, as has been said, thetarget is not so good, nor the shot sent with asmuch force, the requisites of a first-chiss sportingimplement are wanting. These charges, freely ad-vanced, have been sustained in a measure by thevvretclied porformaucc of poor guns, but were earlybeen brought to the only true test—actual experi-ence, under equal conditions ; and by this test havebeen so utterly annihilated that tlieir discussion isonly necessary on account of popular ignorance ofthe experiments. When breech-loaders tirst cameprominently before the English public, their sup-posed merits and demerits were discussed in thesporting papers in an animated and violent manner;and in order to settle the questions at issue, theeditor of the London Field determined to have anopen trial, where the breech-loaders and muzzle-loaders could be fiiily

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