At this time the only radical improvement in muskets under study is the ap plication of the automatic principle, to the extent of causing the musket itself to effect its own reloading upon discharge. The principle has been already applied with some success to pistols, and its advocates claim that it is logically in the line of development of the magazine rifle, in reducing to a minimum the interval be tween aimed shots. Both tactical and mechanical questions are involved in the consideration of the possible desirability of the substitution of a semi-automatic musket for the hand-operated magazine rifle. Up to the present the mechanical invention has not solved its part of the problem.
During the last few years American gunmakers have manifested much interest in single triggers, and this meritorious device is now largely adopted. The old double trigger does very well for game shooting in the field, but when it comes to the trap—particularly at live birds—many have witnessed the careful, studied finger shifting, and often painful laceration, which, continued at every shot, is bound to have effect on the strongest nerve and induce involuntary flinching. It is believed by many that the single trigger will remove a great many impediments which have existed in the past, marring both pleasure and scores. In the latest device the mechanism has an addition of a safety against the double or simul taneous discharge of both barrels. To render this impossible, a weight or coun terbalance is attached to the trigger, which N% eight works as a block swinging de vice. between the first and second barrels, locking the mechanism between the two shots absolutely, so only one barrel at a time can possibly be discharg,ed, when both hammers are cocked it shoots always the right barrel first and the left barrel second. Either hammer, however, can be cocked and fired by the single trigger separately.
The Philadelphia Arms Company, the Union Fire Arms Company, the Tor kelson Manufacturing Company and the Heal Rifle Company have recently en gag,ed in the manufacture of small arms possessing- meritorious features.
The Philadelphia Arms Company manufacture the A. H. Fox hammerless gun, which combines the best mechanical principles known to the gunmaker's art with an extremely simple and strong- mechanism. The parts are interchangeable.
The locks arc cocked by the dropping of the barrels. The cocking roll, which turns on the hinge-pin as the barrels drop, pushes back the cocking slide, which slide in turn pushes back the hammer, and at the same time compresses a spiral mainspring. sear then engages in the cock notch and holds the hammer back and the mainspring under compression until released by pulling the trigger in the usual manner. The barrel locking mechanism prevents the gun from shooting loose, especially when heavy charges of smokeless powder are used. A rotary bolt, which locks through an extension rib, draws the barrels back and down to the frame and holds them absolutely tight. The bolt is tapered or wedge shaped on its wearing surface, and arranged so that as it wears it works in further and thus by its wedge shape compensates for wear.
The Union Fire Arms Company are now putting on the market a single and double barreled shot gun, a double barreled automatic ejector shot gun, and a six shot magazine shot gun, all of excellent design and quality and bored for nitro powder. The double barreled hammerless, with or without an automatic ejector, is 12 gauge, full choked, with a very simple and effective mechanism. The ham
mer gun has the hammers in the top of the frame instead of on the side, and is as smooth in outward appearance as a hammerless. The six shot magazine repeat ing shot gun is a take down, having a solid breech block and a covered mechanism and is hammerless. An indicating trigger enables the user to cock or mica& the gun without working the magazine.
The Torkelson 'Manufacturing Company make a specialty of their single trigger double barrel hammerless gun, and their single barrel gun, made in auto matic ejector ancl non-ejector. This Company has recently taken on the manu facture of the New Worcester hammerless gun, for a description of which the reader is referred to page 242. In the single trigger gun, the mechanism is such that it is absolutely impossible to discharge both barrels at once, and when one barrel is fired the trigger changes automatically to the other without any attention from "The man behind the gun." When shooting at the trap most sportsmen use the left barrel, in such cases the trigger can he set for that barrel, and there will be no "pulling the wrong trigger" and loosing the bird: or if it is desirable to use the right barrel the trigger can be set in an instant without taking the 1,r1111 front the shoulder, or changing the position of either hand or finger, by pushing the rocker forward. The safety mehcanism is automatic, and of simple construction, easily taken out and assembled, and is positive in its action. The single barrel gun is choke-bored for black and nitro powders. It is provided with a heavy lug which has a slot milled near the breech end to correspond with a cross bar in the receiver; by this construction the strain of the discharge is divided between the cross bar and joint bolt, a feature of great importance, securing both strength and safety. The taking down is done by simply removing the spring latch joint bolt from the left side of the receiver. The receiver or action, which contains all the lock work, made in one piece, particular attention having been paid to the proper distribution of material, the greatest strength being found where the strain is most severe. The manner of fastening the stock to the receiver, as shown in the draw ing, is novel ; instead of having the round tang extend into the stock in the usual way, the wood is inside and the steel tangs on the outside. This, together with the two undercuts in the receiver, gives a treble lock-joint which for strength and neatness cannot be excelled. The hammer is of the low type and rebounding The Il cal Rifle Company are making a specialty of a rifle chambered for .22 caliber lung or short rim fire cartridges, firing twenty shots per minute. It has a front wedge sight and an adjustable rear peep sight ; the latter being adjusted by the turning of a screw. The take down principle is simple and convenient—turn ing the take down screw out of the hub the barrel can be lifted out of the stock. Reversing the operation puts it together. To load, the pushing of the lever opens the action for the cartridge, which after being dropped into the opening provided for the purpose, requires no further attention whatever, for on closing the action the breech bolt carries the cartridge into the chamber in the barrel. By pulling the thumb nut backwards the rifle is cocked ready for firing, and after firing, the exploded shell is automatically ejected by opening the action for the next load.