![]() The Rolling Block rifle of 1866 was simple and sturdy. Alas, the next year he fell off a hay wagon and died. He later returned stateside, to develop, in 1858, a rifle firing cardboard cartridges coated with beeswax and tallow. In the 1840s, after Remington acquired the services of William Jenks, ordnance officers disqualified his breech-loading carbine when a nipple failed on the 1,400th shot in a 1,500-round test. The industrial revolution spurred competition among inventors for army contracts. should the blow on the pommel fail to send the bullet home, or should the latter, in the act of aiming, start from its place and roll toward the muzzle, the gun would probably burst in discharging…, some hunters make use of a ramrod, usually hung by a string from the neck, but this materially increases the difficulty of loading.” Many hunters for convenience’s sake carry three or four bullets in the mouth the powder is poured down the muzzle of the piece, the bullet dropped in after it, the stock struck hard upon the pommel of the saddle, and the work is done. “The chief difficulty in running buffalo,” wrote Francis Parkman in 1849, “is that of loading the gun or pistol at full gallop. Early on, many failures were laid to flawed rifle design, and to variations in parts and ammunition. Reliable function is an elusive mistress. Remember: copper solvents attack copper brushes! Use nylon brushes for these solvents. Discard those with tattered bristles that let the steel core scrape rifling. Also, before enthusiastically shoving one down the bore, make sure your rod is long enough to push it clear of the muzzle! Brushes aren’t made to reverse inside! Stock up on brushes. As luck would have it, the man-eater bounded off. That misfire-caused by a light strike to a primer-might well have ended Patterson’s cat-killing quest. ![]() Rail construction had been halted in December 1898 by months-long depredations of two man-eating lions. As I covered his brain with my rifle, I felt that at last I had him…I pulled the trigger, and to my horror heard the dull snap…” “I was only partially concealed, he caught sight of me…and growled savagely. Patterson, an engineer on the Tsavo sector of the Uganda Railway. ![]() Rifle failures beset hunters stateside and abroad-including Col. Starr walked up and shot him dead.Īs the 19th century wound down in the West, having the law on your side counted for less than a well-aimed shot-and then a functioning rifle.Īccuracy? Odds were kind to lawmen, settlers and hunters who could riddle a milk pail at a few feet in a hurry. Ordered to dismount, Starr complied, but suddenly grabbed his Winchester. On the trail in Arkansas after jumping bail, he ran into an ex-deputy named Wilson. Patterson, left, dispatched the Tsavo man-eating lions after a misfire almost proved fatal. ![]()
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