Editing Breechloader

{{short description|Class of gun which is loaded from the  breech}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
[[File:Springfield_Trapdoor_breech_open.JPG|right|thumb|A [[Springfield Model 1888]] rifle with its breech open.]]

A '''breechloader'''<ref>{{cite book|author=Greener, W. |title=Modern Breech-Loaders 1871|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a6l8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT170|year=2013|publisher=Read Books Limited|isbn=978-1-4474-8414-1|page=170}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Gallwey, Ralph P. |title=Swivel-Guns - Breechloaders And Muzzleloaders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dO19CgAAQBAJ&pg=PP4|year=2013|publisher=Read Books Limited|isbn=978-1-4733-8374-6|page=4}}</ref> is a [[firearm]] in which the user loads the ammunition from the [[Chamber (firearms)|breech]] end of the [[gun barrel|barrel]] (i.e., from the rearward, open end of the gun's barrel), as opposed to a [[muzzleloader]], in which the user loads the ammunition from the ([[muzzle (firearms)|muzzle]]) end of the [[gun barrel|barrel]].

The vast majority of modern firearms are generally breech-loaders, while firearms made before the mid-19th century were mostly smoothbore muzzle-loaders. Only a few muzzleloading weapons, such as [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, [[rifle grenade]]s, some [[rocket launcher]]s, such as the [[Panzerfaust 3]] and [[RPG-7]], and the [[GP-25|GP series]] grenade launchers, have remained in common usage in modern military conflicts. However, referring to a weapon explicitly as breech-loading is mostly limited to weapons where the operator loads ammunition by hand (and not by operating a mechanism such as a [[bolt-action]]), such as [[artillery]] pieces or [[break-action]] small arms.

Breech-loading provides the advantage of reduced reloading time because it is far quicker to load the [[projectile]] and [[propellant]] into the [[chamber (firearms)|chamber]] of a [[gun]] or [[cannon]] than to reach all the way over to the front end to load ammunition and then push them back down a long tube &ndash; especially when the projectile fits tightly and the tube has spiral ridges from [[rifling]]. In [[field artillery]], the advantages were similar &ndash; crews no longer had to get in front of the gun and pack ammunition in the barrel with a [[ramrod]], and the shot could now tightly fit the bore, greatly increasing its power, range, and accuracy. It also made it easier to load a previously fired weapon with a [[fouling|fouled]] barrel. [[Gun turret]]s and emplacements for breechloaders can be smaller since crews don't need to retract the gun for loading into the muzzle end. Unloading a breechloader is much easier as well, as the ammunition can be unloaded from the breech end and is often doable by hand; unloading muzzle loaders requires drilling into the projectile to drag it out through the whole length of the barrel, and in some cases the guns are simply fired to facilitate unloading process.

The advent of breech-loading gave a significant increase to effective firepower by its own right, and also enabled further revolutions in firearm designs such as [[Repeating firearm|repeating]] and [[self-loading]] firearms.

==History==
[[File:Three shot breach loading cannon Henry VIII 1540 1543.jpg|right|thumb|Three-shot experimental breech-loading cannon (burst) belonging to [[Henry VIII of England]], 1540–1543.]]
[[File:Early breech loaders.jpg|right|thumb|Early types of breech-loaders from the 15th and 16th century on display at the [[Swedish Army Museum|Army Museum]] in Stockholm.]]
Although breech-loading firearms were developed as far back as the early 14th century in [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]] and various other parts of Europe,<ref>[[Held, Robert]] (1957). ''The Age of Firearms. A Pictorial History''. California: Harper & Row, pp. 20. {{ISBN|051724666X}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jaanmarss.planet.ee/juhendid/Tulirelvad/andmebaas/Renaud%20Beffeyte/gp_wpns.htm|title=Gunpowder Weapons of the Late Fifteenth Century}}</ref> breech-loading became more successful with improvements in [[precision engineering]] and [[machining]] in the 19th century.

The main challenge for developers of breech-loading firearms was sealing the breech. This was eventually solved for smaller firearms by the development of the self-contained metallic [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]] in the mid-19th century. For firearms too large to use cartridges, the problem was solved by the development of the [[interrupted screw]].

===Swivel guns===
{{main|Breech-loading swivel gun}}
[[Breech-loading swivel gun]]s were invented in the 14th century. They were a particular type of [[swivel gun]], and consisted in a small breech-loading cannon equipped with a [[swivel]] for easy rotation, loaded by inserting a mug-shaped chamber already filled with powder and projectiles. The breech-loading swivel gun had a high rate of fire, and was especially effective in [[anti-personnel]] roles.

===Firearms===
[[File:Henry VIII breech loading hunting gun breech block on hinges with reloadable iron cartridge original wheellock mechanism missing.jpg|right|thumb|[[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]'s breech-loading hunting gun, 16th century. The breech block rotates on the left on hinges, and is loaded with a reloadable iron [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]]. Thought to have been used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. The original [[wheellock]] mechanism is missing.]]
[[File:Breech loading firearm belonged to Philip V of Spain by A Tienza Madrid circa 1715.jpg|right|thumb|Breech-loading firearm that belonged to [[Philip V of Spain]], made by A. Tienza, [[Madrid]] circa 1715. It came with a ready-to-load reusable cartridge. This is a [[miquelet]] system.]]
[[File:Mechanism for 1715 breech loading firearm.jpg|right|thumb|Mechanism of Philip V's breech-loading firearm (detail)]]
[[File:Ferguson rifle.jpg|right|thumb|The [[breech mechanism]] of the [[Ferguson rifle]]]]
Breech-loading firearms are known from the 16th century. [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] possessed one, which he apparently used as a hunting gun to shoot birds.<ref>[[Tower of London]] exhibit.</ref> Meanwhile, in China, an early form of breech-loading musket, known as the [[Che Dian Chong]], was known to have been created in the second half of the 16th century for the [[Gunpowder weapons in the Ming dynasty|Ming dynasty's arsenals]].<ref>Zhao Shi-zhen(趙士禎).''Shén qì pu'' (神器譜). 1598.</ref> Like all early breech-loading fireams, gas leakage was a limitation and danger present in the weapon's mechanism.<ref>{{citation|url=http://greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2014/11/unique-weapon-of-ming-dynasty-breechloaders.html|title=Breech-loading arquebuses of the Ming Dynasty|date=12 November 2014 |access-date=11 February 2018}}</ref>

More breech-loading firearms were made in the early 18th century. One such gun known to have belonged to [[Philip V of Spain]], and was manufactured circa 1715, probably in [[Madrid]]. It came with a ready-to load reusable cartridge.<ref>[[Musée de l'Armée]] exhibit, Paris.</ref>

[[Patrick Ferguson]], a [[British Army]] officer, developed in 1772 the [[Ferguson rifle]], a breech-loading flintlock firearm. Roughly two hundred of the rifles were manufactured and used in the [[Battle of Brandywine]], during the [[American Revolutionary War]], but shortly after they were retired and replaced with the standard [[Brown Bess]] [[musket]]. In turn the American army, after getting some experience with muzzle-loaded rifles in the late 18th century, adopted the first standard breech-loading rifle in the world, [[M1819 Hall rifle]], and in larger numbers than the Ferguson rifle.

About the same time and later on into the mid-19th century, there were attempts in Europe at an effective breech-loader. There were concentrated attempts at improved cartridges and methods of ignition.

In Paris in 1808, in association with French gunsmith [[François Prélat]], [[Jean Samuel Pauly]] created the first fully self-contained [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridges]]:<ref name="Smyth">Wallace, James Smyth. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dHbHS5GhCN4C&pg=PA24&dq=Jean+Samuel+Pauly ''Chemical Analysis of Firearms, Ammunition, and Gunshot Residue'', p. 24.]</ref> the cartridges incorporated a copper base with integrated [[mercury fulminate]] primer powder (the major innovation of Pauly), a round bullet and either brass or paper casing.<ref>[http://www.sil.si.edu/smithsoniancontributions/HistoryTechnology/pdf_hi/SSHT-0011.pdf]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119200042/http://www.sil.si.edu/smithsoniancontributions/HistoryTechnology/pdf_hi/SSHT-0011.pdf|date=19 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="Pauly">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izGOfMdSm2IC&q=Jean+Samuel+Pauly&pg=PA94|title=Firearms: The Life Story of a Technology|first1=Roger A.|last1=Pauly|first2=Roger|last2=Pauly|date=16 May 2018|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313327964|via=Google Books}}</ref> The cartridge was loaded through the breech and fired with a needle. The needle-activated central-fire breech-loading gun would become a major feature of firearms thereafter.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmQVan-M3ykC&q=Jean+Samuel+Pauly&pg=PA121|title=A History of Firearms: From Earliest Times to 1914|first=W. Y.|last=Carman|date=1 March 2004|publisher=Dover Publications|isbn=9780486433905|via=Google Books}}</ref> The corresponding firearm was also developed by Pauly.<ref name="Smyth"/> Pauly made an improved version, which was protected by a patent on 29 September 1812.<ref name="Smyth"/>

The Pauly cartridge was further improved by the French gunsmith [[Casimir Lefaucheux]] in 1828, by adding a pinfire primer, but Lefaucheux did not register his patent until 1835: a [[pinfire cartridge]] containing powder in a cardboard shell.

In 1845, another Frenchman [[Louis-Nicolas Flobert]] invented, for [[Gallery gun|indoor shooting]], the first [[Rimfire ammunition|rimfire metallic cartridge]], constituted by a bullet fit in a percussion cap.<ref>[http://www.firearmsadvantage.com/history_of_firearms.html ''History of firearms''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222090129/http://www.firearmsadvantage.com/history_of_firearms.html# |date=22 December 2015 }} ''fireadvantages.com''.</ref><ref>[http://www.firearmsadvantage.com/how_guns_work.html ''How guns work''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222103328/http://www.firearmsadvantage.com/how_guns_work.html# |date=22 December 2015 }} ''fireadvantages.com''.</ref> Usually derived in the 6&nbsp;mm and 9&nbsp;mm calibres, it is since then called the Flobert cartridge but it does not contain any powder; the only [[propellant]] substance contained in the cartridge is the percussion cap itself.<ref>[http://www.arquebusiers.be/section-tir.htm Shooting section (''la section de tir'')] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110001815/http://www.arquebusiers.be/section-tir.htm# |date=10 November 2013 }} of the official website (in French) of a modern indoor shooting association in Belgium, ''Les Arquebusier de Visé''.</ref> In English-speaking countries the Flobert cartridge corresponds to the [[.22 BB]] and [[.22 CB]] ammunitions.

In 1846, yet another Frenchman, [[Benjamin Houllier]], patented the first fully metallic cartridge containing powder in a metallic shell.<ref>Simili, Maître (Spring 1990). [http://trabuc.perso.sfr.fr/mapage/les-lefaucheux.pdf ''Les Lefaucheux''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008064628/http://trabuc.perso.sfr.fr/mapage/les-lefaucheux.pdf |date=8 October 2013 }} (In French.)</ref> Houllier commercialised his weapons in association with the gunsmiths Blanchard or Charles Robert.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20francaise/artisans%20e%20f%20g%20h%20i%20j/a%20houllier%20blanchar%20gb.htm|title=An example of a Benjamin Houllier gun manufactured in association with the gunsmith Blanchard|website=littlegun.info}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20francaise/artisans%20e%20f%20g%20h%20i%20j/a%20houllier%20blanchar%20et%20ch%20robert%20gb.htm|title=An example of a Benjamin Houllier gun manufactured in association with the gunsmiths Blanchard and Charles Robert|website=littlegun.info}}</ref> But the subsequent Houllier and Lefaucheux cartridges, even if they were the first full-metal shells, were still pinfire cartridges, like those used in the [[LeMat Revolver|LeMat]] (1856) and [[Lefaucheux M1858|Lefaucheux]] (1858) revolvers, although the LeMat also evolved in a revolver using rimfire cartridges.

The first [[Centerfire ammunition|centrefire cartridge]] was introduced in 1855 by Pottet, with both [[Internal ballistics|Berdan and Boxer priming]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Westwood, David |title=Rifles: An Illustrated History of Their Impact|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hLBTkNZ8U44C&pg=PA29|year=2005|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-401-1|page=29}}</ref>

In 1842, the [[Norwegian Armed Forces]] adopted the breech-loading caplock, the [[Kammerlader]], one of the first instances in which a modern army widely adopted a breech-loading rifle as its main infantry firearm.

The ''Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr'' ([[Dreyse needle gun]]) was a single-shot breech-loading rifle using a [[rotating bolt]] to seal the breech. It was so called because of its .5-inch needle-like firing pin, which passed through a [[paper cartridge]] case to impact a [[percussion cap]] at the bullet base. It began development in the 1830s under [[Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse]] and eventually an improved version of it was adopted by [[Prussia]] in the late 1840s. The paper cartridge and the gun had numerous deficiencies; specifically, serious problems with gas leaking. However, the rifle was used to great success in the Prussian army in the [[Austro-Prussian war]] of 1866. This, and the [[Franco-Prussian war]] of 1870–71, eventually caused much interest in Europe for breech-loaders and the Prussian military system in general.

In 1860, the New Zealand government petitioned the Colonial Office for more soldiers to defend [[Auckland]].<ref>[[Belich, James]] (1986). ''The New Zealand Wars''. Auckland: Penguin, pp. 119–125. {{ISBN|0-14-027504-5}}.</ref> The bid was unsuccessful and the government began instead making inquiries to Britain to obtain modern weapons. In 1861 they placed orders for the [[Calisher and Terry carbine]], which used a breech-loading system using a bullet consisting of a standard [[Minié ball|Minié lead bullet]] in .54 calibre backed by a charge and tallowed wad, wrapped in nitrated paper to keep it waterproof. The carbine had been issued in small numbers to English cavalry ([[Hussar]]s) from 1857. About 3–4,000 carbines were brought into New Zealand a few years later. The carbine was used extensively by the Forest Rangers, an irregular force led by [[Gustavus von Tempsky]] that specialized in bush warfare and reconnaissance. Von Tempsky liked the short carbine, which could be loaded while lying down. The waterproofed cartridge was easier to keep dry in the New Zealand bush. Museums in New Zealand hold a small number of these carbines in good condition.<ref>Te Awamutu Museum, [[Te Awamutu]], Waikato, New Zealand. Research notes and a C and T carbine</ref><ref>[http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/search.aspx?term=terry%20carbine "Terry Carbines"], Te Papa</ref>
[[File:Culasse systeme De Bange before 1923.jpg|thumb|de Bange breech]]
During the [[American Civil War]], at least nineteen types of breech-loaders were fielded.<ref name="American Breech">''American Breech-loading Small Arms: A Description of Late Inventions, Including the Gatling Gun, and a Chapter on Cartridges''. 1 January 1872, p. 14.</ref> The [[Sharps rifle|Sharps]] used a successful dropping block design. The [[Greene rifle|Greene]] used rotating bolt-action, and was fed from the breech. The [[Spencer repeating rifle|Spencer]], which used lever-actuated bolt-action, was fed from a seven-round detachable [[tube magazine]]. The [[Henry rifle|Henry]] and [[Volcanic rifle|Volcanic]] used rimfire metallic cartridges fed from a tube magazine under the barrel. These held a significant advantage over muzzle-loaders. The improvements in breech-loaders had spelled the end of muzzle-loaders. To make use of the enormous number of war surplus muzzle-loaders, the Allin conversion Springfield was adopted in 1866. [[General Burnside]] invented a breech-loading rifle before the war, the [[Burnside carbine]].

The French adopted the new [[Chassepot]] rifle in 1866, which was much improved over the Dreyse needle gun as it had dramatically fewer gas leaks due to its [[de Bange]] sealing system. The British initially took the existing Enfield and fitted it with a [[Snider-Enfield|Snider breech action]] (solid block, hinged parallel to the barrel) firing the Boxer cartridge. Following a competitive examination of 104 guns in 1866, the British decided to adopt the [[Peabody action|Peabody]]-derived [[Martini-Henry]] with trap-door loading in 1871.
[[File:Чертёж_к_статье_«Варендорф»._Военная_энциклопедия_Сытина_(Санкт-Петербург,_1911-1915).jpg|right|thumb|Wahrendorff breech]]
Single-shot breech-loaders would be used throughout the latter half of the 19th Century, but were slowly replaced by various designs for [[repeating rifle]]s, first used in the American Civil War. Manual breech-loaders gave way to manual magazine feed and then to [[Automatic rifle|self-loading rifles]].

=== Artillery ===
{{Main|Rifled breech loader}}
The first modern breech-loading rifled gun is a breech-loader invented by [[Martin von Wahrendorff]] with a cylindrical breech plug secured by a horizontal wedge in 1837.
In the 1850s and 1860s, Whitworth and Armstrong invented improved breech-loading artillery.

The M1867 naval guns produced in [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://artillery-museum.ru/en/schema-2.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711201309/http://artillery-museum.ru/en/schema-2.html|url-status=dead|title=The History of Russian Artillery since the mid-19th century up to 1917|archivedate=11 July 2009}}</ref> at the [[Obukhov State Plant]] used [[Krupp]] technology.

==Breech mechanism==
{{main|Action (firearms)}}
A breech action is the loading sequence of a breech loading [[naval gun]] or [[small arm]]. The earliest breech actions were either three-shot [[Break action|break-open]] actions or a barrel tip-down, remove the plug and reload actions. The later [[breech-loader]]s included the [[Ferguson rifle]], which used a screw-in/screw out action to reload, and the [[Hall rifle]], which [[tip up barrel|tipped up]] at 30 degrees for loading. The better breech loaders, however, used [[percussion caps]], including the [[Sharps rifle]], using a [[falling block action|falling block]] (or [[Breechblock|sliding block]]) action to reload. And then later on came the [[Dreyse needle gun]] that used a moving seal (bolt) to seal and expose the breech. Later on, however, the [[Mauser Model 1871|Mauser M71/84]] rifle used self-contained metallic [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridges]] and used a rotating bolt to open and close the breech.

==See also==
*[[Breechblock]]
*[[Interrupted screw]]
*[[Rifled musket]]
*[[Rifled breechloader]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[[Greener, William Wellington]] (1892). ''The Breechloader and How to Use It ... Illustrated''. London: Cassell & Co. {{OCLC|560426421}}
*Held, Robert (1970). ''The Age of Firearms; A Pictorial History from the Invention of Gunpower to the Advent of the Modern Breechloader''. Northfield, Ill: Gun Digest Co. {{ISBN|069580068X}} {{OCLC|85426}}
*Layman, George J. (1997). ''A Guide to the Ballard Breechloader''. Union City, TN: Pioneer Press. {{OCLC|38968829}}

==External links==
*{{cite book |last1=Dodge |first1=William Castle |title=Breech-loaders Versus Muzzle-loaders Or How to Strengthen Our Army and Crush the Rebellion with a Saving of Life and Treasure |date=1864 |publisher=E.A. Stevens |location=Washington, D.C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01QfugXX35cC |access-date=12 September 2023}}
* {{cite journal
 |date       = 12 July 1861
|title      = History of the Rifled Cannon: Discovery of the Breech-Loading Gun and Conical Projectiles
 |journal    = [[The New York Times]]
 |url        = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F0CE6DA1F38E333A25751C1A9619C946091D7CF
 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20130208163723/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F0CE6DA1F38E333A25751C1A9619C946091D7CF
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-date = 8 February 2013
|access-date = 25 February 2009
}}
* {{Cite journal |url=https://archive.org/details/scientific-american-1894-06-02 |date=2 June 1894 |title=Notes on the History of the Breech-Loading Gun |volume=70 |issue=22 |pages=cover, 343 |journal=[[Scientific American]]|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican06021894-343 }}
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/69336/rec/169 Firearms from the collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein], an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on breech-loading weapons

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breech-Loading Weapon}}
[[Category:14th-century introductions]]
[[Category:Firearm actions]]
[[Category:French inventions]]