In the Victorian and Edwardian eras, amid the Industrial Revolution, great strides were made in the refinement of sporting guns, which had remained virtually unchanged for several hundred years. First was the invention of percussion caps on the hammers to replace the unreliable flintlocks. Next came a revolutionary lever-operated action mechanism that allowed the gun to be breech-loaded and mechanically recocked at the same time. Thus, instead of having to cram all the stuff down the muzzle, the hunter had merely to insert into the breech a self-contained shell consisting of shot, powder, and firing cap, snap the breech shut, and he was armed and ready. Following this was the so-called hammerless shotgun, which put the hammers inside the action for a cleaner, streamlined appearance. Then came the discovery of smokeless, high-explosive “nitro” gunpowder, which fortunately coincided with the invention of high-tensile “fluid” steel for the gun barrels. The weaker “twist” or Damascus steel that had been used till then works perfectly well in swords for chopping off heads in the Middle East, but is inclined to blow up when used in conjunction with nitro cartridges in shotguns.
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