Steve, re the famous William Greener (the father) quote about breech loaders and the comment above:
"The elder Greener wrote in 1858 in his book Gunnery that "the French system of breech-loading fire-arms is a specious pretence," adding "there is no possibility of a breech-loader ever shooting equal to a well-constructed muzzle-loader," and "the gun is unsafe, and becomes more and more unsafe from the first time it is used." Perhaps to cement his point, three W. Greener muzzle-loaders were entered in the 1858 Field trial, and all out-performed the competing pinfires. Ouch. "
I'm not sure the three W.Greener muzzle-loaders at the April 1858 trial at Cremorna did out perform the breech loaders. "The Field" in its 16 October 1858 review of the book excoriated Greener on this point, noting that Mr. Reilly breech-loaders shot the equal of one Greener gun and had not at all be humiliated by the others. Here's a portion of the text. Just noting this because "The Field" clearly saw the future after this trial:
