It seems at last clear that the Enfield rifle can
be converted into a breech-loader both advantageously and cheaply. In the last published report of the Ordnance Select Committee on the -subject, Mr. Snider's process was stated to produce an arm satisfac- tory in every respect but that of accuracy of firing. The two -essential conditions were that the trials of the converted arm should show not less accuracy than that attained by the muzzle- loading Enfield, and that the cost of conversion should not exceed 1/. per rifle. Since the trials upon which the report in question was founded, Mr. Snider has so far improved upon his original system as to do away with the possibility of injury to the barrel, -and has also adopted an improved cartridge ; the result of the two improvements being that, in recent official trials, his -converted rifle has attained a degree of accuracy far greater than that of the Enfield, while the simplicity of the process of -conversion renders the cost greatly under the prescribed minimum. Whatever may be the course ultimately adopted in arming the Line, the discovery of a method by which the entire stock of Enfields could, if necessary, be cheaply and rapidly converted into a breech-loading arm of great merit is of unquestionable importance. It is curious, however, to observe how little is the public interest in the progress of experiments which may affect the national expenditure by millions, in comparison with that ex- sited by the exposure of some small job by which an individual is humiliated and a few hundreds saved. It is certainly more -entertaining to read, write, and ask questions in the House about Lord Amberley's Mediterranean expenses, than to study tabular statistics in decimals about bores, mean deviations, and the like. There is a certain personal zest in the one pursuit which is wanting in the other.
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