s arm (see Fig. 10), which occupied the place
of honor in the report of the American "Board on Magazine Guns,"
embodied two new principles of considerable importance, viz., the
central position of the magazine, and having it detachable with ease, so
that two or more magazines can be carried by the soldier.

The breech action of the Lee does not materially differ in design from
other bolt rifles, except that the bolt is in two pieces only--the body,
or bolt proper, and the hammer or cocking-piece. The firing pin, or
striker, is screwed into the hammer; the spiral main spring, which
surrounds the striker, is contained in a hollow in the body. The handle
is placed at the rear end of the bolt, and bent down toward the stock,
so as to allow the trigger to be reached without wholly quitting hold of
the bolt. The extractor is so connected with the bolt head as not to
share the rotation of the latter when the handle is turned down into the
locking position. When the handle is turned up to unlock the bolt, the
hammer is cammed slightly to the rear, by means of oblique bearings on
the bolt and hammer, so as to withdraw the point of the striker within
the face of the bolt. This oblique cam action also gives great power to
the extractor at first starting the empty cartridge case out of the
chamber.

The magazine, M, is simply a sheet iron or steel box of a size to hold
five cartridges, but there seems no reason why it should not be of
larger dimensions. It is detachable from the rifle, and is inserted from
underneath into a slot or mortise in the stock and in the shoe, in front
of the trigger guard. A magazine catch, C, just above the trigger guard,
engages in a notch, N, in the rear of the magazine, the projection, L,
first entering a recess prepared for it in the shoe. There is a magazine
spring, D, at the bottom of the magazine box which pushes the cartridges
up into the shoe. The point of the top cartridge is pushed into the
projection, L, and this keeps the lower cartridges in their places in
the box while the latter is detached; when the magazine is inserted in
the rifle, the withdrawal of the bolt causes the top cartridge to be
slightly drawn back, so that it is now free to be fed up into the shoe
by the magazine spring, D.

There is a later pattern of magazine, which has its front face quite
plain, with no projection, L, as the magazine catch was found sufficient
to hold the box in its place. To prevent the cartridges bei