The Gun Is Not Provided With a Flint Lock
At present weapons having flint-locks have almost entirely gone out of use and have been superseded by the ordinary percussion gun; these latter, in turn, are being gradually replaced by breech-loaders, charged with or without a metallic cartridge. The indications obtained in the preceding examinations by means of the fire-pan, will therefore disappear; the results given by the inspection of the barrel may possibly hold good. In regard to breech-loaders, all the useful indications furnished by the coloration of the wadding and powder fail to occur; the latter being enclosed either in a paper cylinder or in a copper socket.
The fact that gun cotton and white gunpowder are occasionally made use of, adds to the difficulty of obtaining reliable results by the mere inspection of a weapon. White gunpowder does not oxidize the gun, fails to give rise to any salt of iron, and possesses a white color; gun-cotton produces distinctive indications varying with its purity. Owing to these facts, it is evident that the method proposed by M. Boutigny is of no real value, save in the rare instances where a gun provided with a fire-pan, and charged with ordinary powder, is under examination, and the question of the lapse of time since the discharge of a weapon must remain undetermined so far as scientific tests are concerned.