Note 31 — Chapter IV
Reading edition
It is an old custom for the Gun Captain to keep the Priming-Wire in the vent while the loading is going on, feeling from time to time if the charge is home. It is a bad practice, because there is a liability of being caught by the charge as it comes along the Bore, and having the wire bent, thus spiking the vent, for a while at least. The mark on the Rammer handle is the best evidence that the charge is in place. The object now is only to clear the vent of pieces of cartridge stuff, which not unfrequently get into the vent, and choke it so as to prevent the primer from exploding the powder.