An obscure sporting clergyman living on the Scottish coast might seem an unlikely candidate for the title of the greatest benefactor in the history of the development of firearms, yet that is just the accolade which Rev. Alexander Forsyth has rightly earned. By the invention of a system which freed the firer from the tyranny and uncertainty of flint or fire, he directly opened the way for the modern cartridge-loading gun, making possible the evolution of both the revolver, the repeater and the machine gun.