[Illustration: _The Centennial Monument at Kings Mountain, unveiled on the 100th anniversary of the Battle, October 7, 1880._] The recent tests conducted indoors at the Ford’s Theater Laboratory were made to determine the exact method of loading the arm, about which there had been some question, and to learn something of its shooting qualities. Loading was found to be extremely easy, suggesting that with practice the record set by Major Ferguson might be attained readily. The ball, weighing approximately 500 grains, was dropped, without patch or wad, into the breech chamber. A charge of approximately 1½ drams of Dupont “Fg” black powder was poured in behind it. Closure of the breech automatically gauged the charge, superfluous grains being ejected. The same powder, more finely ground, was used as priming. Several preliminary shots indicated that the rifle had precision and accuracy. Then, at a distance of 90 feet, three shots were fired in succession from a table rest by an expert marksman. Number one came within a half-inch, number two came within 4 inches, and number three came within 1¾ inches of a 1⅝-inch bull’s-eye. [Illustration: _View of the Kings Mountain region, taken from the eastern slope of the battlefield ridge, looking northeastwardly toward Henry’s Knob._] [Illustration: _Granite obelisk erected by the Federal Government at Kings Mountain in 1909 to commemorate the Battle._] U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1947 Footnotes [1]From _The Regional Review_, National Park Service, Region One, Richmond, Va., Vol. III, No. 6, December 1939, pp. 25-29. [2]From _Idem._, vol. V, No. 1, July 1940, pp. 15-21. [3]_Idem._, vol. VI, Nos. 1 and 2. National Park Service _Popular Study Series_ No. 1.—Winter Encampments of the Revolution. No. 2.—Weapons and Equipment of Early American Soldiers. No. 3.—Wall Paper News of the Sixties. No. 4.—Prehistoric Cultures in the Southeast. No. 5.—Mountain Speech in the Great Smokies. No. 6.—New Echota, Birthplace of the American Indian Press. No. 7.—Hot Shot Furnaces. No. 8.—Perry at Put in Bay: Echoes of the War of 1812. No. 9.—Wharf Building of a Century and More Ago. No. 10.—Gardens of the Colonists. No. 11.—Robert E. Lee and Fort Pulaski. No. 12.—Rifles and Riflemen at the Battle of Kings Mountain. No. 13.—Rifle Making in the Great Smoky Mountains. No. 14.—American Charcoal Making in the Era of the Cold Blast Furnace. Transcriber’s Notes —Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication. —Silently corrected a few palpable typos. —In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.