some were imported by British gun makers to overwhelming indifference on the part of the gun users there. They were prejudiced technically against a gun that 'broke' in the middle, despite the much vaunted benefits of breechloading. They owned muzzle-loaders of exquisite perfection, considered themselves the best engineers in the world (inventing the Industrial Revolution), and had a poor view of the French - the old enemy and an unreliable ally. It was not until the Great Exhibition of 1851 was held in London that breechloading guns were taken more seriously by British and American gun makers in particular. The display of a Lefaucheux breechloading gun inspired English apprentice gunmaker Edwin Charles Hodges (1831–1925) to make an improved copy and persuade leading London gun maker Joseph Lang that this was the gun of the future. Lang was universally credited to be the first established British gunmaker to produce pinfires in any numbers. His first weapon of this new type was produced in 1853. Other British gun makers including Lancaster, Blanch and Reilly were similarly inspired by French originals and improved pinfire breechloaders became the new type of gun which by 1857–1858 every fashionable British prince and titled gentleman wanted to have. EC Hodges continued to make a good living as a specialist independent maker of breechloading actions commissioned by leading gunmakers such as Boss, Lancaster, Egg, Grant, Atkin, Rigby, Dickson, Purdey, Woodward, Army and Navy, and many others. After Casimir's death in 1852, his son Eugene continued to market the pinfire design with great success. It became increasingly popular in Europe and large numbers of rifles, shotguns, and revolvers (often called Lefaucheux guns after their inventor whoever the maker was), were manufactured from the mid-1850s until the late 1890s. They were quicker and easier to load than percussion weapons with loose black powder, percussion caps and bullet; and they were also much more likely to fire reliably when wet. Pinfire cartridges were available in a large number of sizes for various types of weapon. While pinfire rifles and shotguns declined from the early 1860s after the introduction of mass-produced centerfire rifle and shotgun cartridges, pinfire revolvers in particular became very successful and widespread, being adopted by the armies of France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, and others. They were also widely used during the American Civil War, although sometimes despised because of their low power compared to Colt, Smith & Wesson,