What is a Snell??

[garra]

I was looking at a percussion rifle on GB and in the decription it mentioned the Snell was plugged.  OK, what does that mean and is it significant???

Also on a slightly different note, can anyone recomend a basic book that covers what everything is called, or building a rifle, it sure would make looking for items a lot simplier.

thank you,

[T*O*F]

It is most likely a mispelling.  They probably mean snail which is the breechplug that has the nipple hole integral as one unit.  This is opposed to a drum type which is screwed into the side of the barrel.  If the snail is plugged, it means that the flash channel from the nipple to the bottom of the barrel is plugged.