The Muzzle-Loading Shot-Gun.—In the days when the gun of this character was at its zenith, its quality could be approximately decided upon by a glance at the manufacturer’s brand which it bore, but at present that rule cannot be so safely trusted. Many of the houses which built for themselves a fine reputation by the manufacture of fine guns of the muzzle-loading order, have either ceased to exist, or have gone exclusively into the manufacture of breech-loaders, consequently the old brands, though they may still be met with, are not reliable. In truth they are more often dangerous signs than otherwise, in consequence of the fact that unscrupulous manufacturers not unfrequently apply them surreptitiously as an agent to aid in working off their bogus goods. It is, therefore, best to give brands but little consideration in judging the quality of new muzzle-loaders, trusting mainly on personal knowledge as to what a good gun should be, backed up by thorough test in all cases where such a thing is necessary.
The man capable of becoming a good gunsmith will require no special rules for his government in this matter. He will know that a steel gun is preferable to an iron gun, and he will be able to readily distinguish between steel and iron. He will also know that a gun finely finished in every particular, is, undoubtedly, a better gun than one put together in the rough, and his own eyes will quickly tell him as to the finish. Prompted by these considerations, the muzzle-loading shot-gun is turned over to the good sense of the gunsmith for adjudgement as to superior or inferior qualities, leaving him to decide upon it, unbiased by any rules that could be given, which is the most rational course to pursue, since, under existing circumstances it would be impossible to make rules that would be entirely reliable.
The Muzzle-loading Rifle.—In the case of the old-fashioned Kentucky rifle, still on the market in limited numbers, eyesight and test, if necessary, will have to be the main reliance of the gunsmith in judging of quality. The barrel of a first-quality gun of this character is wrought iron, made eight-square, and finely finished. The lock is steel, well put up, and provided with double or set triggers. The stock is either black-walnut or maple highly polished and oil-finished. The bore is given as perfect a degree of finish as iron is capable of taking, and the rifles are deeply-cut and entirely regular all the way through. The sights are made with great care, some of the finest guns having an elevating hind-sight to be changed for long or short range—say, for 500 or 50 yards. In some of the older made guns the foresights are silver, though as a general rule they are made of some kind of white metal compound not so liable to glimmer as silver. The tube-cylinder has a vent screw in the end of it, which may be taken out for the purpose of working in powder in case a ball should have been accidently put down without powder, which accident, without this provision, would be apt to necessitate an unbreeching of the gun. The barrels are of different lengths, ranging from 26 to 40 inches, and the size of bore is equally varied. It is usually estimated by the number of round bullets a pound of lead will cast to fit it, as 200 (smallest bore), 175, 100, and so on down to 50, which is considered the largest bore in common use. The weight of the gun complete usually ranges at from six to twelve pounds.
A steel-barrel rifle made on the Kentucky plan may be met with occasionally, though not often. The steel barrel generally adds about five dollars in cost over that of the iron barrel finished in the same way, and is supposed to be at least that much better on account of less liability to wear and roughen in the bore.
The muzzle-loading rifle of more modern style differs very materially from the old Kentucky rifle in many respects. Mr. Barber, in his “Crack Shot,” says of it that so many changes are constantly taking place, and opinions are so diversified, that it is really difficult to state what is the prevailing style; but he is of opinion that a barrel of from thirty to thirty-four inches in length, with a bore from thirty-eight hundredths inch to forty-four hundredths inch will be found to answer best for general purposes. If for sporting purposes exclusively the barrel ought to be a little shorter, perhaps, though he believes the great hunters of the plains use rifles with barrels of from thirty five to forty inches in length, and of a calibre so small as to enable them to make sixty round balls out of one pound of lead.
But, still adopting Barber, it is very difficult to lay down particular rules as to what a muzzle-loading rifle of modern style should be, as marksmen and gunmakers are both whimsical, and each has his set ideas and notions concerning the matter. Some advocate a long barrel, while others maintain that anything beyond thirty-three inches militates against good shooting.
There are many prominent establishments engaged in the manufacture of modern muzzle-loading rifles, some of them carrying splendid reputations, hence in this case a good deal of reliance can be placed upon brands. For instance, should a rifle be seen marked to Wesson, it is a guarantee of a good gun, for the reputation of the manufacturer is worth too much to admit of risking its tarnish by putting upon the market goods bearing his brand that are not fully up to all that is claimed for them.
And now that reference has been made incidentally to Wesson, a description may as well be made of some of the peculiarities of his muzzle-loading rifle as presenting a fair sample of a first-class gun of this order. And to do this under the best of authority, reference is made to Mr. Chapman’s book on the Rifle, which is generally accepted as a standard work.
Referring to the Wesson muzzle-loading rifle, Mr. Chapman says that the barrel is made of cast steel, not highly carbonized, but thoroughly annealed in an air-tight oven. The length of the barrel is two feet eight inches when the loading muzzle is off. Outside, the barrel tapers a little from breech to muzzle, the difference in diameter being one fourth of an inch. The barrel is not furnished with a rib, except it be that the short tube at the breech can be called a rib, the peculiarity of stocking doing away with the necessity for a regular rib. The gun has a patent breech, which is made of iron case-hardened. It is joined to the break-off by the old-fashioned hook, with the addition of a half-lap joint, secured by a square-headed screw. Such a mode of fastening the barrel destroys the necessity for wood forward of the breech, and gives a peculiarly elegant and striking appearance to the arm. The loading-muzzle is put on by means of four steel wire pins about one-eighth of an inch in diameter and three-eighths long, and the holes for these pins are located as near the outside as possible.
The grooves of this rifle are cut with a twist, which turns the bullet once in three feet six inches. There are six grooves, and the spaces between them are left entirely square to the interior surface, presenting a kind of dove-tail appearance. The grooves are not quite so wide as the spaces between them. The breech is furnished with a vent or breathing nipple, about the diameter of a common pin, and bushed with platinum. The lock has back-action, furnished with a single set. The stock is of black walnut, made as straight as possible. It is furnished with a patch box, and also a small box to contain a wiper, which can be attached to the end of the ramrod. A globe sight is fixed into the stock, just behind the break-off, while a bead sight holds position at the muzzle-end of the barrel. The weight of the gun complete is ten pounds.
Of course it will be clearly understood that this description is not offered as of the best muzzle-loading rifle made, but simply because it happened to be convenient to make. There are, doubtless, other guns equally as good, and a preference of one over the other, in all probability, would have to be born of circumstances, as something peculiar in the tastes or requirements of the person by whom the gun was to be used, or in the particular line of use to which it was to be applied.
The Breech-loading Shot Gun.—Gloan tells us that, in judging the quality of a breech-loader, there are other things to be taken into consideration besides the mere shooting of the gun. First among these is its safety relative to the person using it. There is more machinery and complication about it than there is about the muzzle-loader, and to that extent, if not made upon sound principles, and perfectly well made, it is more dangerous, to say nothing of being less durable.
But the principle must be a prime consideration, for, if a gun, no matter how well made, is constructed with a working movement which presents great strain and great friction, it must speedily wear out. Even the best breech-loader, with the soundest known action, must wear out sooner than would an arm of less complication, because some peculiar strain and friction cannot possibly be avoided; hence the great importance of passing judgment entirely favorable upon only the best.
The first thing to decide upon, then, is the principle upon which the gun works. No special rules can be given to govern in the formation of this decision other than that simplicity is always worthy of favorable consideration—the greater the simplicity the better, provided it works to the full accomplishment of all the ends desired. Next to simplicity may be ranked durability, and next to this may come in good shooting and safety. These last two considerations are put as third and fourth, when many persons would be inclined to rank them as second and first. Why this is done is because many of the most common guns are safe enough, so far as that is concerned, while not a few of them shoot very well for a while.
Some most excellent shooting has been done with extremely common guns, working upon a principle so complicated and so imperfect as to render it impossible for them to remain in order beyond a comparatively short length of time.
The English manufacturers, of good reputation, take great pains with their breech-loading shot-guns; hence, until within a very few years, English guns were considered entirely superior to those of American make, but now it is acknowledged, even by the English people, that in America we put up, at least, some guns that have no superiors. This last named fact has somewhat destroyed the weight of English brands with persons who are looking for a gun of the very best quality. But the advance on the part of American gunmakers is not the only thing that has worked against the reputation of English guns for being eminently the best. The gun-making business of Belgium has seriously injured the general good name of English guns, just as the watch-making business of Switzerland has injured the good name of English watches. For instance, Liege, in Belgium, is almost literally a city of gunmakers. It is estimated that there are now more small fire-arms made in Liege than in all the rest of the world put together, though Liege gets credit for comparatively few of them. The different parts are manufactured there, and shipped to other countries as gunmakers’ materials, where they are put together and branded with the name of a maker who really played no part whatever in the making. In Liege each manufacturing house is devoted to the manufacture of but a single part, knowing nothing whatever of the other parts manufactured at other establishments. As a result the gun made of Liege materials is simply a patchwork, and hence could not possibly be so reliable as a gun whose every part is made in the same establishment, and under the eye of the same general superintendent. England has gone largely into the putting up of these patchwork guns, simply for the reason that she can buy the Liege materials much cheaper than she can make them at home. This cheapness is due to the inferior materials used by the Liege manufacturers, and to the extremely low rate of wages in Belgium. It is asserted, upon good authority, that the English “manufacturer” can get his finished materials from Liege, paying regular Government duty, and put together what would appear to be a fair quality of double-barrel breech-loading shot-gun, at the cost of about seven dollars. And he does it, giving the gun to the market under his own brand, or surreptitiously under that of some other house known to be more reliable than his own. As a consequence, English reputation is sadly injured as regards the business of making the best guns, and gunsmiths can no longer trust to English brands as a sure guarantee of first-class quality. Of course there are some English manufacturers whom it will always do to trust, provided one knows to a certainty that the gun is really genuine.
If that patchwork game is played in this country at all it is on a small scale as yet, and is confined to the cheapest guns. A gun from any of our prominent houses is quite sure to be as represented; and, until the gunsmith becomes so familiar with all the requirements of a good gun, the maker’s price may be taken as a pretty safe rule by which to judge of quality. Each manufacturing house is apt to have its guns graded, and priced accordingly—the higher the price asked the better the gun in every case, for it is as much the desire of the prominent manufacturer to make a good name as it is to make a good gun.
Of course this rule can only be considered entirely safe in case where the scale of prices has been obtained directly from headquarters. Passing through half a dozen or so of middle houses might work important changes from the original price list.
Where none of these rules can be brought to bear it is but natural that the inexperienced gunsmith should turn to his Manual for aid in forming judgment upon the quality of the gun. A few general ideas may not be out of place.
All the movements of the action should be smooth, and all the joints should fit to perfection. The locks should have due consideration. When the hammer is drawn back it should come with less and less resistance as it rises, and vise versa when the hammer is let down, exerting its greatest power immediately on reaching the nipple or firing-pin. But this increase and decrease of power should be extremely gradual, and not great. Throughout the movement there should be a steadiness and freeness, or, as Gloan says, an oiliness, which when once realized, can never afterwards be mistaken. And when by a regular pressure upon the trigger the hammer is expertly raised and lowered in rapid succession, the locks should emit a clear ringing sound at the whole and half-cock with the resonance and regularity of beats in music. When once heard, this, too, can never afterwards be mistaken. The locks which perform to perfection under the tests mentioned are technically said to “speak well.”
Turning from the lock to the lever, the latter should close with such ease as not to require any particular exertion of the wrist, and when closed it should hold with such a degree of firmness as to place safety, while discharging the gun, entirely beyond question. The wedges of the action should be fully and squarely set in the lump.
If a pin gun the pin should fit in the hole with nicety. If too tight, the barrels might not close, or the pin might be held back to such an extent that the cap would not be exploded. If too loose an unnecessary escape of gas at the discharge would be unavoidable, to the discomfort of the gunner and the weakening of the shot.
If a central fire the plungers should strike the centre of the cap unvaryingly. The hammer should come upon the plunger with a blow—not a mere push.
The countersink of the chambers, and the length and breadth of the action bed, should be closely observed. The countersink should be cut clean and deep enough to take the rim of the cartridge without leaving the slightest projection—else the gun will not shut perfectly. But if, on the contrary, the countersink be too deep the cartridge comes back on the breech before the charge makes its exit, which increases the recoil and renders accuracy less certain.
The central fire strikers should not be too short, an imperfection which might cause the discharge of the gun while closing it. On the other hand, they should not be too long, as that would interfere with the free motion of the gun. In the case of a pin gun the pin should invariably stand in exact line with the hammer, otherwise the blow would be apt to bend it, and the chances for exploding the cap would be less certain.
There should be no crevices between the wood and iron. If any such crevice exists between the stock and the false breech it is likely that the wood was green when put up, which would settle it that the gun was not the work of a responsible maker, for no such person would work imperfectly-seasoned wood.
The extractor of the central fire should never be permitted to escape the closest scrutiny. It should work without the slightest hitch, and its arms should enclose about one-half of the cartridge rim. The countersink should fit the rim precisely, in order that there may be no slipping.
The Breech-Loading Rifle.—Most of the rules suggested as aids in forming judgment upon the quality of the breech-loading shot gun, can be trusted as bearing with equal force in case of the breech-loading rifle. The makers of breech-loading rifles in the United States have won for themselves a noble reputation throughout the world; and, to be perfectly plain, there are very few unreliable manufacturers to be met with among them. As a consequence, there is not much risk to run in passing judgment upon a breech-loading rifle of American make. The first thing to decide upon is the principle, if there is a preference in this direction. Such decision brings up the gun of some particular maker, after which the road is easy enough—the price set upon the grade of gun by the maker, may always be accepted as a clear indication of its quality.
In referring thus to American rifles the idea is not advanced that good guns are not made in other countries—such a position would be going wide of the truth. There are some gunmakers in England who turn out the finest rifles that the world has yet seen, and the most costly. They are models of perfection in every particular, but when the best shooting is ascertained it is discovered that they have not proven themselves superior in that respect, to the more substantial (generally speaking), but less finely finished and less expensive guns of the American makers. It is this matter of a really good rifle at comparatively low figures that has given the American product such an enviable reputation throughout the world.
Then there is another reason for favorable mention of American rifles in cases where the quality of the gun is to be judged—there are fewer chances for meeting with counterfeits on American guns than there are on guns of foreign make. Here the gunmaker is so deeply concerned in his own good name that it would be very unsafe to attempt running a “bogus” upon him—he would trace it to the “last ditch.” Not so in case of the English maker—having no direct interests thrown all over this country like a network, as have the American makers, he would, in all probability, never hear of the bogus gun branded to him and sold on his good reputation for many times more than it was really worth.
In case where there are no means of getting at the quality of a rifle from the grade affixed and tests made by a responsible manufacturer, the gunsmith will of course be forced to fall back upon his own resources. What these are we need not state. The gun must be subjected to a most critical examination in every part, in obedience to rules laid down for examining breech-loading shot guns, after which its shooting qualities must be thoroughly tested. To no botch at the business can be trusted the shooting test, if it be wished to decide whether or not a certain rifle can be recommended as being of first-class quality—the work must be performed at the hands of an expert, and it must be continued until is secured unmistakable proof as to how the gun shoots. When a man buys a good rifle he does it in the expectation of becoming the owner of a gun qualified to shoot well, and, no matter how perfect it might be in all other respects, the slightest deficiency in this particular would be sure to rouse a high degree of uncompromising dissatisfaction.