The degree of strength is similar to that of the stub, and other Damascus; it being quite certain, that, be the composition what it may, this rending of the cohesive attachment by twisting, will eventually equalise the strength of the whole.

The use and introduction of what is called “charcoal-iron,” is one of the shams reared and supported by the hotbed of competition and deception combined: a wish to foist on the purchaser a counterfeit for the real metal. I would not give shop-room to the best barrels ever made from such a compound. I hate a scoundrel and a hypocrite; this iron exemplifies the qualities of both.

This worthless compound consists principally of cuttings of sheet iron; of which there is an endless supply in the neighbourhood of Birmingham, from punchings and from one inferior metal and another. After properly cleaning, a quantity is put into a charcoal furnace and melted, cast into a pig, then forged down to a bar, and rolled into rods corresponding with the size of stub twist, which it is intended to represent. The action of the charcoal communicates to it a portion of carbon, which, when stained in a certain way, gives an appearance much resembling that beautiful metal just mentioned (stub-Damascus); but if every means imagined by the inventive faculty of man were employed upon it, it could not be made into really good iron. An iron which is technically termed “weak,” can never be made a strong bodied iron, or an “iron suitable to make steel,” to repeat a former quotation. The original iron from which these scraps generally come, is required to be “weak” iron, for the facility with which it can be rolled into plates; a strong fibrous iron is not necessary.

Its greatest strength appears to be as follows: 7-16ths of an inch broad, and 5-16ths thick, solid contents 1·40635 inches, will bear a weight of 10,080 pounds; so that if my calculations are correct, it will bear only a pressure of 4,526 pounds in the tube. The loss of strength by heating or softening, being full 10 per cent.

This converted iron, however, will not endure the test of browning by smoke, or, more properly, flame; as the oxygen invariably destroys the appearance of steel in twelve hours after its application. By the old method of staining, it would be as impossible for any man, who was not a judge, to point out the real from the counterfeit, as to discern a copy executed by a clever artist from an original painting by one of the old masters.

But deception is ever fertile in expedients, and an ingenious invention was soon found out to imitate the advantage possessed by the “smoke brown,” which they obtain by first browning or staining the barrels very dark. A weak solution of muriatic acid, or spirits of salt, is applied very lightly with a sponge, and the colour is extracted from those portions of the iron left more prominent, by the excessive pickling they are subjected to before staining; they are then immediately dried, scalded with hot water, and the stain is complete; it is a most ingenious imitation.

I have already stated that this iron is very much used in consequence of its cheapness; its cost being only fourpence per pound, while stub twist costs fivepence. It is also easily worked, being considerably softer than any of the above-described kinds of iron.

It may be asked, why so much inferior iron is used, when the difference in the price between the good and the bad is only a penny per pound? The reason is this:—If a barrel filer receive an order for a pair of barrels, he (having probably deceived his customer before, or, at any rate, knowing that he can deceive him without running any risk of detection) sends to the welder sufficient charcoal-iron to forge these barrels. Should the quantity amount to ten pounds, he, of course, saves tenpence. The welder receives two shillings less for welding this description of iron, than for welding stub-twist; so that here is already a saving of 2s. 10d. At the boring-mill, and the grinding-mill, the charge is also proportionate: the wages of the journeymen are less; so that by imposing on his customer one pair of barrels manufactured of this sort of iron instead of the real stub-twist, he pockets a clear gain of above 9s.; and should he manufacture one hundred pair of such barrels in the year, it would make at the end no small item in the year’s account of profit.

Thus it is with all description of barrels. The charge for making, by each workman, in the various stages of the manufacture, is according to the quality of each pair of barrels. The saving, then, to the man who makes one hundred pairs of barrels in the year, though it be but a farthing in the pound of iron, amounts to a considerable sum. This fraudulent gain of more than 5s. on a pair of pretended stub barrels, is what is called in Birmingham, “doing the natives,” and is a reward for ingenious knavery.

When orders are given by what are called general factors, who very kindly supply their country friends at a moderate commission of 40 to 50 per cent., these gentry take care to lap up the cream; for we know from facts that the barrel filer has sometimes scarcely five per cent. for his trouble of overlooking. One consequence naturally results from this, that every species of deception will be resorted to, in order to indemnify workpeople for their labour and trouble. At the present time, I have no doubt that there are hundreds of guns made in Birmingham, the barrels of which, in some instances, never enter the proof house: as eightpence per barrel, the cost of proof, is a great temptation! Besides, a great number of barrels declared “wasters”—such as repeatedly bulged in the proof, are full of flaws, have holes in the sides, or some other fault sufficient to condemn them in the eyes of a moderately conscientious barrel-maker—are bought by men who live by this species of fraud; and are repaired with great neatness, by putting in pieces artfully, beating down swellings or bulges. Then the proof-mark “of doubtful identity;” and, last of all,—mark!—they fit them up, and send them to the engraver to have the name of some living or defunct London gun-maker of respectability engraved upon them, and palm them off upon some dealer as a good article.

I commend to the reader the advice of “Edward Davies,” a gentleman who wrote in 1619; who says “He that loves the safetie of his own person, and delighteth in the goodness and beautie of a piece, let him always make choice of one that is double breeched; and if possible, a Mylan piece, for they be of tough and perfect temper, light, square, and bigge of breech, and very strong where the powder doth lie, and where the violent force of the fire doth consist, and notwithstanding thinne at the end. Our English pieces approach very neare unto them in beautie and goodness, (their heaviness only excepted) so that they be made of purpose, and not one of these common sale pieces, with round barrels, whereunto a beaten souldier will have great respect, and choose rather to pay double money for a good piece, than to spare his purse and endanger himself.” Truly, the fraternity have always, we find, been of doubtful honesty: always making “sale pieces.”

“Threepenny skelp iron” is made from an inferior quality of scrap to that from which “charcoal iron” is made; but unlike it, there is no pretension of quality. Its inferiority is not denied; it is poor in quality, and suits parties who cannot buy better. The method of preparing is by an air-furnace, forge, tilt and rolling mill, as before described. The greatest strength of a bar 11-16ths broad by 3-16ths thick, containing 1·5468 solid inches, is 7,840 lbs.; or equal to an internal pressure of 3,841 lbs. to the inch of tube. One particular fact attaches to all kinds of inferior iron—the greater the mass acted upon by the rollers the greater the variation of strength. This arises entirely from the increased sponginess of the metal, and its greater expansibility. For instance, a rod 1-16th thicker, is 15 per cent. weaker in proportion; and so on to the greatest extent. But on the other hand, it is capable of recovering a great increase of strength by cold hammering; greater than better iron. A considerable quantity of this iron is sold to engineers, and used in the construction of locomotive and other engines; the price and uniformity of texture in grain fitting it for that purpose.

“Twopenny” or “Wednesbury skelp” is almost too bad to be used in making an article which may endanger the limbs of our fellow creatures, and is now little used, fortunately. It is made of an inferior scrap to the former, in precisely the same manner; and in point of strength is still lower. The bar is generally 1 and 1-16th inches in breadth, by 3-16ths thick, the solid contents 2 inches and 25-64ths, and will bear a weight of 7,840 pounds; consequently the strength will be 2,840 pounds to the inch of tube.

This is a great falling-off in strength; and I would ask any one who values the safety of his hand, if he would like to risk it, by using a gun made of iron possessing so low a degree of strength, as compared to the force of the charge it has to bear? Let him recollect that the force of the charge may be increased by a variety of circumstances. The pressure of a certain quantity of powder, on which a certain weight of shot is placed, is so many pounds to the inch; and if you double that weight of shot, you nearly double the pressure. In estimating the force of pressure, the opposing friction is also to be taken into account. If the gun be allowed to get very foul, then friction is increased, and of course a still greater pressure is thrown on the tube of the barrel. All these circumstances being taken into consideration, I repeat, that no barrel is safe, whose power of resistance is not more than double the strength of a charge of sufficient force for general shooting. Every bad gun should be thrown aside as unsafe, or used with the greatest caution. Bad and inferior guns are made from the foregoing material; and not many years have elapsed since it was thought good enough for military arms.

“Sham damn skelp” is made from the most inferior scrap. I should not have mentioned this description of iron had I not seen hundreds of barrels made of it, all which are utterly unfitted for the use of any person who cares at all for his safety. I have met with them frequently under the dignified name of twisted barrels. Guns that are fitted up at from ten to twelve shillings each are not of course patent breeched, but are made to appear so by staining them generally blue, and by having a couple of bands to imitate platina, across the squares. A projecting part is welded on to the side, into which the nipple is inserted, and the lock joints neatly under it. Many of them are good imitations; but only take the barrel out of the stock and the deception is instantly apparent, as it is rarely carried further than the outside. The beautiful way in which the barrels are painted to imitate fine twist, catches the eye of the simple countryman, who is generally the dupe of this artifice; and the persuasive eloquence of the itinerant hardwareman, seldom fails to extract from the pocket of his unsuspecting purchaser sometimes thirty or forty shillings of his earnings for what the modest trader rarely pays above fifteen shillings. Many are the anathemas vented, when the deception is found out by some one more knowing than the dupe, who not unfrequently purchases his experience at the expense of a finger or a hand. It is astonishing what a quantity of this rubbish is disposed of by hawkers who infest market towns and villages with guns for sale.

But the English peasant is not the only dupe of this species of knavery. Thousands of these guns are sent monthly to the United States, to the Brazils, and South America; where they are disposed of, among the poor Indians, in exchange for skins and furs.

They are all understood to be “proved.” How many are so who can tell; but that some of them are not, there can be no doubt.

It is said that the manufacture of these guns is a great support to the gun trade of Birmingham. In one respect it is, certainly; yet would not the interest of the trade be advanced, if we were to manufacture none of so inferior a quality? “But then,” it will be urged, “we could not compete with our rivals in Germany and the Netherlands.” True, we should not be their rivals in the production of rubbish; but the superiority of our guns would then command a better market. By sending to the market an article no better than theirs, we have made foreigners indifferent about the purchase of ours: they say “The English guns are no better than the Belgian or German; we may as well purchase one as the other.” The force of this remark is illustrated by the state of the African trade. The base kind of articles we supplied them with some years ago, has produced a distrust of our manufacture, which will not easily be removed; and a similar distrust is engendered by the same cause in the minds of our present customers. It is much to be deplored that the eagerness for present gain, should render men blind to the consequences of their conduct, and lead them to prefer the immediate gratification of their avarice even to their own future prosperity; to say nothing of the welfare of the trade of the country.

The method I suggested of testing all iron in the bar would go far to destroy this trade. I have not thought it worth while to test this iron. But twist barrels are made of it. Should the reader meet with a double gun so made, let him avoid it: it is unsafe, unless it be so heavy as to be unmanageable.

A great many long rifle barrels are made of this iron, principally for the American trade; but from their immense weight, and the small charge of powder required, there does not exist the same danger from their use.

Fowling-piece barrels made of it may be generally recognised by the smallness of the bore and the thickness of metal. As the charge of powder used in proving is very small when compared with the charges for proving guns of a wider calibre, we need not be surprised that many of those that are proved stand proof.

“Swaff iron forging” is a profitable branch of forging carried on in Birmingham under the above title. It is a metal which is composed of iron and steel filings, chippings of breeches, pieces and cuttings of the ends of the screws, lock-plates, cocks, the rough borings of barrels, and all other small scraps found in gunmakers’ and other workshops. These are collected by the boys in each shop, and when they have accumulated, are sold to the “swaff-forger,” the proceeds being considered as drinking money. They are forged into bars of iron by attaching them together and immersing them in diluted sulphuric acid; then, after draining it from them again, and placing a large iron pan full in a hot situation, they become cemented together by the action of the oxide. The compound is then taken from the pan, by turning it upside down, and is put into an air-furnace heated to a welding heat, being thence removed and beaten into a bar: three men with light hammers beating it as quickly as they do in welding a gun-barrel. This iron is sold to the gun-work forgers, for the forging of the patent breeches, lock-plates, furniture, and other parts of the gun which they think worthy of good iron; but since cheapness has become so much the order of the day, the use of this iron is confined to the forging of best gun-work, cast iron being thought quite good enough for common gun-work.

CHAPTER V.
GUN-MAKING.

In this chapter I shall briefly describe the process of the manufacture of guns of all qualities, commencing with barrel-welding; which, in importance, is inferior only to the quality of iron in the routine of good gun-making.

Birmingham, and the surrounding districts, are the only places in England where barrel-welding is practised. The superior advantage possessed in having coal nearly (if not entirely) free from the presence of the sulphuret of iron, which has always been found a considerable hindrance to the obtainment of clear and good barrels, is greatly in their favour. For a considerable period individuals in London contended with the Warwickshire welders; but being an unequal contest, it ended in favour of the provincialists. This is to be regretted, as there can be no doubt but that greater reliance could be placed on the material of the London manufacture. But a considerable drawback existed with the latter: they made only one sort of barrel, and that the best. Now it is requisite to have a fire fitted for the purpose of welding best barrels—tempered, as it were—and this can only be effected by some hours’ using, which is generally employed in the production of a number of very inferior barrels. As the London people made no common guns, and needed no inferior barrels, they welded their best barrels in a raw, untempered fire; and hence arose the admitted inferiority of their work. The late Mr. Fullard struggled long and hard in the competition; but with his death, barrel-welding ceased in the metropolis. Indeed it would have been highly imprudent and unprofitable for any one to have entered upon such a speculation; there being no certainty of success, but rather of the contrary. The Birmingham barrel-welders are wonderfully clever smiths: they cannot be excelled. If ridden with a curb, they do well; but no opportunity must be given them, or to a certainty they will “bolt” from the true path.

The metal rods are twisted by means of two iron bars, the one fixed the other loose. In the latter there is a prong or notch to receive one end; and when inserted, the bar is turned by a handle. The fixed bar preventing the rod from going round, it is bent and twisted over the moveable rod like the pieces of leather round the handle of a whip. The loose bar is unshipped, the spiral knocked off, and the same process recommenced with another rod. The length of all the spirals depends on the breadth of the rod: for instance, the stub-twist has sixteen circles in six inches long; a rod of five feet will make a spiral of only seven inches; while iron, of an inch in breadth, will make a spiral of as many inches long as there are twists: hence the reason why best barrels have more joinings than common ones of equal length.

The Damascus being rolled into rods of 11-16ths broad forms a spiral with the appearance shown in the accompanying woodcut.

The fancy steel barrels and others, where the rod is formed of more than one piece, such as the stub Damascus, &c., is of rather greater breadth, like the representation below.

The iron made from stubs and steel, and plain fibrous steel, is invariably rolled down into rods of 6-16ths broad, forming a spiral, as below.

A proper attention to the fineness of the spiral will always enable an amateur to detect any attempt at imposition.

The spiral formed from the rod of charcoal iron has a somewhat different appearance; but in cases where it is intended to supply the place of the real stub iron it is of corresponding dimensions, and in general very difficult to detect without a very intimate knowledge indeed of the nature of iron. When honestly intended, it forms a similar spiral to the accompanying one.

The wideness of the twist, or the angular direction of the fibres, will enable the most uninitiated to recognise a barrel made from threepenny skelp iron: the very few welds required, is one cause of the cheapness of barrels made from it. Judgment may be formed of it from the following representation.

Twopenny, or Wednesbury skelp is coarser in the spiral still, and running so angular as not to be very difficult to detect.

All iron formed in spirals, as a matter of certainty, forms twist barrels—the parties whose use they are intended for, seldom know or care for anything further than having “a twist barrelled gun.” The advantage of sham damn iron being twisted is all imaginary: if used at all, it may be twisted; but those who value their safety would consult it best by tying a large stone to such a gun and sinking it fathoms deep. But to satisfy those who may fancy such things, I give a woodcut of the spiral ready for welding.

They proceed to weld probably a dozen long common barrels for the American trade; which are generally composed of the inferior iron mentioned before, rolled into two lengths of different thicknesses. These skelps are heated, and beaten on a groove until they form a tube half closed. They are then heated again, and closed with one edge over-lapping the other; as a brazier would over-lap the edge of a tin pipe, for boys to blows peas with.

Having got the two lengths of the whole dozen turned into tubes, they proceed to weld the longer length or forepart, by heating it sufficiently for four or five inches, introducing a mandril of the required size to suit the bore wanted, and then beating it into a perfect tube, in a groove on the anvil, of corresponding diameter; heating it again and again, until the joint is closed the whole length. They then proceed with the other eleven foreparts, and advance the whole to that stage before welding on the breech lengths; which are now partially heated by laying on the outskirts of the fire, to be in readiness: they are then closed the same as the foreparts. The end, when about to be jointed, is opened a little on the peam of the anvil, to admit a portion of the end of the forepart; which is introduced as soon as both are in a welding state: the mandril is then introduced, and the joint is perfected, in less time than we have occupied in the description. The other part of the tube is closed, and the barrel is then complete. If, however, the breech part is to be square or octagon shaped, it is not welded in a groove, but on a plain surface.

Competition has reduced this department of the trade to a low ebb; thousands of these sort of barrels being now annually welded for about eightpence each: if to this we add one penny farthing per pound for six pounds of iron, we get a forged gun barrel for one shilling and threepence halfpenny. This is certainly a poor remuneration for sweating over a furnace containing from two to three hundredweight of intensely heated coal. The introduction of welding by the rolling mill, will eventually supersede this arrangement; a matter to be regretted only on the score of its answering the purpose of preparing the fire for best welding. Of late years rolling has nearly superseded this description of welding.

They now commence the welding of twist barrels. Spirals that are intended for the breech end, are heated to a welding heat for about three inches, removed from the fire, and jumped close by striking the end against the anvil. Again they are heated, and again jumped, to ensure the perfect welding. They are then beaten lightly in a groove, to make them round. The neatest part of the process consists in the joining of the points of the two rods, so as to make the barrel appear as if it had been twisted out of one rod. The ends of the two rods are a little detached, brought from the fire, and applied to each other; a gentle tap is then given, and the union is perfect in an instant. The rapidity and dexterity with which this is accomplished, ought to be seen to be duly appreciated. This trouble is only taken with the best barrels. In the manufacture of barrels of an inferior description, the ends of the rods are cut in a sloping direction, and when welded together, become quite square at the part where the pieces are joined. In a finished barrel the points of junction are easily recognised. By tracing the twist, a confusion will be found to exist for about an eighth of an inch, every six or seven inches; and from this appearance you may conclude that, for a barrel so joined, the welder had not the best price. Having joined the whole of the spirals, three inches are again heated to a welding heat, the mandril is introduced, and the tube hammered, in a groove, to the size required. This operation is repeated until the whole length is finished.

Then follows hammer-hardening: that is, beating the barrel, in a comparatively cold state, in a groove, with light hammers, for the space of half an hour. This is a most important part of the process. It closes the pores, condenses the texture of the metal, compresses a greater substance into less bounds, increases greatly the strength of the barrel, and renders it more elastic. Yet this is seldom done, unless specially requested; and then a gratuity is, of course, expected either in money or beer. A few pots of the juice of Sir John Barleycorn will infuse more strength into your barrels than you could purchase for ten times the amount in money; as they have the effect of making the hammers descend with increased velocity.

If all barrels were hardened in this manner, their shooting powers would be increased, and they would not be so liable to burst in the hands of the sportsman. This, however, cannot be done, unless the purchaser either sees it done himself, or has it done under the superintendence of some person on whom he can depend. The Birmingham workmen, if well paid and well looked after (to counteract the bad habits they have acquired from being employed in the manufacture of so large a quantity of goods of an inferior quality), would produce an article superior to any that could be produced, at the same cost, in any other part of the world.

The Belgian welders do their work at considerably less cost in coal than our English workmen. Coal, it is well known, is very dear in Liege, and necessity may have taught them the extreme of economy both in the size of their fire and the duration of it. They effect this by adding to two-thirds of coal, beat into dust, one-third of clay; the latter is mixed with the coal by being put into a wooden barrel, the two well stirred up together, and the water drained from it. Even this mixture is used sparingly: the fire being scarcely larger than might be held in the two hands, while with us little short of two hundredweight suffices: which is unquestionably a great and unnecessary waste. True the Belgian does not get through the great quantity of work the Englishman does by having “a great many irons in the fire” at once; but he certainly does it well and clean: the quantity of earthy matter in the Belgian’s fire gives a great heat, which also is retained longer; and it is also free from any excessive quantity of particles of charcoal.

All twist barrels undergo a similar round; the time and care bestowed upon them depending entirely on the price, which varies from one pound per pair down to eighteenpence, and in some instances lower.

In a former work I noticed the introduction of a villanous system of covering or plating barrels with fine iron over a body of very inferior iron. I here quote that description:—

The deceptions practised in this branch of manufacture are numerous, and injurious to the trade. For instance, if you wish to have a heavy single barrel made from Damascus, or any of the best irons, and you send to the manufacturer the weight of iron required, the probability is, that unless you superintend the manufacture yourself, iron of an inferior quality will be introduced into the inside of the spirals. By this fraud they obtain iron worth threepence a pound more than that which they knavishly insert into the barrel. I had been repeatedly told of this practice, but was incredulous. However, I gave an order for four very heavy rifle barrels to be made of Damascus iron. They were made; but on pickling these barrels for the purpose of showing the figure of the Damascus, I discovered that the iron seemed to be much more easily eaten away at the muzzle than on the surface. This led me to examine them, when I found that the inside was entirely composed of iron, over which the covering of Damascus had been twisted. But for the pickling, this fraud never would have been detected; yet for these barrels I was charged at the rate of two barrels for each. Since this occurred, I have subjected many heavy barrels to examination, and have found the fraud to be very common. The practice is not only dishonest, but spoils the gun, by destroying the shooting power, in consequence of the metals, being of different temperatures, not acting together at the moment of expansion.

Veneering or plating barrels is more extensively practised in Belgium than in any other nation we are acquainted with; they do not conceal it, but they use equally good iron, though not ornamented iron: of this there is much doubt. The method of accomplishing this is by having the iron required rolled down into ribbons of a thin description; these are twisted spirally round a tube of common iron having the fibres running length-ways, or parallel with the bore. The accompanying cut will convey an idea of this method.

Many will ask what inducement have the welders to take this extra trouble? Gain. The cost of Damascus is 7¹⁄₂d. per pound, and the iron they use for this purpose is only 1¹⁄₄d. A pair of barrels take 14 lbs. of iron; say 6 lbs. of this is Damascus plate, costing 3s. 9d.; 8 lbs. is common, amounting to 10d. instead of 5s., or a saving of 4s. 2d. a pair. A splendid profit if you order one hundred. The borer charges less, the iron is softer, the filer has less, and all items clubbed amount to something. The facility with which welders can do this is wonderful; it clearly establishes their ability, and proves their claim to be considered the cleverest blacksmiths on the face of the earth. It is not only the best descriptions of iron they plate with: twopenny skelp is more in use than any. It is now rare to meet with painted barrels: all are genuine twist barrels, warranted; for they are mostly all plated, even down to the gun costing but fourteen shillings, wholesale price.

This is a subject of serious importance; one which the gun-makers, both metropolitan and provincial, should resolutely condemn; for safety as well as goodness of shooting cannot be secured in perfection with any barrels so constructed. I have met with plated barrels in guns which cost the purchaser thirty-five guineas, and I have detected them in some of the first makers’ guns; for the perfection with which the fraud is accomplished is wonderful, and few can detect it who are not strictly up to “the dodge.” The application of a portion of sulphuric acid into the tube at the breech end of the barrel, is the best way of showing the fraud; for, in most cases, it is all bored out at the thin portion of the muzzle, and the application there would, under these circumstances, be no test.

I have frequently been applied to by many masters in the trade for advice in the recommendation of a barrel-maker. It is at all times an invidious task to act as a selector for individuals, and to give praise to one man over another; more especially where the merits of workmen approximate near to each other. But in barrel-making, a man, to be a master of his trade, should not only be a good workman, breeching and filing well, but should possess a good eye in putting barrels together (for here everything depends upon the eye) and finishing them highly: these are only a portion of the abilities a barrel-maker should possess. Several of the London barrel-makers are exceedingly good workmen, for I have tried them all; but only converse with them, and you find the technicalities of the work is all they can discourse upon: the iron, the vital principle, is Greek to them; they know nothing about it, and care less. How can these men be guides in the right direction? They may have seen barrels welded; but, if so, it is only a matter of chance: even in Birmingham, where this can be seen daily, nineteen out of twenty know nothing theoretically. You will frequently hear them heaping anathemas on a hard barrel, when floating it, and wishing the man who invented steel barrels “in the shades below.” Ask these men’s opinions, and if they expect to have the job of filing the barrels, they will surely recommend you soft iron, stub-twist, or charcoal-iron.

Boring and grinding gun-barrels generally take place under the same roof; the borer occupying a very small shop, the grinder a large one. Two men and two boys are generally found in a shop. There are four benches, to each a spindle, in which there is an oblong hole to receive the end of the boring bit. The barrel is secured on a sort of carriage, which is at liberty to traverse the whole length of the bench. A boring bit is then selected of suitable size; it is put into the spindle, and the point introduced into the end of the barrel. A sort of lever is then taken and hooked on to a kind of staple, or a piece of hooked iron (a number of which are fixed in one side of the bench the whole length), and passed behind the carriage to force it up to the bit; this is removed and fixed again, until, by forcing up the carriage, the boring bit has passed through the whole of the barrel. During this operation a stream of water is kept playing on the barrel to keep it cool. A bit, of larger dimensions, is next introduced and passed through; then others of still larger dimensions, until the whole of the scales or blacks are entirely bored out; or until the barrel has become so large in the bore, as to preclude any further boring with safety. If the scales are of great extent, the fault is the forger’s, and the loss will consequently be his. If the barrels be found perfect, they are sent back to the filer, or he comes to inspect them, in order to ascertain whether they be perfectly straight in the inside; if not, to make them so.

The necessity of great care and attention to this point, must be very obvious; for, if not perfectly correct at this stage, it will require more skill and time to get it correct afterwards than the generality of barrel-makers are inclined to bestow.

When the inside has been found to be all right, the barrel is ready for grinding. Many barrel-makers turn their barrels entirely by self-acting lathes, and thus obtain a correct taper from breech end to muzzle. Experience has clearly convinced us that this is not the best shape, but slightly hollow towards the muzzle is preferable, as additional weight there is decidedly injurious, and the shooting of barrels of lighter construction is decidedly better.

The generality of Birmingham barrels are ground to the size required on large stones, which revolve at a terrific rate. The skill acquired by many of the workmen is astonishing. Over and over again, have we seen barrels coming from the mill put into the lathe, and found almost as true as if they had been turned. They have a method of allowing the barrel to revolve in their hands at half the rate of the stone, and by this means they grind them so fine that many would be puzzled to determine whether they had been turned or ground, were the barrel smoothed lengthways merely to take out the marks of the stone. We have seen the squares of a rifle barrel ground to as perfect an octagon as the eye could assist in forming. Best barrels are generally turned after they are ground. Inferior barrels are struck up with a large rubber, or smooth, by boys; in some instances by women.

There is one advantage derived from grinding barrels, namely, that the friction of the stone being continuous, the temper of the barrel is not so much affected as where the tool in the slide-rest is cutting a considerable portion at once; for all barrels are best, and superior to their compeers, which require least metal to be either ground or turned off their surface, as there is a density on the outer which is not in the interior portion. The harder the material, the less the extent of this objection.

To obtain the true form, it is important that they should be turned. The way of fixing them in the lathe is by having a number of plugs or mandrils, which are perfectly true, and of various sizes, to fit different bores; these are centred and put in the lathe; a carrier is then secured on a part of the plug that projects out of the breech-end of the barrel, and then put into the face-plate of the lathe, which carries it round. The leading screw that travels the slide-rest, is then set in the angle to which the barrel is to be turned (though some lathes have not the power of alteration, but turn all barrels in one angle); the slide is next adjusted to the thickness of the muzzle wanted, and, when all is ready, the lathe is set going; the leading screw is turned at the same moment by the machinery connected, which keeps the tool cutting sufficiently keen to turn a barrel in about twenty-five minutes. This being done, nothing more is required than a fine smooth file to remove the marks of the tool.

There can be no doubt of the superiority of this mode of turning barrels, if due care only be taken with the tool. If it get blunted by any scales or impurities, it is apt to tear pieces out of the barrel, similar to the rings that may be noticed in a slovenly bored barrel, owing to dirt getting on the edges of the bit. In turning a barrel by a common lathe, it is fixed in the same manner as before; about an inch of the surface at the breech and the muzzle is turned to the diameter wanted; the rest is then removed, and half an inch more is turned four or five inches from either end; then another half inch, at another distance of four or five inches, and so on, according to the length; making an allowance each time in the depth of the turning, according to the taper of the barrel. The iron between these cuttings is then filed off by floats the lengthways of the barrel, or more frequently ground off; this is a sure mode of getting the barrels perfectly straight on the outside, and without any of those hollows and shades which may be always discovered in an ill-made barrel. It is astonishing how beautifully many barrels are struck by the float. The mode of turning by the lathe is, however, cheaper, and is now confined to military barrels.

There is a great diversity of opinion as to the proper inclination of a pair of double barrels. It is needless to state the precise distance at which the converging lines drawn from the centre of each barrel, and indicating the inclination of the barrels to each other, should come to a point. If we take the point of convergence of those lines at 2¹⁄₂ yards, it will follow that, at 40 yards, each barrel, were it fixed in a vice, would throw the centre of its charge six inches on the opposite side of the mark fired at; but if the gun be fired from the shoulder, the recoil will invariably cause the gun to swerve outwards, so that at that distance it will never fail to throw the shot in a good direction for the mark or bull’s-eye.

The subject may be understood by the following observations. All tapering substances, when laid together were the taper extended, would come to a point at a certain distance. Gun-barrels are made to taper towards each other, and some more than others. To make them uniform, it requires that they should be reduced or flattened, so that the thick or heavy end should join closer, to allow the point of convergence to be extended to a greater distance. If, then, we take two barrels two feet eight inches long, and having a solid substance of metal at the breech of 3-16ths of an inch each and 1-16th at the muzzle; it requires the difference 4-16ths to be multiplied 45 times (there being that number of lengths in 40 yards) to ascertain what distance the points of the different lines are from each other: which will be eleven 4-16ths of an inch, or five 10-16th inches from the centre or line of sight. If you wish to reduce it from the centre, you have to join the barrels so much nearer at the breech; or should the inclination be too little, the muzzle must be jointed closer. As, however, all guns are now made very heavy at the breech, they very seldom require any closing at the muzzle: though it is customary to do it, and to a great extent; but it is owing to the ignorance of the nature of shooting.

Different lengths require a difference in the height of the rib. A greater height is also required for a person accustomed to use a crooked stock, and less height for one accustomed to the use of a straighter one; and so on. Few barrels are to be met with in which the elevation is sufficient. This is a species of innovation much practised by gunmakers of the present day; but whatever merit there may have been in the original invention, there is none in “the improvement,” as they term it. Take any of the modern barrels, and calculate what is the real elevation of them, and you will find it is not equal to the distance that charges will droop at forty yards, when we consider the very large charges of shot that many are accustomed to use, without a corresponding quantity of powder. It remains then to be decided what elevation a gun should have for that distance.

I have tried the experiment some hundreds of times with guns of all descriptions, both with a rest and from the shoulder, and standing as firm as possible; by turning quickly round, and firing (as we might do were a bird to spring in a situation where we could only get a snap shot) against targets such as are used in military ball-practice, being about six feet high, and by means of which one can perceive where the body of the shot had struck. I have also fired against the steep sides of sand-banks, on which, from their smoothness, you can tell every shot that has struck them. My conviction is, that almost all guns charged (as is the custom) with heavy charges of shot, droop full twelve inches in forty yards; though by using small charges of shot you will find them to be thrown much more correctly than the heavy charges; so that it is possible to make a gun too high on the rib for a shooter who thinks more powder and less lead preferable to much lead and little powder.

The elevation I have given will be found to be as near what is requisite as possible, if we continue to load as heretofore; if reduced charges of shot be adopted, a less elevation will suffice. To ascertain what elevation at the breech for the above scale is requisite, take the thickness of the breech and muzzle, and multiply the difference by as many times as there are lengths of your barrels in the forty yards, and you will then ascertain what elevation they give of themselves; and to make up the difference wanted, must be the elevation of the rib, which may be calculated in the same way as the barrels; the length of the barrels being the only way of obtaining a correct idea of the height required. If making woodcock guns, less elevation is required, the distance of shooting being shorter. In large guns a greater elevation is necessary. We believe, however, Colonel Hawker has fallen into an error, when he says that long guns require a greater elevation than short ones. Does not a long gun keep the shot more together? Is not more force generated? and is not the initial velocity greater than in a short gun? If these be facts, why is more elevation required if the shot do not droop? We apprehend the Colonel means, if the same height be required to be given above the mark. Nothing can be plainer than this—that if one pair of barrels be four inches longer than another, and the elevation the same, there cannot be as many lengths in the forty yards of the longer barrels as of the shorter, and hence the difference when multiplied. I think, therefore, he cannot have taken into consideration the superiority in their shooting; for there cannot be a doubt that, if a gun keep the shot together longer, it cannot require that allowance for drooping which a shorter gun does.

As soon as the barrels are properly jointed; care must be taken to see that they are perfectly level. If the barrels are not level, it will be impossible to shoot correctly, as one barrel will throw the shot above, the other below the mark. This being done, the barrels are bound together and brazed with hard solder or brass, for about four or five inches. Greater injury cannot be done to barrels than by this pernicious practice; for they cannot be brazed without being heated to a white heat; and by this heat all the advantages derived from hammering are dissipated at once: the condensation is gone, and the strength is reduced at least 12¹⁄₂ per cent. And for what purpose? Under the pretence that the barrels are firmer and not so liable to become loose. This is a point trivial in importance compared to the excellence and strength of the barrel; for even if they have received no more hammering than is necessary in the forging, they are still injured to the extent of 12¹⁄₂ per cent.: for even beating them when hot improves them much, provided they be not heated again; but if they have been cold hammered, the injury is full 30 per cent. This circumstance shows how little the principles of gun-making are understood by the first gun-makers, the brazing of barrels being practised by all.

Mr. Wilkinson admits this, for he says—“The practice of brazing the barrels is decidedly injurious, by softening that part more than the other; but if they were only soft soldered, the inconvenience would be far greater, as the barrels would be liable to some accident by the repeated expansion and contraction that takes place in firing, as well as by the force required to turn out the breechings.” I can only say that I have had considerably more than five thousand pairs of barrels made and put together with soft solder only, and not one pair has come asunder from any of the causes mentioned; nor ever will, with fair play. On the contrary, barrels brazed can never be sound; for at some distance from the part heated for brazing, you cannot get the barrels re-tinned effectually, and thus for a considerable space between the soft and hard solder, there is no cohesion at all. Barrels brazed together only for three or four inches at the breech-end, can never be sound: they almost invariably become so rusted under the rib, in a few years, as both to seriously injure the barrels, and force the rib upwards; therefore, if you hard solder at all, do so from breech to muzzle, as that will be preferable to partially doing it. I feel quite satisfied, and can prove it to demonstration, that this is undoubtedly the most injurious process to which iron can be subjected; and I believe the prejudice with which the London barrel-makers stick to this practice is productive of considerable injury to them: more especially when we recollect that they are the advocates (in practice) of a very inferior quality of Damascus barrels: an iron very susceptible of injury. The Belgian barrels, and French also, are of good iron; and I fear not contradiction in asserting their inferiority to English barrels mostly consists in the foolish practice of brazing them together from end to end. Both chemically and mechanically it is a practice for which no valid excuse can be offered.

All barrels should have solid ribs for at least eight inches from the breech: they tend to lessen the vibration of recoil, as well as to render the barrels more sound and firm. No maker either understands science or studies quality, who advocates brazing and hollow ribs.

The invention of the patent breech was the emanation of a scientific mind; for it has been productive of more real benefit to the progress of gunnery than any other improvement of the last two centuries. Experience and study in the theory of guns and gunpowder, give the mind a much more enlarged view of the subject, if regulated by the established laws of true and sound principles: a want of thorough knowledge induces the individual to draw conclusions prematurely, and thus he is apt to fall, and to lead others, into error. I confess, that, together with many hundreds more, I once concluded that the great advantage of the patent breech arose entirely from the loose state in which the powder was preserved while in the breech, and its thus being more instantaneously ignited. But I have already shown that the quickness of powder is, in a great measure, the greatest drawback to its efficacy, and I am clearly convinced that compression, in most instances, is beneficial, by retarding the ignition to a certain extent. Here, then, is proof positive, that we have been on the wrong scent, and running after a “Will o’ the Wisp.”