THE SHOT-GUN,.AND HOW TO USE IT. 315 
make to get. He wades through catalogues, and ad- 
vises with friends. The further he investigates the 
deeper he gets into the mire, and is almost tempted to 
give up in despair. What gun ought he to buy? A 
gun of any reputable manufacturer, for in these pro- 
gressive times no one maker has discovered a golden 
secret that enables him to make the only good gun. 
Let the buyer select the make of any one of established 
reputation, and the gun will suit him. Competition is 
too strong to permit any maker to put on to the market 
a poorly constructed gun. Thereare, of course, pecul- 
larities of manufacture of bolts, lugs, slides, and boring 
that may be especial virtues in one kind of gun, but 
no gun has them all to the exclusion of all others. But 
of established makers, their work is all good. The 
price to be paid depends on what the purchaser wishes 
to pay. But lhe can depend on one thing, that is, that 
an established gun maker will not sell him a poor arm 
at any price. There are three classes of gun-barrels 
used in the construction of guns. Damascus, laminated, 
and twist. Quoting from the Rod and Gun, these 
barrels are made as follows: * The Damascus barrel is 
formed by taking nearly equal proportions of refined 
iron and steel bars. These are placed in piles or 
‘fagoted,’ and then heated and thoroughly welded to- 
gether. The bar thus formed is cut into equal lengths, 
again fagoted, welded under a trip-hammer, drawn into 
narrow rods, and these are then twisted. To make the 
best Damascus barrel, three of these twisted rods are 
placed alongside of each other and forged into a ribbon 
of the dimensions of cross-section of one half inch by 
seven-sixteenths for the breech end of the barrel, and 
one-half by three-sixteenths of an inch for the muzzle 
