HOW GUN-BARRELS ARE MADE. 205 



HOW GUN-BARRELS ARE MADE, &c. 



SO few people understand how gun-barrels are 

 made, and so important is it for every sports- 

 man to know all the principal facts involved in the 

 manufacture of a weapon with which he has so much 

 to do, that I am induced to give an abridged statement 

 of some of the general methods adopted in the manu- 

 facture of gun-barrels. I shall not go into a detailed 

 history of the gun, but I wish to allude to its primitive 

 condition and use, in order that the progress in its 

 improvements may be noted. 



The first gun that we know of was a very rude 

 affair, — a sort of hand-gun, and was invented by a 

 nobleman of Milan named Billus. It consisted simply 

 of an iron tube attached to a stick, and was known as 

 the "fire-lock." In the reign of Henry VI. of England, 

 this weapon was improved by the addition of a prim- 

 ingrpan, which at that time was thought to be a great 

 invention, as the priming powder had heretofore been 

 held in a hollow made in the barrel or tube itself. 

 These guns had no stocks, or what would answer to 

 those of the gun of the present day. The tube was fas- 

 tened to a straight stick, which was held in the hand. 

 The crooked handle or stock was the next step in the 

 way of improvement, — a device of the German or 

 Italian manufacturers. In England the trigger in use 



