ARMY OF THE tTNTTED STATES. 



29 



$1 68 for appendages, making a total of $14 93. 

 This, however, allows nothing for the general 

 expense?, as salaries, interest upon the heavy 

 cost of the establishments, etc. The barrels 

 are made of the best kind of wrought-iron bars, 

 each 14 inches long, 5| inches wide, and -^ of 

 an inch thick. Those are rolled with bevelled 

 edges, so as to make a perfect joint when they 

 are turned over to form a tube. This is effect- 

 ed by passing them at a high heat through a 

 succe'ssion of grooves in the curving rolls, each 

 groove gradually bringing the bar nearer to the 

 cylindrical form. The edges are brought to- 

 gether and welded in a machine, which also elon- 

 gates the barrel. The machine is provided with 

 8 grooves, of decreasing sizes, through which 

 the barrel is passed in succession, being kept in 

 shape by a mandrel thrust through the barrel, 

 and changed for a smaller one with each de- 

 creasing groove. After this, the barrel, with- 

 out a mandrel rod, is passed through the finish- 

 ing groove twice, to render it smooth and 

 cylindrical. The straightening, which is the 

 next operation, is effected, in large dies of the 

 same length as the barrel, into which this is 

 gradually forced by the pressure given by an 

 eccentric movement. The next operation is 

 what is called coneseating, which is fixing and 

 welding the seat for the nipple for a percus- 

 sion cap. This is done by the action of tilt 

 hammers. The polishing of the barrel is done 

 by emery wheels, run by steam or water power. 

 The manufacture of the nipples is one of the 

 most difficult parts of the work, as the steel of 

 which they are made has to be brought to the 

 exact degree of hardness by tempering, adapted 

 for receiving the concussion of the hammer 

 without being either broken or flattened by the 

 blow the former effect resulting from too 

 great, and the latter from too little hardness. 

 The locks are extremely simple in their con- 

 struction, while at the same time they are of 

 the greatest efficiency. They contain but two 

 springs, which are made of the best English cast 

 steel. The other parts are of the best Norway 

 iron, costing sometimes to import $215 per ton. 

 The lock-plate, like most of the smaller pieces 

 of the gun as the guards, triggers, etc. is cut 

 out at once of proper shape in a die, and the 

 finishing is effected by a chisel, the movements 

 of which are exactly regulated by machinery to 

 the shape of the piece, so that it is not even 

 necessary to use the file. The stocks are made 

 of black walnut, well seasoned, and sawed into 

 blocks, with rectangular edges, of the general 

 shape of the stock. The shaping of them, and 

 excavating the grooves for the barrel and ram- 

 rod, the screw-holes, and the receptacles for the 

 lock and butt-plate, are all effected by machines 

 of extraordinary ingenuity, developed from the 

 principle of the lathe invented several years 

 ago by Mr. Thomas Blanchard, of Massachusetts. 

 Of these machines, some of which are also em- 

 ployed in shaping the outside of the barrel, as 

 many as thirteen, each having its separate work 

 to perform, are required for the completion of 



the gun. An exact pattern in iron of the ob- 

 ject to be produced regulates in its rotation the 

 action of the cutters, planes, drills, etc., which 

 excavate in the block depressions correspond- 

 ing precisely to those of the pattern. The 

 operation of the machines is wonderfully rapid, 

 and so exact that the lock, mountings, etc., are 

 found to fit precisely in their places, with their 

 edges exactly flush with the wood. These ma- 

 chines are among the most expensive of those 

 employed in the gun manufacture. All parts 

 of the gun are subjected to rigid tests of gauge 

 and inspection throughout the different pro- 

 cesses, and the barrels are twice proved by fir- 

 ing with 360 and 240 grs. of powder, with an 

 ovate ball double the weight of the" service balL 

 Only about one gun in 100 or 150 is injured. 

 The service charge is 60 grs. of powder, and 

 the conoidal bullet weighs 500 grs. The final 

 process for completing the gun is the rifling. 

 The bayonets and ramrods also are made of the 

 best English cast steel, and especial care is 

 taken to give the former the exact temper 

 adapted to them. 



Similar rifles have been supplied to the Gov- 

 ernment for many years from the "Whitney Ar- 

 mory, near New Haven, and other private 

 establishments. Of the foreign arms import- 

 ed the best are the Enfield rifles, made at 

 the Government armory at Enfield, England, 

 upon the same system as the American rifle, and 

 with machinery, the models of which were ob- 

 tained from the Springfield armory. In size 

 these differ little from the Springfield musket?. 

 The barrel is 3 ft. 3 in. long, and its bore of 

 precisely 0.5777 inch. It weighs 4 Ibs. 2 oz., 

 and the whole piece, with the bayonet, 9 Ibs. 3 

 oz. The bullet is of pure lead, compressed in 

 dies, and is 1.05 inch long and 0.55 inch diam- 

 eter; weighs 520 grains. The rifles are sighted 

 to 900 yards. Many arms have also been im- 

 ported from Prussia, of the kind known by the 

 Germans as Ziindnadelgemehr, or darting needle 

 guns, with which all the armies of Prussia are 

 armed. It is a peculiar breech-loading rifle, 

 having a slide for the reception of the cartridge, 

 which is introduced on its upper side when this 

 slide is drawn out from the breech end of the 

 barrel by its stout handle. It is then pushed 

 forward into the barrel, and is secured by a 

 catch. The firing is effected by the sudden re- 

 lease of a steel needle, which enters through a 

 hole in the centre of the rear end of the slide, 

 and, passing through the powder, strikes a ful- 

 minating composition contained in the base of 

 the conical bullet. This rifle has found little favor 

 with the American TVar Department, and all 

 the muskets hare been altered to muzzle-load- 

 ing and percussion locks. The objections are : 

 the liability of the pieces to become foul, in 

 which state they are difficult to charge ; and of 

 the cartridges to explode in store, from theur 

 containing both the powder and the detonating 

 compound. Breech-loading arms, of which a 

 great variety have been invented, are not ap- 

 proved for general use so highly as the old 



