THE GUN, AND HOW TO USE IT. 103 



work and the metal come together ; which is one of the 

 principal points of superiority in London-made guns to all 

 others ; it seeming impossible in them that the air itself, 

 much less a mote of dust or a drop of dampness, should 

 penetrate the accurate suture. 



The lock-plates externally should be rubbed and oiled, 

 as should the trigger-guard, the heel-plate, and, in fact, all 

 the iron work of the stock. The wood, which in the 

 finest English guns is now put up merely in oil, with no 

 French varnish to be scratched at the first encounter with 

 stock or stone, and thenceforward always to show bruised 

 and ragged, needs only plenty of elbow grease and a little 

 furniture oil to keep it in perfect condition. The ramrod 

 must be oiled, reinserted in its pipes, and the gun is clean, 

 ready to be shot again to-morrow, or to be laid by in its 

 case until once more wanted in the field. 



If the latter, lay a treble-folded linen rag, dipped in 

 the clarified oil and pressed dry, between the striker and 

 the nipples ; lay a single fold of the same over each muz- 

 zle, and force it down with a wad inside it, about two 

 inches into the barrel. 



Clarified oil is made by putting a handful of rusty 

 nails, old iron, or shot, into a bottle of the best salad oil. 

 In less than a month all the impurities of the oil will sink 

 and collect about the metals, and the residue, when drawn 

 off carefully, instead of itself promoting, will prevent 

 oxidization. 



" From the peculiar construction of detonating locks," 

 I quote from a clever little English work by " Craven," 

 under a title similar to my own, " they should not be 



