DAMASCUS BARRELS. 2> 



appearance than a huge piece of wood for the but, 

 and will thus admit of the stock being made light 

 and elegant. 



In choosing the size of a caliber, it may be con- 

 sidered, that a fourteen gauge is at all events the best 

 for a bungler, and, on the whole, the most destructive 

 gun. But, with a very accurate shot, the size is not 

 of so much consequence for killing game, as the 

 necessary substance to prevent the recoil of a large 

 bore cannot be brought to bear so quick as a some- 

 what lighter gun ; and, therefore, what is gained by 

 weight of metal might be lost in time. Supposing, 

 however, that weight was not objected to, the gun to 

 be recommended is a fourteen gauge, and, if a double 

 one, of about nine pounds, after the beginning of 

 October, till which time a twenty-two gauge gun will 

 do equally well, and be lighter to carry during the 

 warm iceather. (Remember, I am now speaking of 

 a flint-gun, as a light small-bore percussion gun is, 

 I conceive, incompatible with safety.) 



DAMASCUS BARRELS. 



MOST sportsmen are aware, that a twisted barrel 

 is formed by horse nails, or other tough iron, being 

 beat out to a long bar, and then twisted round a kind 

 of anvil, much in the same manner as leather is put 

 round the handle of a whip-crop. The Damascus is 

 a mixture of iron and steel, and has its grain directly 

 crossways when beat out ; so that the bar of Da- 



