THE 11 UN. J 



SIIOOTIXCJ, V.Y FIELD, WOOD, AND W.\T1:K. [the gux. 



which wns a warliico instrument used before 



the invention of the gun now made use of, and 

 (.uiploved in dis'-har^ing arrows, and other 

 inissileg, before the manufacture of gunpowder, 

 C)ther3 derive it from yy/*. an engine employed 

 lor similar purpoi;ed. JSclilon says, the word 

 ^un was in use in England, for an engine to 

 oast a thing from a man, long before there was 

 any gunpowder found out. 



The hii.td-gun, or goune, as formerly spelt, 

 seems to have been the rudimental shape of 

 our present fowling and military pieces. It is 

 said to have been invented by one Billius, a 

 nobleman of Milan, and was nothing more 

 than an iron tube affixed to a club, or stick, 

 with a hollow, without a cover near the breech, 

 or base, to receive the priming powder. In 

 the reign of Henry VI., a small priming pan 

 was invented and attached ; but still the 

 weapon was of the rudest description, and 

 scarcely worth the name of being an instru- 

 ment well suited for either attack or defence. 

 The stocTccd-gun was the next step in its 

 improvement. The barrel was placed in a 

 wooden stock, or frame, which was at first 

 straight, but which was subsequently altered 

 to a curve, for the purpose of enabling the 

 marksmen to take better aim, and to obviate, 

 to some extent, the severity of the recoil, 

 which was an inherent defect in the straight 

 stock. The match-loch and tcheel-lock guns 

 followed in the order of change. The first 

 was used with a lighted match, brought into 

 contact with the priming by means of a spring- 

 trigger. The second was made in the days of 

 Elizabeth ; but, though introduced into the 

 arena of war, it was still a very defective 

 weapon, and was not at all well adapted for \ 

 heightening the pleasures of the sports of the 

 field. This gun was fired by means of fric- 

 tion, through the means of a wheel, which 

 passed rapidly over the edge of a piece of 

 flint. It was but a heavy, clumsy, and un- 

 handy affair. It was succeeded by the flint- 

 lock, which was long retained in use, and under- 

 went various modifications down to modern 

 times. The more recent improvement is the 

 pcrcussion-loch, which is now in high favour. 



There are few practical arts which have 

 advanced so rapidly as the one which is marked 

 by the making, or the manufacturing of guns. 

 "Judging of the perfecting of the art by the 



expense of the article," Bays the Eneyclopadin 

 of littral Sports, " wo might be led to concludo 

 that gun-nmking had reached the acme of per. 

 fection. It has been no uncommon thing to 

 pay fifty, sixty, or seventy guineas for a best 

 London-mado gun. The continent has even 

 gone beyond us in this respect ; for we are told, 

 that when Napoleon I. was in the plenitudo 

 of his grandeur, ho established a gun manu- 

 factory at Versailles ; and, wo are informed, 

 that pistols were there made at 10,000 livres, or 

 £100 sterling, each; and guns at 50,000 livres, 

 or £2,000 sterling. Of these, the first consul 

 often made presents to foreign princes, to 

 general officers, and other favourites. The 

 Marquis of Ivockingham is also said to have 

 given to Colonel Thomson a fowling-pieco 

 which cost £400; and that Messrs. lloberC 

 and John "Wheeler, gun-makers, of Birming- 

 luim, presented George IV. with a gun of the 

 most exquisite workmanship, which cost three 

 hundred guineas. 



The barrel of a gun is of the first considera- 

 tion, both as regards its construction and the 

 manner in which it is kept in order. Iron is 

 the principal component part in its manufac- 

 ture, and the kind of iron is of the last moment. 

 The best description of this metal is that which 

 possesses the highest degree of tenacity and 

 ductility. Swedish iron is allowed to possess 

 these qualifications or properties in an eminent 

 degree, and is, therefore, almost universally 

 employed in the manufacture of gun-barrels of 

 any considerable value. It must be observed, 

 however, that this article, like many others, is 

 ofteu made for sale, and not for safety ; and 

 that spurious and cheap pieces are made from 

 kinds of iron that render them dangerous and 

 worthless. When iron is mixed with certain 

 mineral substances, it becomes unfit for safe 

 gun-barrel making; but as every sportsman is 

 not possessed of the scientific attainments of 

 an expert chemist, nor has the pretensions to 

 understand the art of gun-making, people are 

 necessarily left, in a great measure, to chance, 

 for the sort of instrument so necessary ibr 

 their sport, as well as for their personal safety. 

 The most prudent plan to adopt is, to deal 

 with gunsmiths of acknowledged skill and 

 reputation, and who make a point of issuing 

 from their shops only such instruments as will 

 prove both safe and effective. 



491 



