THE 



OUN.l 



BY FIELD, WOOD, .VXD W'ATKK. 



[the ouk. 



of iIh< prool-iiiark of tlio Loadou company, or 

 that of the Birmiii^liain company. 



Tlio inoilo of uiakiiip: gun-barrt'ls is thus 

 described in the article ou " sliooting," iu tho 

 Encyclopctdia Britannica ; and although it may 

 appear somewhat foreign to our subject, still, wo 

 think there are many who would wish to know 

 something of this operation. " Having lixcd, 

 in the first place, on the size of the gun, and 

 ascertained, as near as may bo, tho width of 

 the bore, and the length and tliickness of the 

 barrel, the next thing the forger does is to ' 

 take a portion of the metal of which he is to 

 make the barrel, and to form it into the shape \ 

 of a thin, flexible bar, something like a cooper's ! 

 hoop ; this bar or hoop must not be all of [ 

 the same thickness ; but that part of it which 1 

 is to be towards, and is to form the muzzle of j 

 the piece, must be thinner than that which is 

 intended to form the breech. An instrument, 

 called a mandril, is then chosen, according to 

 the size of the intended bore of the gun. Tho 

 flexible bar or hoop is then heated, so as to 

 make it ply easily, and is turned round the 

 mandril, much in the same way as a riband of 

 leather is turned round the handle of a whip. 

 The edges of the hoop of iron, however, are 

 made to overlap one another a little, so that, 

 \rhen welded, all their joinings may be com- 

 pact and solid, and no slackness appear where 

 the lips of the bar or hoop toucla one another. 

 "When the metal has acquired its proper heat 

 and the weldings are properly executed, tho 

 places where the bars overlapped each other are 

 quite imperceptible ; and the barrel appears as 

 though it had been made out of one piece, and 

 finished at one beat." The mode of making 

 the twisted barrel does not materially differ 

 from this description. 



The use of the double-barrelled gun, in sport- 

 ing, has greatly increased within the present 

 century ; and the instrument itself has under- I 

 gone numerous important alterations and im- i 

 provements. AVhen first brought out, one barrel j 

 lay over the other, each having a separate pan, | 

 hammer, and hammer-spring. The barrels were I 

 consequently made to turn round at the part j 

 where their breeches were fixed to the stock ; ' 

 and it was so contrived that, when one barrel 

 was fired off", the other was brought into its 

 place by the simple pressure of a* spring by 

 the right hand, while, with the left, the barrels j 



were turned on their common centre. Thi* 

 kind of gun was always esteemed an ex- 

 tremely clumsy and heavy inBtrumeut ; and 

 the locks were commonly so exceedingly 

 complex, that it soon suggested further im- 

 provements in tho make of this sort of gun. 

 Accordingly, tho next step in advance was an 

 instrument that did not allow tho barrels to 

 turn round upon an axis; but, on tho con- 

 trary, they were fixed one over tho other, 

 and each had a separate lock and trigger, 

 which, for the under barrel, was, consequently, 

 placed lower than tho other. Still, although 

 pieces of this construction possessed a great 

 advantage over those made on tho revolving 

 principle, in the quickness of their firing, yet 

 they were subject to one inconvenience, from 

 which the others were exempt, and which 

 arose from the situation of the under barrel ; 

 for that being fired under the same line of 

 aim with the upper one, did necessarily shoot 

 low. 



The more modern plan, of placing the 

 barrels in juxtaposition, or side by side with 

 each other, is a great improvement ; but 

 there are still many things connected with 

 guns of this description, which require con- 

 sideration, with a view to readiness of use, 

 and facility of movement. It has often been 

 a matter of serious complaint, that each 

 barrel is liable to be filed away too much at 

 the breech, and likewise at the muzzle, in 

 order to bring these two parts of the barrels 

 as near together as possible. This renders 

 the instrument unsafe. There are, also, im- 

 portant questions connected with the use ot 

 the double-barrelled gun, as to the way in 

 which a true aim is to be obtained by it. 

 These questions have, at various times, given 

 rise to long discussions, both in sporting 

 journals and sporting books, and very con- 

 trary opinions and suggestions have been 

 arrived at. Still, there has been much light 

 thrown on the general question, and decided 

 improvements made within the last few years. 

 In a past volume of the Sporting Magazine, it 

 is asked — " What is the best method of 

 making double-barrelled guns, so that a cor- 

 rect aim may be taken from the centre of the 

 barrels?" To which the following reply is 

 given : — " If the barrels were placed parallel to 

 each other, it would be but a small objection 



493 



