ELEVATIOjS'.J 



SHOOTING, 



Feletated eib. 



liaving the sight between them ; but as guns 

 are commonly made, the thickness between 

 the bores of each, at the breech, is three-six- 

 teenths of an inch, and at the muzzle one- 

 sixteenth. Therefore, if the length of a 

 pair of barrels was two feet six inches, 

 which is the ordinary length, and the sight 

 taken from the centre, and a ball was 

 projected from one of them, it would make 

 one-eighth of an inch declination from its true 

 course in every two feet six inches it had to 

 travel, which would make, in forty yards, a 

 declination of six incites. From this cause, 

 the right-hand barrel always shoots to the left, 

 and vice versa. Now, to remedy this, suppose 

 the thickness between the two barrels to be 

 at the breech three-sixteenths of an inch, then 

 let the space at the muzzle be the same ; and 

 where the barrels are thus laid together, and 

 the sight placed between them, the ball would 

 only make a declination of half an inch (the 

 bore being five-eighths of an inch), being the 

 distance between the centre of the barrel-bore 

 and the exterior of the barrel's surface." The 

 method by which this error is attempted to be 

 rectified, by filing away so much of the breech- 

 surface as shall bring the calibers of the barrels 

 into a more rectilinear direction, is considered 

 nothing more than remedying one defect by 

 creating another. The great object should be 

 to efi'ect the junction of the gun-barrels, in 

 such a manner as to bring the centres of the 

 calibres of the muzzles, and the centres of the 

 calibres of the breeches, if not exactly equidis- 

 tant, at least much more so than is commonly 

 effected ; the approximation being in general 

 in the direct ratio to the length of the barrels. 

 The late Colonel Hawker treats this subject 

 with some degree of indifference ; and Mr. 

 BL-vine dissents from the line of argument 

 pursued by Mr. Greener regarding it. " Much 

 as we admire Mr. Greener's usual line of 

 argument," says Mr. Blaine, " we regret that 

 on this subject we disagree with him, also, 

 when he says—' To make them (the barrels) 

 uniform (i. e., lessen the convergence we com- 

 plain of), it requires that they be reduced, or 

 flattened, to allow the thick or heavy end to join 

 closer.' If this be not incurring a risk, we do 

 not know what is ; and we do hope that no re- 

 spectable gun-maker will rectify his con vergeucy 

 in the barrels towards each other by any other 

 494 



means than firmly setting the centres of the 

 muzzles rectilinearly with those of the breeches, 

 by the agency of an intervening substance, as 

 hard soldering in the centre, mettle-ribbing it 

 above and below ; and then, and then only, 

 the silver sight will not be a guide to error." 



ELEVATION AND ELEVATED RIB. 



What should be the elevation and the ele- 

 vated rih of a gun, involve nice and abstruse 

 questions as to the precise movements of bodies 

 thrown out of projectiles generally. The line 

 which a charge of shot takes when fired from a 

 double gun, is called, in gunnery, the line of im- 

 pulse. "Whether it be rectilinear or curvilinear 

 is still a point of dispute. But one thing is 

 certain, that the shot is under the influence of 

 the ordinary and the universal law of gravita- 

 tion, which acts upon it so as to bring it 

 within the universal law of having a tendency 

 to fall to the ground. The distance to which 

 its flight may be prolonged, depends on the 

 excellence and make of the gun, the materials 

 with which it may be loaded, and the various 

 minute matters which constitute the tact, aim, 

 &c., of the person using the instrument. A 

 curvilinear direction of the shot is assumed, as 

 a fact, by gun-makers ; and their grand object 

 is, to bring the shot to the mark aimed at by 

 the use of mechanical means— such as straight 

 stock, or an artificial elevation of the muzzle of 

 the piece, in proportion to the length of the 

 barrel. All these points certainly appertain 

 more to the express business of the gunsmith ; 

 yet the sportsman should know something of 

 them, as they bear directly upon practical re- 

 sults necessary to his own safety. 



On the Elevated Bib, Colonel Hawker and 

 Mr. Greener have written at some length. 

 Their opinions are entitled to great weight, 

 and they maintain that different lengths of 

 barrel require a corresponding height of the 

 rib ; and that a greater height is required by a 

 person accustomed to use a crooked stock, and 

 vice versa. Both writers, likewise, maintain 

 that the elevation of the rib commonly met 

 with is not sufficient. The usual elevations 

 do not deliver the shot, even at forty yards, 

 with a usual charge of powder ; and where the 

 shot is of more than average size, there must 

 be a great defalcation in the result. Mr. 

 Greener says, that the experiment he has 



