row DEB.] 



BY FIELD, WOOD, AND WAIKK. 



[powder. 



t!io kind of game to bo shot, and many other 

 circumstances, all, nioro or less, calculated to 

 luodilV the jud!»ment, and to causo it to pre- 

 ponderato fither to the ouo side or tho other. 

 I^lr. Greener inaiiitaius that, if wo obtain 

 powder of lino grain, and powder composed of 

 tlie same ingredients, large-grained, tho latter 

 will be stronger than the former. He tells us 

 he has made many exi^eriments both by ride 

 and musket, and the coarser grain always pre- 

 dominated over the smaller. These results 

 have been denied by other respectable sporting 

 authorities. Colonel Hawker says, the best 

 powder for copper-cap guns is iho fine cylinder 

 of Curtis and Hervey, the large-grained powder 

 being liable to miss fire. But the same au- 

 thority qualifies his opinion by afterwards 

 stating — " I have invariably observed that small- 

 grained powder fails to answer in large guns ; 

 particularly on salt water, and in damp weather. 

 It always shoots weak beyond fifty or sixty 

 yards, and is very liable to hang fire. If a 

 punt-gun is loaded with fine powder, and 

 brought in at night, the chances are that it 

 •would hang fire in the morning. But with 

 coarse cannon powder, I have known a gun 

 that has been loaded for a f -tnight go oft" as 

 well as possible, by merely being probed, and 

 fresh primed." 



How far the grazing of powder is advanta- 

 geous, is likewise a disputed question. Many 

 sportsmen aflirm, that they fail to detect any 

 tiifierence between the glazed and the un- 

 glazed kinds. Colonel Hawker prefers the 

 UDglazed; but he assigns no reason for this 

 preference: the whole question probably re- 

 solves itself into a mere matter of fancy or 

 taste. 



On the ratio of force with which difierent 

 kinds of powder act on resisting bodies, much 

 curious and valuable information has been 

 communicated to the world of late years. 

 The substance of such information we shall 

 attempt to condense into as brief a space as is 

 compatible with clearness. 



As Mr. Babbage, in his Economij of Maclii- 

 nerg, favours us with remarks pertinent to this 

 subject, we are glad to give tho reader the 

 benefit of them, as his work is not likely 

 to be widely difi'used amongst those who follow 

 the gun as an amusement. 



A gun loaded with ball, docs not kick so 



severely aa one loaded with shot ; and among 

 tho dillV-rent aorta of shot, that which ia the 

 smallest, causes tho groateat recoil against 

 tho shoulder. A gun loaded with u tpiautity 

 of sand, etpial in weight to a charge ol Knij)e- 

 shot, is said to kick still more. If, in loading, 

 a space be left between the wadding and the 

 charge, tho gun either recoils violently or 

 bursts. If tho muzzle of a gun has acci- 

 dentally been stuck into tho ground, ho as to 

 bo stopped up wiLli clay, or even with snow, 

 or if it be fired with its muzzle plunged into 

 water, it will, in all probability, burst. The 

 cause of these apparently contradictory results 

 is, that every force requires time to produce 

 its efiects ; and if the time requisite for tho 

 elastic vapour within to force out the sides 

 of tho barrel, is less than that in which tho 

 condensation of the air, near the wadding, is 

 conveyed in sufficient force to drive the im- 

 pediment from tho muzzle, then the barrel 

 must burst. It occasionally happens that 

 these two forces are so equally balanced, that 

 tho barrel only swells, the obstacle giving 

 way before the piece actually bursLs. This 

 explanation will appear more obvious if we 

 trace, step by step, the circumbtunces which 

 arise on discharging a gun loaded with pow- 

 der, confined by a cylindrical piece of wadding, 

 and having its muzzle filled with clay, or 

 some other substance, ofiering a moderate 

 degree of resistance. In such a case, the first 

 efiect of the explosion is to produce an enor- 

 mous pressure on everything confining it, and 

 to advance the wadding through a very small 

 space. Here let us consider it as at rest 

 for a moment, and examine its condition. 

 The portion of air in immediate contact with 

 the wadding is condensed ; and if the wadding 

 were to remain at rest, the air, throughout 

 the tube, would soon acquire a uniform density. 

 But this would require a small interval of 

 time, for the condensation next the wadding 

 would travel with the velocity of sound to the 

 other end, from whence, being reflected back, a 

 series of waves would be generated, which, aided 

 by the friction of the tube, would ultimately 

 destroy the motion. But, until the first wave 

 reaches the impediment at the muzzle, the air 

 can exert no pressure against it. Now, if the 

 velocity communicated to the wadding is very 

 much greater than that of sound, the conden- 



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