> till it has acquired a high degree 
wr Ae 
GUNMAKING. 
with holes, through which a this ssed, regulates 
the change of the tube in giving ee per edscs 
rod with a moveable 
handle at one end, atid a steel cutter in the other, 
"passes through the ri 
rifling tube. This rod is covered 
with a core of lead one foot in length, and the barrel 
is firmly fixed by means of two rings on the plank 
standing in a straight line to the tube. The rod is then 
tedly drawn through the whole length of the bar- 
, until the cutter has formed one groove to the pro- 
ne depth ; the pin being shifted to another hole in the 
ividing plate, the operation of grooving is continu- 
ed until the whole number that was required is com- 
a. The barrel is then taken out of ‘the machine 
id finished. This is done by casting on the end of a 
if small iron rod a core of lead, which, when coated with 
fine emery and oil, is drawn for a length of time by 
the workman from one end of the barrel to the other, 
of smoothness and’ po- 
lish. The process is then complete, and the barrel is 
ready for the ribber and breacher, &c. The best degree 
561 
inside of the lock ought to be freed and swivelled, and  Gun- 
the tumbler and seer of steel, and also the nails, should making. 
be ew aa 
Very great i ement in the construction of gun- 
locks has lately been shale bythe Rev. Mr Forsyth, saint 
ster of Belhelvie, in Abefdeenshire, This ingenious 
tleman contrived and made with his own hands a lock to 
fire without a flint, and by percussion alone to inflame 
certain powders. ‘This contrivance possesses so many 
advantages over the present lock, (even in its most per- 
fect state) that it will ultimately supersede it entirely. 
Although it is not more than dive or six years since it 
was made public ; yet both the German~and Prussian 
gun-makers have adopted it, and there is little doubt it 
will become general here, so soon as his patent expires. 
The great advantages of this discovery are, the rapid 
and complete inflammation of the whole charge in the 
p taza = the tte bs prevention of the loss of force 
through the touch-hole, ect securit inst rain ot 
damp in the priming, Sah from eae i, and less 
risk of accidental discharge of the piece when the 
common lock is uséd. 
of spirality is found to be half a turn in a length of three 
feet. This lock is ted in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, of Plate Forsyth’s 
CCLXXXV. It consists of a hammer oF dog-héad H, lock. 
and a magazine MN. This ine MN, a section Ptate 
of which is shewn in Fig. 3. consists of a roller A CCLXXXY. 
round which the m ine is moveable as about an ‘is*+ }—* 
The Lock, was originally a cleft piece of iron, moving 
on a pin fixed into tlie stock, The match was held in the 
cleft, and conveyed into the priming in the pan: |A lever 
ne ee ee 
carried down the under part of the stock, and projecting 
at its extremity, served for a trigger.. This simple contri- 
vance was followed by the wheel-lock, so called from a 
small solid wheel of steel, nearly a quarter of an inch 
in thickness, and one and a half in diameter, cut on its 
edge with grooves, and notched transversely, The up- 
art of the circumference of this wheel rose up 
eper. p 
“abrongh the middle of the pan: It had an axis placed 
_ in its centre, to which achain was attached, connecting 
__ itself to the extremity of a strong spring on the out- 
_ side of the lock-plate, and the whole was fixed to the 
- barrel by screws passing through the stock. Its appli- 
cation was by turning the wheel with a key, or spanger, 
which rolled the chaiti round its axis, and drew up the 
spring to its full tension. By this movement, 4 slider 
that covered the pan containing the priming, retiied 
from over it, so as to permit the dog, which held the flint, 
to place itself on the edge of the wheel, which being 
let off by the trigger, the rapid revolutions of the wheel 
elicited fire from the flint,and inflamed the priming. See 
Fig: 8. Tothis succeeded the Snaplance, in which a 
motion was given to the dog, or cock, and a moyeable 
plate of steel, called the frizel, or hammer, was placed 
vertically above the pan to receive the action of the flint. 
Numerous important advantages were acquired by this 
improvement over the wheel-lock, first, by securing the 
ee until the instant the piece was to be fired; and 
y increasing the quickness of its action and the light- 
ness of its construction, &c. The great perfection to 
which this of a gun has been carried within these 
40 years in Britain, justly acquired the profession an ac- 
axis, one end of which is screwed into the breach of 
the barrel, as shewn in Fig. 4. The roller is perforated 
through its axis by a channel m, Fig. 4. which commu- 
nicates with the chamber S of the gun. On the upper 
side of the roller is a pan B, which communicates by a 
hole in its centre with the channel m, and consequent. 
ly with the chamber of the piece. The priming powder, 
which consists of three pats of the hyper-oxymuriate 
of potash, one part of sulphur, and one part of charcoal; 
is put into the cavity C of the magazine, which will 
hold 40 primings. The opposite cavity D contains the 
stéel ptinch anid spiral spring E. When this punch is 
véssed down, it stiikes the pan B, and is again raised 
‘oni the pan by the elasticity of the be spring. F, F 
are the screws betweén the points of which, atid the 
cork fixed on the itiside of the magazine, thé grease for 
oiling the roller is contained. In order to use this lock, 
the magazine is brought into the positioii shewn in 
Fig. 1. where thie cavity contaitiing the priming powder 
is abové the pan. A small portion of the powder therefore 
falls into the pan. Thé magazite is then turned round 
into thé position of Fig. 2. where the steel punch is 
uppertiost at M. The hammer H being raised, and 
the trigger being pulled, it gives a blow to the steel 
punch, whith strikes the priming powder in the pan, 
and inflamés it’ by thé concussion. The flame havin 
no othér exit, pi along the chanel m, Fig. 4. an 
inflames the ¢ One of the great advantages of 
this lock is, that it may be used during rain, and the 
piece will go off even if the lock is immersed in water. 
A very elegant simplification of this lock has been simplitica- 
made, by giving the magazine MN a horizontal instead tion of For. 
of a rotatory motion. The magazine is connected with $)*’s lock. 
the hammer a lever, so that when the hammer is 
raised, or thé piece cocked, the lever pulls the magazine 
over the pan, and fills it with priming. When the ham- 
mer is let go, by pulling the trigger, the magazine is 
moved from the priming pan, and the powder is in- 
flamed by the’ ssion of the extremity of the ham- 
mer. This form of the lock, however, is not water proof. 
The Stock and Mounting of Guns has assumed a great Stock and 
variety of forms, and not only the figure, but the mode mounting. 
knowledged celebrity over every other nation. The im- 
portant requisites in a gun lock are, that the action of the 
cock be as rapid as possible, and that it should be so pla- 
ced that on uncovering the pan, the flint may point in- 
to the centre of the priming, and as near to it as pos- 
sible, without touching it. The main-spring should have 
_a smooth and active motion ; the hammer-spring should 
be light, and should give a slight resistance to the cock 
on its striking the steel, which ought to move on a roll- 
“er; and thie temper should not be too hard or too soft, 
the one extreme being known by a roughness on its sur- 
face, and the other by the flint’s making scarcely any 
impression on it, and producing little or’no fire. The 
‘VOL, X, PART 11, 
of holding small arms has undergone a change; the 
4B 
