153 



BORING OF BARRELS. 



I shall not attempt to describe the process of boring gun- 

 barrels, as this work is intended not for the mechanic, but the 

 sportsman ; besides, in every thing of this and a similar descrip- 

 tion, five minutes' inspection would do more than a volume of 

 words ; yet, as the well-shooting of the fowling-piece materially 

 depends upon the boring of the barrel, I shall not hesitate to 

 state what kind of bore or cylinder I have found to throw the 

 shot with the greatest force, as well as with the greatest regu- 

 larity. Many gun-makers, when speaking on this subject, as- 

 sume an air of importance, and by mysterious nods and^broken 

 sentences, give you to understand, that the true and correct 

 method of boring gun-barrels is a secret, which remains with 

 them alone ; but the fact is, that the art and mystery of boring 

 barrels is imperfectly understood, and it not unfrequently 

 happens, that a gun upon which every possible care has been 

 bestowed in the boring, will not shoot so well as an ordinary or 

 common barrel : even the African guns, which at the time of 

 the slave trade were furnished to the merchant, complete, for 

 six shillings and sixpence, have been known to throw the charge 

 remarkably well. 



Some time ago, a fowling-piece came into my hands, the 

 cylinder of which, for several inches from the breech, was a trifle 

 wider than the remainder of the barrel. This gun shot remark- 

 ably well, better, in fact, than any I had ever before met with ; 

 and, conceiving this superiority must arise from the peculiarity 

 of the bore, and having another very indifferent fowling piece, 

 I had the latter re-bored in the manner just described, and was 



