RIFLE BARRELS. 311 



grooves, their form, and the quickness of the twist, have all 

 varied as far as it was possible ; and by the Americans a twist 

 increasing in quickness has been very generally adopted, their 

 chief writer on the subject (Chapman) strongly insisting upon 

 it. But whatever may be the plan adopted, unless the work- 

 manship is good and true, it will not succeed ; while, on the 

 other hand, if the grooves are well cut, the rifle will shoot well 

 with almost any of the methods of rifling which are now 

 adopted by the chief authorities on this subject. The argu- 

 ments for and against each of the rival plans at present in 

 vogue would occupy many pages, and after all they would, 

 perhaps, lead to no satisfactory solution of the problem. 

 Much practice is required in adapting together all the ele- 

 ments upon which success depends, for barrels and grooves 

 which will suit one ball will be useless with another, and 

 vice versd. Now, as every rifle-maker has his fancy, and as 

 he will have brought all his experience to bear upon it, the 

 best plan is to accept him and his work with all faults, instead 

 of interfering with him. If you go to Purdey for a rifle, you 

 will get one with two grooves, the shooting of which will be 

 equal, if not superior, to any which can be brought against 

 it ; while if he took your order for a three-grooved rifle, it 

 would probably be inferior to those made by many gun- 

 makers of a celebrity far inferior to his. 



RIFLE BARRELS. 



The barrels of rifles are either made of twisted iron, as 

 described for shot-guns, or they are forged of solid steel, and 

 afterwards bored ; or they are made with a longitudinal line 

 of welding, if they are intended for common purposes. The 

 first is the plan always adopted for double barrels, which 

 would be too heavy if made out of the solid. Solid steel 

 barrels are used where weight is necessary to resist recoil or 

 vibration, and if very accurate shooting is required, they are 

 superior to all others. In either mode, a perfect cylinder is 

 first obtained, which is afterwards rifled on the plan to be 

 presently described. The weight of the Enfield barrel (41b. 

 2oz.) is the lowest for the length (3 feet 3 inches) compatible 

 with safety and efficiency. 



