162 THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE. 



scoop out and remove every roughness and inequality 

 from the inside of the barrel, and render the ca- 

 vity smooth and equal throughout. A number of bits, 

 each a little larger than the preceding one, are after- 

 wards successively passed through the barrel, in the 

 same way, until it has acquired the intended calibre. 

 It is hardly necessary to observe, tliat the equality of 

 the bore is so essential to the excellence of the piece, 

 that the utmost perfection in every other respect will 

 by no means compensate for the want of it ; and the 

 merits of a barrel, in this particular, may be ascer 

 tained with tolerable accuracy by means of a plug of 

 lead, cast on a rod of iron or wood ; or even by a 

 musket-ball, filed so as to exactly fit the bore, and 

 pushed through the barrel by the ramrod; care being 

 taken not to use an iron ramrod, or too much force, 

 lest the ball be flattened, and an artificial difficulty 

 created. Thus, if the bullet move regularly through, 

 there is every reason to be satisfied with the equality 

 of the bore ; but if, in passing it through, it move 

 irregularly, that is, in some places quicker than in 

 others, the bore is not true, and the barrel is conse^ 

 quently to be regarded as a bad one. 



N. B. Of late, there have been some improve- 

 ments made, by which barrels are bored with greater 

 expedition ; but as these improvements throw no 

 further light on the nature of gun- barrels, I shall 

 forbear enumerating them. 



In this state the barrel comes into the hands of the 

 gun-smiths, who polish the inside, and file the out- 



