THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE. 



they are frequently suffered to remain for several 

 days, or even weeks, without being loaded; and per- 

 haps in damp situations too, where the barrel would 

 inevitably rust, to say nothing of the moisture which 

 follows the explosion in the course of a very few mi- 

 nutes, if air even is not excluded. The fact is, when 

 once the inside surface of the barrel becomes damaged 

 by a flaw, which rust will very soon occasion, it is ex- 

 tremely difficult, if not impossible, to clean this par^ 

 ticular spot ever afterwards; the consequence is, that 

 it continually increases till at length the barrel bursts. 

 I have made much inquiry on this subject, and have 

 no hesitation in asserting, that tins cause will be found 

 to obtain in nine out of ten of the barrels which burst, 

 In October, 1809, 1 saw a person (a farmer) whose 

 hand was dreadfully shattered by the bursting of a 

 barrel. He acknowledged, that he had been in the 

 habit of treating his gun in the manner above de- 

 scribed; but he observed, that a little time before the 

 accident, a gun-smith had repaired and cleaned his 

 gun, which induced him to suppose the latter had iri- 

 lured it; thus the gun-smith was blamed for the ne- 

 glect of the farmer; though the latter acknowledged 

 that the gun had been loaded for three weeks before 

 the accident happened. 



