460 



distances and does not burst when overcharged. The luxury of a 

 superior gun, if we may so speak, is never dreamed of by these 

 people; and they cannot conceive the possibility of shooting for 

 years with the same fowling-piece without once seeing it the least 

 out of order. A weapon so dangerous as a gun, even in the hands 

 of the most careful, should certainly be of excellent quality, and 

 all its parts made of such materials as to insure its safety at all 

 times, under judicious management, and leave no room for those 

 melancholy accidents that so often occur from the bursting and 

 going off of inferior guns when least expected, owing to impurity 

 of metal or the imperfect structure of the locks or other portions 

 of the machinery. 



We do not intend to occupy, or rather bore, the reader with a 

 long scientific dissertation upon gun-making, but merely wish to 

 direct his attention to the subject in such a way that he will gain 

 ,in a few pages all the practical information in reference to a gun 

 that will be necessary to make him familiar with its history, 

 manufacture, and construction. 



Before the introduction of guns into England, the longbow and 

 crossbow were the weapons mostly employed in war, as well as for 

 the chase. The latter instrument was most in favor with sports- 

 men, owing to the greater strength and certainty with which it 

 threw its arrows. Although the use of fire-arms, as before stated, 

 was somewhat known during the reign of Elizabeth, as well as that 

 of her predecessor, Henry the Eighth, and even as far back as 

 Edward the Third, (1327,) who is said to have first used a species 

 of mortar for the purpose of ejecting large stones against the Scot* 

 when bombarding them in their native fastnesses, still, these rude 

 weapons were of so unwieldy a character that it was not thought 

 of introducing them into the chase. Even in the reign of Eliza- 

 beth, the muskets made under her directions for the use of the 

 army were so large and heavy that it was impossible for the soldier 

 to travel any great distance with them, or to hold them out at 

 arm's length for the purpose of firing ; but each one was obliged to 

 carry a staff with him, which he stuck in the ground to rest the 



