MISCELLANEOUS HINTS. 387 



course as the proper plan to prevent the engendering of rust. 

 Whether or not he also advised the standing of the barrels in a 

 damp cellar for a month or so, we did not ascertain, but might be 

 led to infer that he could not certainly object to this addition. 



When a barrel is fired, the metal of course becomes heated, and 

 the natural consequence of the application of this heat is a rapid 

 condensation and accumulation of moisture upon the inside of the 

 barrel, the same as we often see collected upon' the window-panes 

 of our houses on a cool November morning. This fact may be 

 clearly ascertained, if any one of my readers doubts the assertion, 

 by merely thrusting the little finger into the muzzle a minute or 

 two after firing, when it will be found that the inside of the gun is 

 covered with a certain degree of dampness which increases the 

 farther we go down the barrel. This moisture, in connection with 

 some of the ingredients used in the manufacture of powder, soon 

 creates a deposition of rust of a most corrosive character, which, 

 if allowed to remain for several weeks, will materially injure the 

 weapon. 



When a rust-spot or flaw is once made on the inside of a 

 barrel, it is very difficult to be got at; and even after the most 

 cautious cleaning a small particle of moisture will be found cling- 

 ing to its uneven surface, which will continue to corrode the barrel 

 at this point, until at last a hole is actually eaten through, pro- 

 vided the gun does not burst before this takes place. A rust-flaw 

 upon a fine sword-blade is a most difficult thing to get rid of, 

 although easily got at, and will often defy the rubbing and polish - 

 ing of the most persevering amateur. How much more difficult, 

 therefore, must it be to remove it when entirely hidden from sight 

 far down the barrel ! 



Some shooters are in the habit of putting their guns away 

 loaded and letting them remain in this condition for weeks at a 

 time, and then fearlessly firing them off, little dreaming of the 

 danger they run by this piece of negligence, owing to the accu- 

 mulation of rust around the powder and along the barrel. That 

 the corrosive action of rust is the frequent cause of those terrible 



