MISCELLANEOUS HINTS. 379 



deposit and the restoration of tlie barrels to their original 

 beauty. 



We do not thiiik that we could better accomplish this end, or 

 do more justice to our readers, than by transcribing the direc- 

 tions given under this head by the talented Blain : — 



"Have an ashen rod turned a few inches longer than the 

 barrel, and so nearly of the size of the bore as to allow of the 

 following process: Let one end of the rod be cut lengthwise 

 so as to make a slit of six inches long, into which slit enter as 

 much fine emery paper as will completely fill up the bore of 

 the barrel, taking care in folding the paper tightly round the 

 wood that the emery surface is outward. Force it into the 

 barrels by screwing it downwards from the top to the bottom ; 

 repeat this process until the barrel is as clean and as polished 

 as when it left the maker's hands. It is needless to remark, 

 after the cautions we have given against using sand or any 

 coarse matter that can abrade the surface of the barrel, that it is 

 only the finest emery that should be used, from which, if judi- 

 ciously employed on only one or two such occasions as these, no 

 injurious effects can be apprehended. "We need not inform the 

 observant reader that iron or steel well polished will not attract 

 rusl so readily as when, being slightly abraded, it offers small 

 indentations, by which the minute aqueous particles are de- 

 tained. It may be asked, after all this — Would it not be better 

 to send the gun to be repolished by the Gunmaker? It would 

 save trouble, we grant ; but will he not overdo the matter, and 

 thus weaken the barrel ?" 



THE SHAPE OF THE GUN-STOCK. 



Until a few years the gun-stock was made rather short, with 

 a considerable bend or curvature in it ; now we have gone to the 

 other extreme, and every one is striving for a long and straight 

 stock. This general desire for long stocks is not altogether 

 judicious or reasonable, for what suits one Sportsman in this 

 respect will not necessarily suit all; but, on the other hand, 

 each one should be guided by the "peculiar build of his own 

 person" when ordering a gun stocked. 



To exemplify what we mean, we may here state that the 



