41-i lewis' AMERICAN SPORTSMAN". 



be compelled to stand if he ordered a fowling-piece directly from 

 the manufactory of Westley Richards or others of the celebrated 

 makers of England. Might not a pair of barrels in their finished 

 state, as well as a pair of superior locks from one of these Gun- 

 smiths, purchased by a friend visiting the other side, be stocked 

 in this country? By this arrangement, a considerable outlay 

 may be avoided, not onl}'- on the manufacturer's bill, but in the 

 shipping charges, duty, &c. ; and we could thus possess a first 

 quality gun at perhaps a fourth or a third less than we would 

 be forced to pay for one finished entirely in England. 



GUNSMITHS. 



We have in our country several most deserving and ingenious 

 mechanics who have devoted many years to the manufacture of 

 fire-arms almost exclusively for sporting purposes; and if they 

 had met with half the liberality and encouragement that are so 

 freely bestowed by the English gentry upon the same class of 

 operatives in the old country, we no doubt should now be able 

 to boast of men in this branch of business who could vie in 

 everything with those of England. 



Our Sportsmen, however, are too much in the habit of trusting 

 their lives, as well as those of their friends, to the use of one of 

 the many cheap guns that are either imported into this country 

 from England, or, what is still worse, from Germany. This 

 being the case, we cannot be surprised at the frequent occur- 

 rence of accidents of a serious character, in everj^ section of our 

 country, during the shooting season. 



There are several Gunmakers in New York, all of whom are 

 said to be clever in their profession. Each and every one of 

 them have their patrons always ready to extol them and their 

 works to the skies. We are not, however, personally acquainted 

 with any of them, and therefore only state that which we have 

 learned from others respecting these men. AYe have examined 

 some of their work, and certainly have no fault to find with the 

 greater portion of that Avhich has come under our notice as 

 "crack jobs," although their ordinary every-day work is far in- 

 ferior to much of the same kind turned out of the second-rate 

 gunshops of England. 



