THE GUN, AND HOW TO USE IT. 105 
the close fitting of the parts, and make way for the admis- 
sion of rain or water. 
T will here observe that bar-locks are by far the better. 
Back-action locks, though they were at one time the rage, 
do not ordinarily work so smoothly as the others, in con- 
sequence of the form of the scear-spring, and, unless the 
stock be made thicker and more clumsy in the gripe, which 
is in itself both an eyesore and a defect, materially weaken 
that part of the gun. 
If the lock, when taken off, be bright, clear and dry, 
nothing will be required but to wipe it off with a bit of 
dry wash-leather; woollen stuff is not so good, as bits of 
the lint or thread are apt to remain behind ; to brush away 
any dust or old oil which may remain about the joints and 
screws of the springs from the last cleaning, with a dry ~ 
feather, and then with the same instrument to apply a 
very small quantity of oil, clarified as above, to those 
parts which work one into the other. 
If, however, rust be any where established, or if much 
dirt and foulness be coagulated in places where it cannot 
easily be got at, it will be necessary to dissect the locks. 
To do so, the following rules, published on the first 
introduction of the percussion system by a leading Lon- 
don gunmaker, are the best and safest to follow: 
“T have found it a good plan, on taking the parts asun- 
der, to drop the screws, keeping them carefully unmixed, 
into a dinner-plate, containing clarified oil to the depth of 
the eighth of an inch, and to wipe them dry with a piece 
of wash-leather before replacing them. The same thing 
may be done, advantageously, with the nipples when taken. 
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