- FOWLING-PIECE, 
oe about halF’an inch, and are welded together re heat- 
See tute in lengths of two or three inches at atime, and 
ian with very brif but moderate ftr tieaee 
an ai which ee a number of femi-cireular furrows in ity 
adapted to the various fize of the barrels. ‘Che heat requir- 
ed tor welding is the bright white heat, which immediately 
‘precedes fufion, and at which the particles of the meta il 
unite and blend ie 0 jnuimately with each other, that, when 
atraceis s left of theirformer ier 
“oO 
io] 
ifh artifts eae 2, an 
en intro 
and the barrel, being placed in one of the furrows or moulds 
‘of theanvil, is hammered very brikkly by two perfons be- 
dides the forger, who all the while keeps turning the barrel 
‘round in the mould, fo that every point of the heated 
yportion may come equally under the action of the hammers. 
“Thefe heatings and hammerings are i bapa until the 
whole'of the barrel has undergone the fame operation, and 
all its parts are rendered as eT cea naau asif it ha 
Pee t of a folid piee 
The imperfeGions to which a , gun-barrel j is liable in forg- 
‘ing are af three kin ra viz. the chink, the crack, and the 
fi chisk is a folution of continuity, running 
Tengthways of the barrel ; the crack is a folution of conti- 
nuity, more irregular in its form than the chink, cn running 
in a tranfverfe dir ection, or acrofsthe barrel ; the 
& 
ee and not upon ‘the length of the barrel. 
much more eae than the chink. Thefe 
deft, ali the barrel, are — a material eee 
Py 2 affording a lodgement to.m e and foulnefs that cor- 
the i iron, and ae continually enlarge ete ex.cavation 
antil the barrel bur uf 
1e barrel, when for ged, is either fthed | in a common 
manner, or made to undergo the operation of twiftin 
y mea 
retwied 3 in a fpiral” dicho, that is found to refiftthe << 
effort of the powder much ‘better than a — 
the ae farface, ey Doving eee e the mae, on o 
ammer more imme epee than any other eke is rendered 
tthe mo mpa pure, we fhould be careful t 
move as little oF it. as * potlible. Such is alfo the eae 
thodgh © ‘ina lefs degree, with regard to‘that portion of the 
‘middle > the ‘barrel which is to be cut out bythe boring 
. Gnftrume 
" Piflal bee areforged i in-one piece, and are cut afunder 
we ats. circumfer eren 
per aie; ; this is termed we ering biti : arod 
of iron, fomewhat longer than the ince d being 
made to fit the focket of the crank, and the other bein 
furnifhed with a cylindrical plug of tempered fteel, about 
14 inch in length, and having its furface cut in the manner 
of a perpetual fcrew, the threads being flat, about 4 of aa 
inch in brea 
every ro {sand inequality from ses infide of the barrel, 
an fae the cavity fmooth and equal throughout. A num- 
ber of bits, each a little lar ger than the receding one, are 
afterwards fucceflively pafed through the barrel in n the fam 
ek until it has acquired the intended calibre. The ed 
of the bore is of great moment ; and it may be tried 
a tolerable aegeiuelh by. means of a plug of lead, caft 
n arod of iron or-w or even by a mufket-ball, filed 
fo as to fit the bore exatly, a os nae oe the barrel 
by the.ram-rod; care being taken p iron ram 
rod, or-muc jaa left the ball be aaa, and an arti- 
ficial difficulty created. 
The ancl aad: polifh the barrel ; ss it ie 
then in peer to receive its m and propor- 
tions externally, by means of the file. To do this with 
accuracy, four flat fides or faces are firft formed ; then 
eight, then fixteen, and fo on, until it is made quite round 5 
except the reinforced part, which, in moft of the modern 
eight fides 
, the Gounducte of a barrel, 
an equal iciaee on every fide ; or, in 
the language of the e workmen, a barrel ought to be perfect. 
dy upright. To accomplifh this, the gun-{miths employ 
an initrument which they call a * compafs,” . -confifting of 
an iron rod bent fo asto form two parallel branches, about 
an inch diflant from each other 
is too thick, and how much it m 
render every part of the dae perfedily equal throughout 
e {crew 1 in the breech-end of 
saad pe ig has its. f 
of tempered fteel, 
refponding withthe. 
he ‘tap, 
breech-plug is afterwards cafe-hardened, or, has its farfabe 
-canverted 
