GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



Anybody can shoot all day but a gentleman always quits when he gets enough. 



THE OLD KENTUCKY RIFLE. 



In response to a request by a corres- 

 pondent of Recreation for a description 

 of the iventucky rifle of a generation ago, 

 I will describe the style of arm which was 

 in common use in the South. 



Up to the time of the Civil War the 

 muzzle loading rifle was a favorite weapon 

 for small game. In Virginia, the Carolinas 

 and Georgia it was generally used for all 

 sorts of game except for wing shooting. 



At the age of 12 years I had a hand- 

 some Kentucky rifle and it was my con- 

 stant companion. Since then I have owned 

 several others until about 1870, when I 

 procured a Maynard and acquired the 

 breech loading habit. 



The Kentucky rifle was heavy, with a 

 thick, octagon barrel, 26 to 48 inches long, 



up the barrel, and were finished with a brass 

 tip with a hole to receive the ramrod. The 

 free end of the barrel had a small, grooved 

 bar on the under side, with thimbles for 

 the ramrod. In the stock, near the butt 

 plate, was a roomy grease box and the butt 

 plate had a deep curve in it, which engaged 

 the arm of the shooter just inside the 

 elbow. The stock was always slender and 

 light ; not at all like that of the modern 

 shot gun. The great weight of the weapon 

 absorbed the recoil of the small powder 

 charge, so it was hardly noticed. 



The lock was always fitted with hair 

 triggers which would act at the slightest 

 touch. 



Altogether the rifle was top-heavy, as 

 compared with the modern breech loader. 

 The barrel was thick and heavy. The 



LENGTH OF BARREL, 44 INCHES, LENGTH OF STOCK, 15 INCHES. 



CALIBRE, ABOUT 45. 



and carried a round ball, patched with cot- 

 ton cloth or buckskin. The favorite cali- 

 bers were 30 to 36. We described them by 

 the number of round balls required to make 

 a pound. From 90 to 120 was a favorite 

 size and 60 was considered large. Local 

 gunsmiths usually bought the barrels, ready 

 grooved, with the locks and other parts 

 separate. They would make the stocks and 

 assemble the guns in their own shops, often 

 ornamenting these weapons with fancy Ger- 

 man silver plates in profusion. 



Many rifles in common use were origin- 

 ally of the flintlock pattern but altered to 

 the percussion system by a plug and a 

 nipple, screwed into the barrel where the 

 touchhole was. Some were called "Patent 

 Breech," having a claw which engaged a 

 slot in the iron permanently fixed on the 

 stock. Such barrels could be easily re- 

 moved from the stock and the nipple was 

 screwed into the breech, in the ordinary 

 way. 



Most of the old rifles had a tang on the 

 breech pin, which extended down the grip 

 of the stock and was secured thereto by 

 screws. 



' The stock often extended all the way to 

 the muzzle and was secured to the barrel 

 by small pins which passed through lugs 

 on the under side of the barrel. Others 

 had stocks which extended about half way 



great weight and length of the rifle made it 

 easy to hold in taking aim- 

 Being of small size the ramrod had to 

 be of the best hickory and nearly as large 

 as the bore. It projected several inches 

 beyond the muzzle, thereby giving a hand- 

 hold to withdraw it when used in swab- 

 bing out the bore. 



Careful sportsmen would load and keep 

 their rifles with jealous care. Some of 

 them would clean out the bore after every 

 shot and were extremely careful and pre- 

 cise in the exact charge of powder used 

 and the quality of the patching. 



I owned a gun and killed game at the age 

 of 8 years, having for my instructor my 

 grandfather, who used a long rifle and was 

 a past master in the art. He was a type of 

 the expert still hunter of his day. 



After pouring down a charge of fine 

 grained powder a perfect bullet would be 

 selected and placed on the muzzle, with the 

 greased patch intervening. Then the bullet 

 would be forced into the barrel, carrying 

 the patch with it, until flush with the muz- 

 zle, using for this purpose the handle or 

 smooth back of a jackknife. The surplus 

 of patching cloth would then be cut off, 

 at one swipe of the blade, and the bullet 

 forced home, on the powder, with the ram- 

 rod. When properly adapted, the bullet 

 would glide into place, smooth and true, 



"5 



