104 
G U 
CAUSES «f SCATTERING the SHOT. 
From the prejudices which obtain fo generally among 
Lportfmen and gutifmiths, refpedfing the fhot of fowl, 
ing-pieces, it is very natural to fuppofe, that a variety 
of means have been fought after and pradtifed, in order 
to remedy this real or pretended defedt of fcattering 
the charge. M. de Marolles mentions feveral methods 
-employed for this purpofe, none of which, however, 
appear to be pradlifed in England. One of the methods 
he defcribes is as follows : An iron or wooden mandril, 
fitted to the caliber, is furnifhed at one end with fmal'l 
files, which are cut tranfverfely only ; this inftrument, 
being introduced into the barrel, is turned round by 
means'of a crofs-handle, and forms a great number of 
fuperficial fcratches in the metal, by which, they pre¬ 
tend, the defedl of fcattering the (hot is remedied. 
One obvious effedt of this operation is, that of deftroy- 
ing the fmoothnefs of the barrel within, and thereby 
rendering it liable tofoul the fooner; but we cannot 
conceive how the (hot fliould be thrown clofer by hav¬ 
ing the fridtion increafed between it and the fides of the 
caliber; and that this will be the cafe, is evident, from 
a rough barrel being always found leaded confiderably 
after every difcharge. Some make the barrel wider 
.for three or four inches at the muzzle ; and this bell¬ 
mouthed form is of very ancient date. Efpinar, whofe 
treatife has been approved by fome gunfmiths, fays, 
he has generally found this fucceed in making barrels 
throw their (hot clofer. Were this true, we fliould ex- 
pedt to find this form of the barrel more generally tifed 
than it is at prefent, and not hear fo many complaints 
among fportfmen of this defedt. . 
When we confider that the grains of {hot which are 
in actual contact with the fides of the barrel compofe 
upwards of half the charge, we could not be furprifed if 
enlarging the furface of the caliber at the muzzle, and 
thereby increafing the number of grains that touch it, 
ihould tend to make the (hot be fcattered more widely. 
Efpinar fays, that the fault of fcattering the fliot is not 
owing to the hand of the workman, the barrels of the 
bed mafiers being equally fubjedl to it as thofe of 
others. He is of opinion, that it arifes from the diffe¬ 
rent quality of the iron compofing the feveral portions 
of the barrel. Thus, he fays, it may happen that the 
Reinforced part is formed of iron which is harder; and 
clofer in the grain, than that forming the fore part of 
the barrel; in confequence of which, and alfo from the 
fore part being fo much thinner, the latter is the more 
fhaken by the powder, and by that means produces a 
difperfion of the (hot. He therefore pretends, that wi¬ 
dening the muzzle in the manner already fpoken of, by 
facilitating the explofion, diminifhes the force of the 
powder upon this part, and caufes the (hot to be thrown 
more clofely together. This opinion of Efpinar, how¬ 
ever, not only appears abfurd in itfelf, but there b not 
even the fmalleft ground for it in the greater number 
of inftances; the barrels which are forged in feparate 
pieces being very few indeed, compared with thofe that 
are forged in a fingle piece, and are confequently of the 
fame quality throughout : nor does it appear that the 
former are more liable to the fault in queftion than the 
latter are. 
Some gunfmiths, fays Monf. de Marolles, pretend, 
that a barrel, in order to throw its fhot clofely, ought 
to have a caliber narrower in the middle than at either 
breech or muzzle ; whilft others, again, infift that the 
caliber ought to contract gradually from the breech to 
the muzzle. With refpedt to thefe contrivances, how¬ 
ever, we fhall only obferve, that they are both admira¬ 
bly calculated to make the piece recoil, if not to burft it. 
Of all thefe contrivances, not one appears calculated 
to anfwer the end for which it was propofed. The 
greater number, of gunfmiths are fenfible of this, and 
■therefore very feldom pradfjfe them, unlefs to indulge 
4 
V. 
the whim of their cultomers, As far as our reafon and 
experience are fufficient for enabling us to determine 
upon the matter, we would reje«5t all the expedients 
that have been hitherto propofed, and give a decided 
preference to the barrels as they are ufually made, that 
is, to thofe whofe caliber is very fmooth and perfedfly 
cylindrical throughout. Barrels of this kind have long 
fupported their credit among the belt fpo-rtfmen, whilft 
the pretended improvements have all experienced but 
a very temporary reputation, and ate now almoft en¬ 
tirely negledted. Would fportfrnen only forbear to de- 
•termine upon the merits or defedts of their pieces, until 
they had given them a patient and impartial trial, by 
varying the quantity of powder and fliot in different 
ways; we are inclined to think there would be fewer 
complaints made of the modern fowling-pieces. The 
chief fource of error appears to be, that of overcharg¬ 
ing. Every barrel, according to its caliber and weight, 
has a certain quantity of lead, and a fuitable one of 
powder, which will be attended with greater certainty 
.and effect than any others ; and thefe muff be deter¬ 
mined by repeated trials. If we increafe the quantity 
of fliot above this, we leffenthe force of difcharge, and 
at the fame time increafe the recoil : and, if we increafe 
the charge of powder, that of the fhot remaining the 
fame, we alfo increafe the recoil, and difperfe the fhot 
much more than before. In every fpecies of fire-arms, 
large charges of powder are found to difperfe the fliot 
very much, whilft with fmaller charges than are gene¬ 
rally employed it is thrown more fteadily and clofely. 
If the oDjedt, therefore, which we are about to fire at, 
be at too great a diftahce for the fliot to take effect, and 
it happens that we cannot approach nearer to it, we 
ought not to increafe the quantity of powder with a 
view to the fhot being thereby thrown farther, as, by 
fo doing, the increafe of the range will be very trifling, 
whilft the difperfion of the fhot will be greatly increafed. 
The only expedient in this cafe is, to employ fliot of a 
larger fize ; the quantity of it, and of the powder, be¬ 
ing kept the fame as has been already found beft fuited 
to the piece. 
We cannot venture to determine what degree of clofe- 
nefs or difperfion in the fhot will entitle any piece to 
the name of a good or a bad one ; but would obferve, 
that if a fowling-piece, charged with an ounce of No. 2, 
patent-fliot, and a drachm of powder, throws fixty 
grains into a flieet of paper eighteen inches by twenty- 
four, at the diftance of fifty paces, we may confider it 
as very good, although thefe are only about one-third of 
the charge ; and that the fame piece, continuing to be 
fired at the fame mark and diftance, will not, in the 
mean of four or five fucceflive difcharges, throw thirty- 
fix grains into the paper; in ftiort, that, when due at¬ 
tention is paid to finding the fuitable quantity of pow¬ 
der and of fhot, one piece will perform nearly as well 
as another. 
Of RIFLE BARRELS. 
It has been found that the flight of balls, both from 
cannon and fmall-arms, is liable to very confiderable 
variations; and that the piece, notvvithftanding it was 
firmly fixed, and fired with the fame weight of pow¬ 
der, fometimes threw the ball to the right, fometimes 
to the left, fometimes above, and at other times below, 
the mark. It has alfo been obferved, that the degree 
of defledtion increafes in much greater proportion than 
the diftance of the objedt fired at: thus, at double the 
diftance, the defledtion of the ball from the line on 
which the piece is pointed is confiderably more than 
double, and at treble the diftance more than treble, 
what it was in the firft. Mr. Robins fecured a mufket 
barrel upon a block of wood, and firing it with a ball, 
at a board of a foot fquare, fixty yards diftant, found 
that it miffed the board only once in fixteen fucceflive 
difcharges; yet, when fired with a fmaller charge, at 
