106 G U 
that cafe, bearing'a confiderable proportion to the force 
of the powder. For the fame reafon, he fays that bar¬ 
rels which are newly rifled, and confequently fome- 
what rough within, do not throw their balls fo far as 
they will be found to do after being ufed for forrie time, 
and thereby rendered fmoother ; and, that the miftake 
of thofe who fuppofed that rifle barrels threw their 
ball to a greater diltance than plain barrels did, arofe 
from their finding that, with the former, they could hit 
a mark at three or four times the diltance they could 
do with a plain barrel. 
Befides the method of loading a rifle-barrel gun, by 
driving down the ball with andiron rammer, there are 
feverat others which we (hall mention. In Germany, 
they fometimes charge them in the following manner : 
a piece of thin leather or fultian is cut into a circular 
fhape, and fo large as to cover a little more than half 
of the ball ; this piece is then greafed on one fide, and, 
being placed over the muzzle, the ball is laid upon it, 
and both thruft down together ; by this means the lea¬ 
ther or fuftian enters into the rifles, and the bullet, 
being firmly embraced by it, acquires the proper rotary 
motion in its paflage through the barrel. If this me¬ 
thod be equally effectual, it is certainly much more 
eafy and expeditious than that already'defcribed. Some 
of the old pieces of this confirmation were charged 
by taking out the breech evefy time; and, we are in¬ 
formed, that the pieces ufed by the Heflian yagers are 
charged the fame as the common fcrew-barrel pillols. 
By far the mod expeditious way of charging rifled 
pieces, however, is, by means of an ingenious contri¬ 
vance which now generally goes under the name of 
Fergufon’s rifle-barrel, from its having been employed 
by major Fergufon’s corps of riflemen during the Ame¬ 
rican war. In thefe pieces, there is an opening on the 
upper part of the barrel, andclofe to the breech, which 
is large enough to admit the ball. This opening is 
filled by a rifing fcrew which pafles up from the lower 
fide of the barrel, and has its threads cut with fo little 
obliquity, that, when fcrewed up clofe, a half-turn 
iinks the top of it down to a level with the lower fide 
of the caliber. The ball, being put into the opening 
above, runs forward a little way ; the powder is then 
poured in fo as to fill up the remainder of the cavity, 
and a half-round turn brings the fcrew up again, cuts 
off any fuperfluous powder, and clofes up the opening 
through which the ball and powder were put. The 
chamber where the charge is lodged, is without rifles, 
and fomewhat wider than the reft of the bore, fo as to 
admit a ball that will not pafs out of the barrel with¬ 
out taking on the figure of the rifles, and acquiring.the 
rotary motion when difcharged. The only advantage 
©f this contrivance is, the eafe and expedition with 
which the piece canbe charged, and which are even much 
greater than in a plain barrel. For, when the ball is 
forced through the rifles by the effort of the powder, 
the friCtion nuift be confiderably more than when it is 
moulded to them in the ramming down. It appears, 
however, that in whatever way the piece is charged, 
this friction might be much diminifhed, by making the 
channels or furrows very broad in proportion to the 
breadth of the threads, and, inftead of leaving“the lat¬ 
ter flat on the top, to have them terminating in a fharp 
edge, whereby they would cut eafily into the ball. 
This would alfo ferve to leflen the additional quantity 
of metal in the barrel, which, as the rifles are now 
**»»‘~~-*fc>rnied, bears a very coufiderable proportion to the 
weight of.the whole piece. The depth of the rifles, 
likewife, need not be great, as a very flight hold of the 
ball is fufticient to communicate the defired motion : 
deep rifles'are particularly detrimental when the piece 
is'charged at the breech ; for, if the ball be large 
enough to fill them up entirely, the refinance, and 
confequently the-recoil, will be very great; and, if it 
does not fill the rifles, there will be fo much windage, 
N. 
that a confiderable portion of the flame will efcape pad 
it, and the force of the difcharge be thereby leflened. 
To render rifle-barrels as complete as poflible, we 
fliould endeavour by every means to diminiffi the fric¬ 
tion between the bullet and the fides of the barrel. 
The turns of the fpiral being exactly .parallel to each 
other, and both the threads and the furrows being made 
perfectly fmooth, are circumftances absolutely eflential 
to perfection ; as thereby the bullet, when once put in 
motion, will pafs through the barrel with very little 
fridion. The molt accurate method of afcertaining 
this is, by pouring melted lead into the barrel fo as 
to form a cylinder of two or three inches in length, and 
which is exaCtly fitted to one portion of the caliber : 
if this cylinder, when moved a little, pafles without 
flop or difficulty from one end of the barrel to the 
other, by being puflied gently, the rifling may be pro¬ 
nounced very exaCt. The fame thing may be tried 
with a plug or ball of lead, driven into one end of the 
barrel fo as to fill the rifles, and puffied forward with 
the ramrod. 
From the imperfeCt manner in which any inftrument 
works in a fpiral direction within the barrel, the fur¬ 
rows are generally left very rough ; and hence rifled 
pieces are found to throw their ball to a greater dif- 
tance, though with equal accuracy, after being ufed 
for fome time, and thereby having the bottom of the 
furrows, and edges of the threads, worn fmooth. Thefe 
might be rendered fmooth at firft, by means of a plug 
of lead or pewter, made to fit the rifles, being fixed to 
an iron rod, and worked backwards and forwards in the 
barrel with fine emery and oil : or the leaden plug 
might be employed as a pattern to form one of brafs.or 
fteel by, for the fame purpofe. 
As the pieces which are charged at the breech are 
confiderably dearer than the others, and, excepting the 
expedition with which they can be charged, are really 
inferior to'thofe charged at the muzzle ; we are of opi¬ 
nion, that the latter might,, by a very fimple means, be 
rendered equally ferviceable with the former. This is 
nothing more than having the balls caft with projections 
that anfwer to the rifles ; which may be done with 
great eafe and accuracy by making correfponding hol¬ 
lows round a zone of the bullet-mould : by this the 
ball may be fitted fo accurately to the rifles, as to leave 
fcarcely any windage ; whilft the friCtion will be lefs 
than it is either when the ball is put in at the breech, 
or forced in by the muzzle. . 
Pieces intended for fhooting with ball, whether they 
be plain or rifled, ought to be of much more equal 
thicknefs, from the breech to the muzzle, than thofe 
that are intended for ffiot only. In every barrel, there 
is an undulating vibration communicated to the metal 
by the explofion. This is fnoft remarkable in a thin 
barrel, and when the charge is great; and may be ren¬ 
dered very evident by the following eafy experiment : 
Take a piece of fine fteel or iron-wire, that is tempered 
fo as not to ftretch readily ; pafs it once round the thin 
part of the barrel, and twift it tight. The piece being 
then charged and fired, the wire will be found burft 
afunder, or confiderably untwifted. It is evident, that 
fuch a degree of vibration in the barrel muft have an 
effect upon the ball in its palfage through it ; and that 
the only means of preventing it is,- by having an addi¬ 
tional quantity of metal in the barrel', and efpecially 
in the fore part of it. The fame circumftance certainly 
obtains, though in a much lefs degree, fin fowling- 
pieces; and, on this account, as well as on that of the 
recoil, a barrel which is ftrong enough to withftand any 
charge that is required, may yet have too finall a quan¬ 
tity of metal in it. 
Of the STOCK and LOCK. 
The wood which is mofi commonly employed for the 
flock, and which appears the beft for the purpofe, is 
walnut- 
