CHAPTER V.

GUN-MAKING.

In this chapter I shall briefly describe the process of the manufacture of guns of all qualities, commencing with barrel-welding; which, in importance, is inferior only to the _quality of iron_ in the routine of good gun-making.

Birmingham, and the surrounding districts, are the only places in England where barrel-welding is practised. The superior advantage possessed in having coal nearly (if not entirely) free from the presence of the sulphuret of iron, which has always been found a considerable hindrance to the obtainment of clear and good barrels, is greatly in their favour. For a considerable period individuals in London contended with the Warwickshire welders; but being an unequal contest, it ended in favour of the provincialists. This is to be regretted, as there can be no doubt but that greater reliance could be placed on the material of the London manufacture. But a considerable drawback existed with the latter: they made only one sort of barrel, and that the best. Now it is requisite to have a fire fitted for the purpose of welding best barrels--tempered, as it were--and this can only be effected by some hours’ using, which is generally employed in the production of a number of very inferior barrels. As the London people made no common guns, and needed no inferior barrels, they welded their best barrels in a raw, untempered fire; and hence arose the admitted inferiority of their work. The late Mr. Fullard struggled long and hard in the competition; but with his death, barrel-welding ceased in the metropolis. Indeed it would have been highly imprudent and unprofitable for any one to have entered upon such a speculation; there being no certainty of success, but rather of the contrary. The Birmingham barrel-welders are wonderfully clever smiths: they cannot be excelled. If _ridden with a curb_, they do well; but no opportunity must be given them, or to a certainty they will “bolt” from the true path.

The metal rods are twisted by means of two iron bars, the one fixed the other loose. In the latter there is a prong or notch to receive one end; and when inserted, the bar is turned by a handle. The fixed bar preventing the rod from going round, it is bent and twisted over the moveable rod like the pieces of leather round the handle of a whip. The loose bar is unshipped, the spiral knocked off, and the same process recommenced with another rod. The length of all the spirals depends on the breadth of the rod: for instance, the stub-twist has sixteen circles in six inches long; a rod of five feet will make a spiral of only seven inches; while iron, of an inch in breadth, will make a spiral of as many inches long as there are twists: hence the reason why best barrels have more joinings than common ones of equal length.

The Damascus being rolled into rods of 11-16ths broad forms a spiral with the appearance shown in the accompanying woodcut.

The fancy steel barrels and others, where the rod is formed of more than one piece, such as the stub Damascus, &c., is of rather greater breadth, like the representation below.

The iron made from stubs and steel, and plain fibrous steel, is invariably rolled down into rods of 6-16ths broad, forming a spiral, as below.

A proper attention to the fineness of the spiral will always enable an amateur to detect any attempt at imposition.

The spiral formed from the rod of charcoal iron has a somewhat different appearance; but in cases where it is intended to supply the place of the real stub iron it is of corresponding dimensions, and in general very difficult to detect without a very intimate knowledge indeed of the nature of iron. When honestly intended, it forms a similar spiral to the accompanying one.

The wideness of the twist, or the angular direction of the fibres, will enable the most uninitiated to recognise a barrel made from threepenny skelp iron: the very few welds required, is one cause of the cheapness of barrels made from it. Judgment may be formed of it from the following representation.

Twopenny, or Wednesbury skelp is coarser in the spiral still, and running so angular as not to be very difficult to detect.

All iron formed in spirals, as a matter of certainty, forms _twist barrels_--the parties whose use they are intended for, seldom know or care for anything further than having “a twist barrelled gun.” The advantage of _sham damn_ iron being twisted is all imaginary: if used at all, it may be twisted; but those who value their safety would consult it best by tying a large stone to such a gun and sinking it fathoms deep. But to satisfy those who may fancy such things, I give a woodcut of the spiral ready for welding.

The spirals being thus formed, the welders commence their day’s work. The batch consists of a foreman, one on whose skill all depends, and two subordinates, whose duty it is to blow the bellows, strike, &c.

They proceed to weld probably a dozen long common barrels for the American trade; which are generally composed of the inferior iron mentioned before, rolled into two lengths of different thicknesses. These skelps are heated, and beaten on a groove until they form a tube half closed. They are then heated again, and closed with one edge over-lapping the other; as a brazier would over-lap the edge of a tin pipe, for boys to blows peas with.

Having got the two lengths of the whole dozen turned into tubes, they proceed to weld the longer length or forepart, by heating it sufficiently for four or five inches, introducing a mandril of the required size to suit the bore wanted, and then beating it into a perfect tube, in a groove on the anvil, of corresponding diameter; heating it again and again, until the joint is closed the whole length. They then proceed with the other eleven foreparts, and advance the whole to that stage before welding on the breech lengths; which are now partially heated by laying on the outskirts of the fire, to be in readiness: they are then closed the same as the foreparts. The end, when about to be jointed, is opened a little on the peam of the anvil, to admit a portion of the end of the forepart; which is introduced as soon as both are in a welding state: the mandril is then introduced, and the joint is perfected, in less time than we have occupied in the description. The other part of the tube is closed, and the barrel is then complete. If, however, the breech part is to be square or octagon shaped, it is not welded in a groove, but on a plain surface.

Competition has reduced this department of the trade to a low ebb; thousands of these sort of barrels being now annually welded for about eightpence each: if to this we add one penny farthing per pound for six pounds of iron, we get a forged gun barrel for one shilling and threepence halfpenny. This is certainly a poor remuneration for sweating over a furnace containing from two to three hundredweight of intensely heated coal. The introduction of welding by the rolling mill, will eventually supersede this arrangement; a matter to be regretted only on the score of its answering the purpose of preparing the fire for best welding. Of late years rolling has nearly superseded this description of welding.

They now commence the welding of twist barrels. Spirals that are intended for the breech end, are heated to a welding heat for about three inches, removed from the fire, and jumped close by striking the end against the anvil. Again they are heated, and again jumped, to ensure the perfect welding. They are then beaten lightly in a groove, to make them round. The neatest part of the process consists in the joining of the points of the two rods, so as to make the barrel appear as if it had been twisted out of one rod. The ends of the two rods are a little detached, brought from the fire, and applied to each other; a gentle tap is then given, and the union is perfect in an instant. The rapidity and dexterity with which this is accomplished, ought to be seen to be duly appreciated. This trouble is only taken with the best barrels. In the manufacture of barrels of an inferior description, the ends of the rods are cut in a sloping direction, and when welded together, become quite square at the part where the pieces are joined. In a finished barrel the points of junction are easily recognised. By tracing the twist, a confusion will be found to exist for about an eighth of an inch, every six or seven inches; and from this appearance you may conclude that, for a barrel so joined, the welder had not the best price. Having joined the whole of the spirals, three inches are again heated to a welding heat, the mandril is introduced, and the tube hammered, in a groove, to the size required. This operation is repeated until the whole length is finished.

Then follows hammer-hardening: that is, beating the barrel, in a comparatively cold state, in a groove, with light hammers, for the space of half an hour. This is a most important part of the process. It closes the pores, condenses the texture of the metal, compresses a greater substance into less bounds, increases greatly the strength of the barrel, and renders it more elastic. Yet this is seldom done, unless specially requested; and then a gratuity is, of course, expected either in money or beer. A few pots of the juice of Sir John Barleycorn will infuse more strength into your barrels than you could purchase for ten times the amount in money; as they have the effect of making the hammers descend with increased velocity.

If all barrels were hardened in this manner, their shooting powers would be increased, and they would not be so liable to burst in the hands of the sportsman. This, however, cannot be done, unless the purchaser either sees it done himself, or has it done under the superintendence of some person on whom he can depend. The Birmingham workmen, if well paid and well looked after (to counteract the bad habits they have acquired from being employed in the manufacture of so large a quantity of goods of an inferior quality), would produce an article superior to any that could be produced, at the same cost, in any other part of the world.

The Belgian welders do their work at considerably less cost in coal than our English workmen. Coal, it is well known, is very dear in Liege, and necessity may have taught them the extreme of economy both in the size of their fire and the duration of it. They effect this by adding to two-thirds of coal, beat into dust, one-third of clay; the latter is mixed with the coal by being put into a wooden barrel, the two well stirred up together, and the water drained from it. Even this mixture is used sparingly: the fire being scarcely larger than might be held in the two hands, while with us little short of two hundredweight suffices: which is unquestionably a great and unnecessary waste. True the Belgian does not get through the great quantity of work the Englishman does by having “_a great many irons in the fire_” at once; but he certainly does it well and clean: the quantity of earthy matter in the Belgian’s fire gives a great heat, which also is retained longer; and it is also free from any excessive quantity of particles of charcoal.

All twist barrels undergo a similar round; the time and care bestowed upon them depending entirely on the price, which varies from one pound per pair down to eighteenpence, and in some instances lower.

In a former work I noticed the introduction of a villanous system of covering or plating barrels with fine iron over a body of very inferior iron. I here quote that description:--

The deceptions practised in this branch of manufacture are numerous, and injurious to the trade. For instance, if you wish to have a heavy single barrel made from Damascus, or any of the best irons, and you send to the manufacturer the weight of iron required, the probability is, that unless you superintend the manufacture yourself, iron of an inferior quality will be introduced into the inside of the spirals. By this fraud they obtain iron worth threepence a pound more than that which they knavishly insert into the barrel. I had been repeatedly told of this practice, but was incredulous. However, I gave an order for four very heavy rifle barrels to be made of Damascus iron. They were made; but on pickling these barrels for the purpose of showing the figure of the Damascus, I discovered that the iron seemed to be much more easily eaten away at the muzzle than on the surface. This led me to examine them, when I found that the inside was entirely composed of iron, over which the covering of Damascus had been twisted. But for the pickling, this fraud never would have been detected; yet for these barrels I was charged at the rate of two barrels for each. Since this occurred, I have subjected many heavy barrels to examination, and have found the fraud to be very common. The practice is not only dishonest, but spoils the gun, by destroying the shooting power, in consequence of the metals, being of different temperatures, not acting together at the moment of expansion.

Veneering or plating barrels is more extensively practised in Belgium than in any other nation we are acquainted with; they do not conceal it, but they use equally good iron, though not ornamented iron: of this there is much doubt. The method of accomplishing this is by having the iron required rolled down into ribbons of a thin description; these are twisted spirally round a tube of common iron having the fibres running length-ways, or parallel with the bore. The accompanying cut will convey an idea of this method.

Many will ask what inducement have the welders to take this extra trouble? Gain. The cost of Damascus is 7-1/2_d._ per pound, and the iron they use for this purpose is only 1-1/4_d._ A pair of barrels take 14 lbs. of iron; say 6 lbs. of this is Damascus plate, costing 3_s._ 9_d._; 8 lbs. is common, amounting to 10_d._ instead of 5_s._, or a saving of 4_s._ 2_d._ a pair. A splendid profit if you order one hundred. The borer charges less, the iron is softer, the filer has less, and all items clubbed amount to something. The facility with which welders can do this is wonderful; it clearly establishes their ability, and proves their claim to be considered the cleverest _blacksmiths_ on the face of the earth. It is not only the best descriptions of iron they plate with: twopenny skelp is more in use than any. It is now rare to meet with _painted_ barrels: all are _genuine twist barrels_, _warranted_; for they are mostly all plated, even down to the gun costing but fourteen shillings, wholesale price.

This is a subject of serious importance; one which the gun-makers, both metropolitan and provincial, should resolutely condemn; for safety as well as goodness of shooting cannot be secured in perfection with any barrels so constructed. I have met with plated barrels in guns which cost the purchaser thirty-five guineas, and I have detected them in some of the first makers’ guns; for the _perfection_ with which the fraud is accomplished is wonderful, and few can detect it who are not strictly up to “the dodge.” The application of a portion of sulphuric acid into the tube at the breech end of the barrel, is the best way of showing the fraud; for, in most cases, it is all bored out at the thin portion of the muzzle, and the application there would, under these circumstances, be no test.

I have frequently been applied to by many masters in the trade for advice in the recommendation of a barrel-maker. It is at all times an invidious task to act as a selector for individuals, and to give praise to one man over another; more especially where the merits of workmen approximate near to each other. But in barrel-making, a man, to be a master of his trade, should not only be a good workman, breeching and filing well, but should possess a good eye in putting barrels together (for here everything depends upon the eye) and finishing them highly: these are only a portion of the abilities a barrel-maker should possess. Several of the London barrel-makers are exceedingly good workmen, for I have tried them all; but only converse with them, and you find the technicalities of the work is all they can discourse upon: the iron, the vital principle, is Greek to them; they know nothing about it, and care less. How can these men be guides in the right direction? They may have seen barrels welded; but, if so, it is only a matter of chance: even in Birmingham, where this can be seen daily, nineteen out of twenty know nothing theoretically. You will frequently hear them heaping _anathemas_ on a hard barrel, when floating it, and wishing the man who invented steel barrels “_in the shades below_.” Ask these men’s opinions, and if they expect to have the job of filing the barrels, they will surely recommend you soft iron, stub-twist, or charcoal-iron.

Boring and grinding gun-barrels generally take place under the same roof; the borer occupying a very small shop, the grinder a large one. Two men and two boys are generally found in a shop. There are four benches, to each a spindle, in which there is an oblong hole to receive the end of the boring bit. The barrel is secured on a sort of carriage, which is at liberty to traverse the whole length of the bench. A boring bit is then selected of suitable size; it is put into the spindle, and the point introduced into the end of the barrel. A sort of lever is then taken and hooked on to a kind of staple, or a piece of hooked iron (a number of which are fixed in one side of the bench the whole length), and passed behind the carriage to force it up to the bit; this is removed and fixed again, until, by forcing up the carriage, the boring bit has passed through the whole of the barrel. During this operation a stream of water is kept playing on the barrel to keep it cool. A bit, of larger dimensions, is next introduced and passed through; then others of still larger dimensions, until the whole of the scales or blacks are entirely bored out; or until the barrel has become so large in the bore, as to preclude any further boring with safety. If the scales are of great extent, the fault is the forger’s, and the loss will consequently be his. If the barrels be found perfect, they are sent back to the filer, or he comes to inspect them, in order to ascertain whether they be perfectly straight in the inside; if not, to make them so.

The necessity of great care and attention to this point, must be very obvious; for, if not perfectly correct at this stage, it will require more skill and time to get it correct afterwards than the generality of barrel-makers are inclined to bestow.

When the inside has been found to be all right, the barrel is ready for grinding. Many barrel-makers turn their barrels entirely by self-acting lathes, and thus obtain a correct taper from breech end to muzzle. Experience has clearly convinced us that this is not the best shape, but slightly hollow towards the muzzle is preferable, as additional weight there is decidedly injurious, and the shooting of barrels of lighter construction is decidedly better.

The generality of Birmingham barrels are ground to the size required on large stones, which revolve at a terrific rate. The skill acquired by many of the workmen is astonishing. Over and over again, have we seen barrels coming from the mill put into the lathe, and found almost as true as if they had been turned. They have a method of allowing the barrel to revolve in their hands at half the rate of the stone, and by this means they grind them so fine that many would be puzzled to determine whether they had been turned or ground, were the barrel smoothed lengthways merely to take out the marks of the stone. We have seen the squares of a rifle barrel ground to as perfect an octagon as the eye could assist in forming. Best barrels are generally turned after they are ground. Inferior barrels are struck up with a large rubber, or smooth, by boys; in some instances by women.

There is one advantage derived from grinding barrels, namely, that the friction of the stone being continuous, the temper of the barrel is not so much affected as where the tool in the slide-rest is cutting a considerable portion at once; for all barrels are best, and superior to their compeers, which require least metal to be either ground or turned off their surface, as there is a density on the outer which is not in the interior portion. The harder the material, the less the extent of this objection.

To obtain the true form, it is important that they should be turned. The way of fixing them in the lathe is by having a number of plugs or mandrils, which are perfectly true, and of various sizes, to fit different bores; these are centred and put in the lathe; a carrier is then secured on a part of the plug that projects out of the breech-end of the barrel, and then put into the face-plate of the lathe, which carries it round. The leading screw that travels the slide-rest, is then set in the angle to which the barrel is to be turned (though some lathes have not the power of alteration, but turn all barrels in one angle); the slide is next adjusted to the thickness of the muzzle wanted, and, when all is ready, the lathe is set going; the leading screw is turned at the same moment by the machinery connected, which keeps the tool cutting sufficiently keen to turn a barrel in about twenty-five minutes. This being done, nothing more is required than a fine smooth file to remove the marks of the tool.

There can be no doubt of the superiority of this mode of turning barrels, if due care only be taken with the tool. If it get blunted by any scales or impurities, it is apt to tear pieces out of the barrel, similar to the rings that may be noticed in a slovenly bored barrel, owing to dirt getting on the edges of the bit. In turning a barrel by a common lathe, it is fixed in the same manner as before; about an inch of the surface at the breech and the muzzle is turned to the diameter wanted; the rest is then removed, and half an inch more is turned four or five inches from either end; then another half inch, at another distance of four or five inches, and so on, according to the length; making an allowance each time in the depth of the turning, according to the taper of the barrel. The iron between these cuttings is then filed off by floats the lengthways of the barrel, or more frequently ground off; this is a sure mode of getting the barrels perfectly straight on the outside, and without any of those hollows and shades which may be always discovered in an ill-made barrel. It is astonishing how beautifully many barrels are struck by the float. The mode of turning by the lathe is, however, cheaper, and is now confined to military barrels.

There is a great diversity of opinion as to the proper inclination of a pair of double barrels. It is needless to state the precise distance at which the converging lines drawn from the centre of each barrel, and indicating the inclination of the barrels to each other, should come to a point. If we take the point of convergence of those lines at 2-1/2 yards, it will follow that, at 40 yards, each barrel, were it fixed in a vice, would throw the centre of its charge six inches on the opposite side of the mark fired at; but if the gun be fired from the shoulder, the recoil will invariably cause the gun to swerve outwards, so that at that distance it will never fail to throw the shot in a good direction for the mark or bull’s-eye.

The subject may be understood by the following observations. All tapering substances, when laid together were the taper extended, would come to a point at a certain distance. Gun-barrels are made to taper towards each other, and some more than others. To make them uniform, it requires that they should be reduced or flattened, so that the thick or heavy end should join closer, to allow the point of convergence to be extended to a greater distance. If, then, we take two barrels two feet eight inches long, and having a solid substance of metal at the breech of 3-16ths of an inch each and 1-16th at the muzzle; it requires the difference 4-16ths to be multiplied 45 times (there being that number of lengths in 40 yards) to ascertain what distance the points of the different lines are from each other: which will be eleven 4-16ths of an inch, or five 10-16th inches from the centre or line of sight. If you wish to reduce it from the centre, you have to join the barrels so much nearer at the breech; or should the inclination be too little, the muzzle must be jointed closer. As, however, all guns are now made very heavy at the breech, they very seldom require any closing at the muzzle: though it is customary to do it, and to a great extent; but it is owing to the ignorance of the nature of shooting.

Different lengths require a difference in the height of the rib. A greater height is also required for a person accustomed to use a crooked stock, and less height for one accustomed to the use of a straighter one; and so on. Few barrels are to be met with in which the elevation is sufficient. This is a species of innovation much practised by gunmakers of the present day; but whatever merit there may have been in the original invention, there is none in “the improvement,” as they term it. Take any of the modern barrels, and calculate what is the real elevation of them, and you will find it is not equal to the distance that charges will droop at forty yards, when we consider the very large charges of shot that many are accustomed to use, without a corresponding quantity of powder. It remains then to be decided what elevation a gun should have for that distance.

I have tried the experiment some hundreds of times with guns of all descriptions, both with a rest and from the shoulder, and standing as firm as possible; by turning quickly round, and firing (as we might do were a bird to spring in a situation where we could only get a snap shot) against targets such as are used in military ball-practice, being about six feet high, and by means of which one can perceive where the body of the shot had struck. I have also fired against the steep sides of sand-banks, on which, from their smoothness, you can tell every shot that has struck them. My conviction is, that almost all guns charged (as is the custom) with heavy charges of shot, droop full twelve inches in forty yards; though by using small charges of shot you will find them to be thrown much more correctly than the heavy charges; so that it is possible to make a gun too high on the rib for a shooter who thinks more powder and less lead preferable to much lead and little powder.

The elevation I have given will be found to be as near what is requisite as possible, if we continue to load as heretofore; if reduced charges of shot be adopted, a less elevation will suffice. To ascertain what elevation at the breech for the above scale is requisite, take the thickness of the breech and muzzle, and multiply the difference by as many times as there are lengths of your barrels in the forty yards, and you will then ascertain what elevation they give of themselves; and to make up the difference wanted, must be the elevation of the rib, which may be calculated in the same way as the barrels; the length of the barrels being the only way of obtaining a correct idea of the height required. If making woodcock guns, less elevation is required, the distance of shooting being shorter. In large guns a greater elevation is necessary. We believe, however, Colonel Hawker has fallen into an error, when he says that long guns require a greater elevation than short ones. Does not a long gun keep the shot more together? Is not more force generated? and is not the initial velocity greater than in a short gun? If these be facts, why is more elevation required if the shot do not droop? We apprehend the Colonel means, if the same height be required to be given above the mark. Nothing can be plainer than this--that if one pair of barrels be four inches longer than another, and the elevation the same, there cannot be as many lengths in the forty yards of the longer barrels as of the shorter, and hence the difference when multiplied. I think, therefore, he cannot have taken into consideration the superiority in their shooting; for there cannot be a doubt that, if a gun keep the shot together longer, it cannot require that allowance for drooping which a shorter gun does.

As soon as the barrels are properly jointed; care must be taken to see that they are perfectly level. If the barrels are not level, it will be impossible to shoot correctly, as one barrel will throw the shot above, the other below the mark. This being done, the barrels are bound together and brazed with hard solder or brass, for about four or five inches. Greater injury cannot be done to barrels than by this pernicious practice; for they cannot be brazed without being heated to a white heat; and by this heat all the advantages derived from hammering are dissipated at once: the condensation is gone, and the strength is reduced at least 12-1/2 per cent. And for what purpose? Under the pretence that the barrels are firmer and not so liable to become loose. This is a point trivial in importance compared to the excellence and strength of the barrel; for even if they have received no more hammering than is necessary in the forging, they are still injured to the extent of 12-1/2 per cent.: for even beating them when hot improves them much, provided they be not heated again; but if they have been cold hammered, the injury is full 30 per cent. This circumstance shows how little the principles of gun-making are understood by the first gun-makers, the brazing of barrels being practised by all.

Mr. Wilkinson admits this, for he says--“The practice of brazing the barrels is decidedly injurious, by softening that part more than the other; but if they were only soft soldered, the inconvenience would be far greater, as the barrels would be liable to some accident by the repeated expansion and contraction that takes place in firing, as well as by the force required to turn out the breechings.” I can only say that I have had considerably more than five thousand pairs of barrels made and put together with soft solder only, and not one pair has come asunder from any of the causes mentioned; nor ever will, with fair play. On the contrary, barrels brazed can never be sound; for at some distance from the part heated for brazing, you cannot get the barrels re-tinned effectually, and thus for a considerable space between the soft and hard solder, there is no cohesion at all. Barrels brazed together only for three or four inches at the breech-end, can never be sound: they almost invariably become so rusted under the rib, in a few years, as both to seriously injure the barrels, and force the rib upwards; therefore, if you hard solder at all, do so from breech to muzzle, as that will be preferable to partially doing it. I feel quite satisfied, and can prove it to demonstration, that this is undoubtedly the most injurious process to which iron can be subjected; and I believe the prejudice with which the London barrel-makers stick to this practice is productive of considerable injury to them: more especially when we recollect that they are the advocates (in practice) of a very inferior quality of Damascus barrels: an iron very susceptible of injury. The Belgian barrels, and French also, are of good iron; and I fear not contradiction in asserting their inferiority to English barrels mostly consists in the foolish practice of brazing them together from end to end. Both chemically and mechanically it is a practice for which no valid excuse can be offered.

All barrels should have solid ribs for at least eight inches from the breech: they tend to lessen the vibration of recoil, as well as to render the barrels more sound and firm. No maker either understands science or studies quality, who advocates brazing and hollow ribs.

The invention of the patent breech was the emanation of a scientific mind; for it has been productive of more real benefit to the progress of gunnery than any other improvement of the last two centuries. Experience and study in the theory of guns and gunpowder, give the mind a much more enlarged view of the subject, if regulated by the established laws of true and sound principles: a want of thorough knowledge induces the individual to draw conclusions prematurely, and thus he is apt to fall, and to lead others, into error. I confess, that, together with many hundreds more, I once concluded that the great advantage of the patent breech arose entirely from the loose state in which the powder was preserved while in the breech, and its thus being more instantaneously ignited. But I have already shown that the quickness of powder is, in a great measure, the greatest drawback to its efficacy, and I am clearly convinced that compression, in most instances, is beneficial, by retarding the ignition to a certain extent. Here, then, is proof positive, that we have been on the wrong scent, and running after a “Will o’ the Wisp.”

There is the clearest evidence, that the only advantage to be derived from any conical form of breech, does not arise from any peculiarity attached to the ignition of the gunpowder, but solely from the effect of the angular shape; conical form being best suited, or presenting the least direct surface, to the action of the exploded fluid: the angles receive the blow and throw it off at the same opposite angle, and so on, without receiving any amount of force from the element striking it, and thus the elastic fluid is enabled to be resisted efficaciously. The cone becomes and forms an artificial solid base, to a certain extent; and as such, it is much more beneficial than the same quantity of powder ignited on a flat surface--as a common plug breech, for instance; for here the direct quantity of space on the face of the breech receives the same impulse as the ball projected, and is acted upon in precisely the same ratio in proportion to their different weights. In a musket of 11 lbs., the comparative weight of gun and ball is as 1 to 176; and exactly in that proportion will be the distribution of impulse from the expellant fluid. It thus becomes a plain question between the patent breech and the flat surface of the plug. The two halves of a parabola inverted, or the shape of a parabolic spindle, will be the best shape, according to the laws of science. The representation given on page 209 is as near as I can get the engraver to represent my views of the best shape of breech.

A great variety of forms have been advocated and puffed; some of them of the most unscientific description possible: but it matters not; for if a zealous advocate could be found to puff well the advantages of the old matchlock, he would find believers; so prone are mankind to be deluded by the veriest quackery. The absurdity of exploding gunpowder in a _shell_ at the breech of a gun, and persisting in the advantage of it, is certainly tilting at a windmill. It will be asked how it is that Government do not adopt the patent breech in the musket? I answer, because of a want of science in the direction, and an imperfect system of experiments. In fact, they say they do not find any advantage from the patent breech in a musket: that the range is as great without it as with it.

Government never considers the personal comfort of the private soldier, or it would have long ago used the patent breech for military arms; for, setting aside the propellant advantage, the recoil is (as near as I have been able to ascertain) under the same circumstances, as one to two in favour of the angular breech. This is no exaggerated statement: I have tested it, and will stake my reputation upon its accuracy. But the superior knowledge of projectiles which artillerists have obtained since the extensive introduction of chambers to nearly all descriptions of ordnance, is the clearest proof, were any wanting. The use of the Gomer form of chamber, is nearly universal in brass guns: the shape is the frustum of a cone with a spherical bottom. The inutility of enlarging on, or describing, the various shapes or plans of breeching, will be apparent; my intention being to point out the science of the question, not the folly of every invention.

There have been many good gun-lock makers; but they have, I fear, decreased much of late. From the great demand for second-rate goods, they are rarely called upon to make a first-rate article; and thus, from being so little accustomed to make any but inferior locks, they, of course, are out of practice. Instead of the manufacture of the best being encouraged, it is becoming every day more rare to meet with a good one. There is a great degree of skill displayed in the making of locks, though to the casual observer it is not apparent. On the simple hanging of the swivel depends all the smoothness of the play of the main-spring; and on the placing the hole for the scear-pin depends the sweetness of the scear playing on the tumbler. Many who now pass for excellent workmen would find this a difficult undertaking, simple as it may seem, without a pattern by which to work. All locks for percussion should have the greatest strength of mainspring at the moment they strike the nipple, or as it is termed, when the lock is down. On the pitching the scear depends the cutting of the bents, and on their formation, the danger of the lock catching at half-cock, when the trigger is made to pull easy; but these observations will be understood by a lock-maker better than I can explain them.

The quality of all locks depends on the price they cost filing, and unless you pay the workman a proper remuneration, you may rely on having them somewhat inferior, or in accordance with the price: but this requires a workman to point out; so that any person who is not a first-rate judge, is completely dependent on the honesty of the workman.

There is more real science displayed in the construction of a gun-lock than mechanics in general imagine. The placing or hanging of the swivel on the arm of a tumbler, is an arrangement of leverage partaking of the multiplicate; as the weight when at full cock, is lessened by the lever bringing the moving force in the immediate vicinity of the axle, and when down on the nipple, increasing or multiplying that force by the divergence. The Barside lock possesses this advantage to a greater degree than has yet been obtained by any backwork lock yet made; though I perceive no hindrance, if properly understood and tried: it is only needful to obtain a greater length of arm, and a proportionate length of swivel.

The family of the Braziers, of Wolverhampton, have long been celebrated for the goodness of their locks; which arises solely from the fact that they take more pains, and will not manufacture any but the best: for it would be ridiculous to suppose that there are not plenty of men equally as good, and probably better, workmen than themselves in the kingdom, were they properly encouraged, and confined to making nothing but first-rate articles. The Braziers have apprentices and journeymen, and it is preposterous to imagine that they file the tenth part of the locks they furnish to the trade; but yet they have always, and deservedly, obtained a much better price than any other lock-filers out of London. Several of Brazier’s workmen have of late years commenced manufacturing on their own account, and now most excellent locks can be had from W. Evans, of Bath-street, Birmingham, who for many years held the first place in Joseph Brazier and Sons’ manufactory.

The operations of false breeching, jointing locks, stocking, &c., are merely mechanical; requiring, certainly, great skill and ability, but yet involving no principle further than is contained in the proper suiting of the shape to the make of the user. An endless variety of opinions has always existed, and always will exist, as to the description of bend or crook best fitted for rapid shooting, as flying or running. I have instructed, and with success, too, many young shooters, who by commencing with a long and straight stock, have attained a perfection in shooting scarcely to be excelled; and they never entertain afterwards any wish to change either length or bend. Therefore I recommend to all beginners to use as long and as straight a stock as they can _conveniently_ bring to the shoulder. All practised shooters have generally so accustomed themselves to one shape, that it would be prejudicial to change. The practice of throwing off a stock at the butt, or bending from the hand to the heel-plate, in a direction to the right, so that the eye may get more readily in a line with the centre of the breech and the sight, is a practice not to be defended on scientific principles. The body will suit itself best; and if the stock be not too straight, the eye will always find the true line.

The percussioning of a gun (as the fitting-in of nipple, boring breeches, filing cocks, &c., is termed,) is also a mechanical operation, requiring workmen of the very best abilities. The desideratum to be obtained is nearly a direct communication into the barrel, and an absence of unnecessary angles, antechambers, &c.; therefore it is needful that, in a double gun, the nipples should be inserted as near the centre of the breeches as they can be conveniently placed, with the nipples standing, not upright, but at an angle of 45°; so that the blow of the cock shall be in or as near a line with the imaginary upright of the nipple as possible.

The various plans of copper cap, copper tubes, and I know not how many other devices, will be discussed under the head of guns and shooting.

Finishing the stock, polishing, engraving, hardening, &c., strictly speaking, involve no science of consequence, and as such it is scarcely necessary to occupy the attention of the reader respecting them. The best method of staining barrels is by the following recipe: but one material fact must not be overlooked. A considerable difficulty exists in staining barrels all steel; in such a case, therefore, the acid should not be so much diluted.

1 oz. muriate tincture of steel. 1 oz. spirits of wine. 1/4 oz. muriate of mercury. 1/4 oz. strong nitric acid. 1/8 oz. blue stone. 1 quart of water.

These are to be well mixed, and allowed to stand a month, to amalgamate. After the oil or grease has been removed from the barrels by lime, the mixture is laid on lightly with a sponge every two hours. It should be scratched off with a steel-wire brush night and morning, until the barrels are dark enough; and then the acid is destroyed by pouring on the barrels boiling water, and continuing to rub them till nearly cool.

The Birmingham people brown their barrels of inferior quality in the following way, to make them look equal to the best. They dissolve as much muriate of mercury as can be taken up in a dram-glassful of spirits of wine; this solution is mixed with one pint of water, or as much diluted as the person requires. A small quantity of the mixture is poured on a little whitening, and laid on the barrel with a sponge, rather lightly; as soon as dry, it is brushed off, and a fresh coat is laid on; and so on until the barrel is dark enough, which is generally about two days. The effect that the mercury has on every one of the joints of the fibres is wonderful: it never fails to make them, in two or three days at most, a beautiful brown; while the other parts, being harder, remain, comparatively speaking, quite light. The rust is killed by hot water, but after that, the barrels are suddenly immersed in cold water; which has the effect of heightening the brightness of both the colours. The appearance is beautiful, and equally as fine to the eye as stub-barrels browned in the same way; though this process is mostly used for the charcoal iron and the threepenny iron barrels. The only method in which there is no deception, is the smoke brown or stain; and, plainly speaking, this and no other is the reason the gun-makers condemn it. As the acid is decidedly weaker, and of course less liable to impart injury to the iron, no barrel can be browned by it, to look well and fine, but the best; or, in other words, none save those possessing steel in their composition.

The method of staining is this: the barrels are anointed with a little vitriolic acid, to cause the iron to receive the effect of the gas more readily; it is then washed off, and the barrels rubbed dry. The forge fire must then be lighted, and blown up with coal possessing as much hydrogen gas and as little sulphur as possible. When the coals are burnt till they give out a clear white flame with no black smoke around it, the barrels must be passed gradually through that flame backward and forward, until the whole are covered with a black sooty covering. Place them in as damp and cool a cellar as can be procured, and allow them to stand for eighteen hours; at that time, if the place is sufficiently damp, the iron parts will be found covered with a red rust, while the particles of steel still retain the original sooty coat. Scratch these off with a steel brush, the same as by any other method of staining; then take a piece of linen cloth, and wash or polish the barrels with water and a little washed emery; when the steel will be found of its original bright colour, and the iron a shade darker, with the outlines of both distinctly preserved. Rub the barrels dry, and again pass them through the flame precisely as before; but above all things be careful not to allow them to remain in the flame till they become hot enough to melt the solder. When you have once passed them through, do not be in a hurry to pass them again; but in both be guided by moderation: neither allow them, after the first time, to stand to rust more than twelve hours each time. Polish them as before, and you will find them a shade darker at every smoking. Persevere, until they become as dark as you wish to have them. The utmost you can obtain is a fine purple-black colour on the iron; and on the steel, a shade inclined to a copper colour: but if proper attention be paid to the polishing, it will not change much from its original colour.

The barrels are taken out of stain in the same way as in the other recipes, by hot water; but you must continue to scratch or brush them longer, for by that means you obtain a greater gloss. The principle of this stain is simply thus: the hydrogen gas contained in the coal acting on the iron (from being of a softer nature than the steel, which it does not affect), and the flame also possessing a quantity of tar, it is imperceptibly embodied by the iron during the action of the oxide; and, when finished, by filling up the spaces created, it becomes decidedly more impervious to damp or wet than the other stain, which is entirely composed of the oxide of iron.

The only objection to this brown has been found to arise from the discharge of the black colour from the softer parts of the barrels; as it being but coal tar, the sweat of the hand, hot water in washing, &c., invariably extract it in a comparatively short time.

The recipe, for the Birmingham imitations, is as follows:--

1 oz. sweet nitre. 1/2 oz. tincture of steel. 1/4 oz. blue vitriol. 6 drops nitric acid. 14 grs. corrosive sublimate. 1 pint of water.

When the barrels are dark enough, drop a few drops of muriatic acid in a basin of water, and wash the barrel slightly, to brighten the twists.

This last process is borrowed from the Belgians. In the working of their extremely fine Damascus barrels, they found a very great difficulty in staining them so as to produce a clear and distinct figure. The way they now proceed is either to eat away the particles of iron, leaving the steel prominent and the barrels bright; or they polish them extremely fine from end to end, and then blue them in a stove with charcoal. The process is thus described in the notes to a German translation, by Dr. Schmidt, of Weimar, of my last edition of the “Science of Gunnery.”

“The method of browning the Damascus barrels, which are so much admired in England for their distinctness in colour and beauty of figure, is obtained very simply: namely, first burnish the barrels very fine; then cover them with bone oil; pound, or drop, or strew wood-ashes all over; then heat them in a cage of wire filled with charcoal, until you obtain a dark first blue; after they are cold, mix a small quantity of sulphuric acid in water (a quarter of a pint with so many drops); then take a hard brush and apply it to the barrel, when the acid will extract the colour from the steel, leaving the iron with its greater adhesion covered with the blue colour. Great care must be used and skill displayed to keep a good colour and not to extract too much.”

This we cannot do, because we solder with tin.

The “Belgian Damascus” barrels are generally “eat up,” as it is technically termed. “Pickled” is the term also used to describe the process, which is simply eating away the softer metals from around the steel or harder material. The best preparation for this purpose is 1 lb. of the sulphate of copper (known as blue vitriol) dissolved in a gallon of soft water, at the boiling point, and continued boiling in an earthenware vessel, until the quantity is reduced by evaporation 25 per cent.; let it cool, and then pour it into a leaden trough or bath. The barrels, when properly secured at the muzzle and breech-ends to prevent the liquid getting into the interior, are immersed therein. The solution will act sufficiently upon the metals in the space of from fifteen to twenty minutes; care being taken to remove and carefully wash them with cold water, and then, after observing the progress of the _pickling_, re-immersing them as before, until the operation is complete. Then pour boiling water over them, and scratch them well with a steel brush, which will eventually give that beautiful bright “wavy” surface much admired by many people. Laminated steel barrels also look very well, after being subjected to this operation.

Having now detailed as much of the “_modus operandi_,” as the patience of the reader will admit, I shall endeavour to give a peep into the “_sanctum sanctorum_” of the gun-makers’ workshop. I have shown in detail what course ought to be pursued in the construction of guns of the best quality only; and before proceeding further shall finish this part of the subject. I am not, as some would say, “going to expose the _whole_ secrets of the trade:” oh no, only a portion.

There are six qualities or varieties of mixtures of iron for barrels of best quality. The plate-facing contains two kinds finished, composed of steel entirely, but of different degrees of carbonization; one is composed entirely of a laminated series containing many scores of distinct laminæ in the thickness of the sides of the barrels, twisted and beat into tortuous shapes. The other, of larger laminæ, but showing the edges of the laminæ at an angle with the length, and thus appearing larger than, if presenting the side or end of the plates.

Care must be taken that the great proportion of the fibres shall always run round the tube, so that the greatest portion of strength may be obtained, together with a beautiful figure. The cost of this arrangement is considerable, as it involves a great waste of metal, and occupies a considerable time to work and re-work--twisting, faggoting with the bars placed in various forms, at acute angles to each other, at right angles, plaiting three or four rods together, as a lady does her hair, cutting these into pieces, faggoting and welding them into one, and, in short, undergoing an endless routine of manipulations, which it would be strictly unprofitable to detail, but are all productive of cost. An ingenious man may work and improve metal of this nature until its cost equals the price of silver; and, if judiciously done, improving it still, even until he has wasted 90 per cent. of the original material.

The ultimate characteristics and properties of iron have, as yet, never been ascertained: it is capable of being condensed until it becomes nearly, if not quite, equal to the specific gravity of silver or lead. No pursuit, mechanical or philosophical, presents so great and so beneficial a research, to the whole civilized and scientific world, as iron. I could twist and retwist iron, until, from the beautiful and interesting results, it would become with me a sort of monomania. I wonder not at the variety of patterns in a Damascus sword-blade: the mind conveys me to the scene, and a regret arises that I did not live in those times; yet still it is but a mechanical arrangement directed by an ingenious mind, and the ultimate benefit, apart from the beauty, is more than imaginary. However, it proves that the Orientals were artists, and that they were appreciated: were this the case now with us, we could do all they ever did, and more.

Laminated steel is now a great fact. It is a name stereotyped in Belgium, Germany, France, and America, as well as in the place of its birth--England; and orders come from all quarters of the globe for the celebrated laminated steel. Every writer of eminence is loud in its praise, and justly so too; for about its merits there is no mistake. No combination of metals ever yet before tried since the birth of gunnery, can equal it, either in density, ductility, or tenacity. A laminated steel barrel has never been known to burst. “Reputed” laminated steel barrels have been burst, but no real one ever. Nor is it probable, save from malconstruction. Through inattention in the welding the best of metal may be burnt; but the better the iron, the greater the difficulty. Steel is more liable to melt than burn; so that, with care and skill on the part of the workman, it will very seldom indeed occur. But that chance is provided for, as far as human judgment can do, in entrusting such barrels only to first-rate and steady workmen. Such men are no doubt, to a certain extent, scarce; but they may yet be found: the Birmingham welder of proved skill and ability is inferior to none in the world. Laminated steel barrels are more scarce than welders.

Although the various manufacturers of Europe have complimented me by adopting the name of my invention, yet I am sorry to add it is but in name: there are very few even tolerable imitations of them. The cost is the “bugbear:” the name costs nothing, and can easily be assumed; but to make laminated steel barrels is quite another matter: it touches the pocket, and interferes with the profit; and it is only in very rare cases indeed--although the order may be explicit as words can make it--that the real article is supplied. There are very few makers in Birmingham who in reality make “laminated steel.” Steel barrels are more plentiful: they care not so much for the price of the metal; it is the after repeated manipulations that are evaded: the labour and loss of material is too much, and is necessarily “shirked,” and argument is always met with the answer, “We see nothing in it.” Yet the words “laminated steel” are to be found engraved upon barrels of the lowest quality of iron of which double barrels are made. Iron twist is subjected to a similar process to that already described as employed in producing Damascus iron, and which may be termed common iron Damascus. Thousands of guns are made from this kind of metal, and yearly sent to the United States of America; yet all are unblushingly represented as “laminated steel barrels.” The actual price charged for these sort of guns in the United States I know not, but have no doubt for the whole gun it is about equal to what would be the prime cost of a pair of real laminated steel barrels alone.

Purchasers should be fully acquainted with the fact that it is impossible to produce laminated steel barrels at a low figure: labour, high-priced, skilled labour, is always costly; and talent must be paid for in all parts of the world. The attainment of high class barrels at a low figure, as a rule, is an impossibility; and the maker who would pretend, promise, or undertake to make a laminated steel barrelled gun under 15_l._ to 20_l._ is an arrant deceiver: he could never profitably carry out such an intention, even if he possessed the ability to produce the article. For judgment, skill, and ability, as well as labour, are required to produce laminated steel barrels. Steel alone is not laminated; and that is another difficulty: fortunately there are not many persons capable of effecting it. My method of laminating steel is kept as much out of sight as possible, as a means of self-protection.

Stub Damascus is by many makers called “steel:” both first and second class stub; and any attempt to reason them out of the absurdity is a hopeless task. Many of the highest class makers still doggedly stick to stub Damascus, and insinuate underhandedly that the benefit of steel is doubtful: few do it openly; but I feel sorry to record the fact that prejudice on this point is still rampant.

On the superior shooting properties of steel barrels I will enlarge in another place.

The Exhibitions have told very beneficially on the future of Birmingham; the fact of standing highest in every competition will do (and has done) more to remove the prejudice entertained against Birmingham manufacture than aught beside. Sportsmen begin to understand the fact that it is better to order their guns direct from the manufacturer than from the mere salesman, who can only take his goods on trust, and warrants without knowing that he can justly do so. Any system that would identify the maker with his work would do all that is necessary to emancipate Birmingham from the stigma which prejudice has entailed upon her name; and from which I hope to see her rise rapidly yet. But I do not wish to see her rise on the reputation of London: would that all Birmingham guns were like those of London makers; or superior to them, if possible.

In addition to the serious evil of producing guns of such great inferiority in material, and dubbing such barrels “laminated steel,” a far more serious one is the practice of unscrupulously adding to such guns the names of makers who have spent the majority of their lives in obtaining a name for their manufacture; thus robbing them indirectly of what is dear to all honest men--reputation. Few are judges sufficiently qualified to detect a spurious gun of this description; and the name thus forged reflects unmerited discredit on a maker who would scorn to allow such an article to leave his manufactory: but as long as the standard of moral honesty is so low, both among merchants and manufacturers, such things will be. Men may excuse themselves for affixing the names of men and firms to inferior or worthless guns by the plea of having been ordered to do it by the exporters, but they are not the less doing a moral wrong, in thus aiding in a deception which profits them not. But such practices will continue, until the sense of right and wrong becomes more conscientious, and trade morality rises to a higher standard than at present.

I have every reason to believe, and have not the least hesitation in stating the fact, that not only is the epithet “laminated steel” added to guns the barrels of which do not contain a particle of steel, but that a far more serious misrepresentation and injury is perpetrated by affixing the words “William Greener’s Laminated Steel, indestructible by Gunpowder,” to many guns not even of middling fair quality, but the veriest rubbish ever manufactured. That this is a species of forgery there can be no doubt; yet the law of this country affords no remedy to effectually prevent and punish the rascality of offering for sale an article fraudulently professing to be what it is not, to the injury of the purchaser as well as the manufacturer whose good name is thus maligned. Forged “Greener’s” are to be found principally in the American markets; where batches of ten and twelve have been seen in various parts of the States, principally in the hands of “itinerant merchants.” They are, I believe, pretty plentifully produced in “Liege,” also; where, in fact, forgeries on all our principal makers are produced.

As the law provides no effectual remedy or punishment for such rascality, I now, in order to lessen it as much as possible, mark every gun leaving my manufactory with a “_private mark_” in addition to its number; and on reference to me, giving a description of the gun purchased “and its number,” information will be returned of the private mark, which will stamp the article as real or spurious. If the gun has no number reference is useless, as I number every gun that I send out, and the want is certain proof that it is a forgery. But with a view to lessen the evil as much as can be, I may here say that the best double gun, with case complete, that I can make will be freely given to any individual who will produce evidence which will enable me to expose all parties concerned in such nefarious dealing, and justify me in holding them up to public reprobation: which will be done as certainly as proof can be adduced.

There are ample fields of commerce in gunnery yet to be developed, were articles produced suitable for use, not for show or deception. Inferiority of manufacture combined with deception is the worst course ever adopted by any community. If Birmingham would repudiate such a course, and refuse to make worthless articles, attending more to quality than cheapness, the gun trade would be more prosperous than it ever has been.

Time is rapidly realising the recommendations I have put forth of the great benefit to be obtained, not only in steam boilers, but various other mechanical constructions, by the use of higher qualities of metals. We have now even “steel ships” as well as steel guns, giving double the strength, with half the weight; and if all manufacturers of high class machines adopted the same principles, an immense saving would be effected in the long run, from the absence of repairs alone, in addition to the greater durability of the machine.

There ought to be no accidents from the breaking of railway carriage axles: such an occurrence as the breaking of an axle is an everlasting disgrace; for axles could be constructed that no known “fair application” of strain could possibly break. A simple combination of steel and iron faggoted in segments, as before described, and rolled hollow, would enable axles to last double the time of those at present in use: 40,000 miles travelling is stated to be the maximum distance an axle can be safely trusted; the destruction being mainly due to the heating in the journals, or to galvanic action changing the fibrous iron into crystalline in the immediate vicinity of the bearing. Axles constructed of different metals, as steel and iron in conjunction, would not be so affected; and might be rendered still less likely to be so by a small hollow in the centre of the axle. But this is a digression; though I may be pardoned for it, in consideration of the importance of the subject.

The opposite plate (No. 2) represents my mixture in imitation of Damascus; the process necessary to produce it, as well as its companion, has already been described. These two also come under the head of best barrels, as they are costly, and when honestly made (not plated) constitute, with the defects before enumerated, good barrels.

The cost of a really good first-rate gun must and will always vary, according to the circumstances of manufacture or the peculiar arrangements of the manufacturer. Joseph Manton is entitled to the gratitude, not only of the present generation of gun-makers, but of all succeeding ones, for this reason,--he not only gave a character to English guns, but so linked his name with improvements, that it will never be forgotten. His was the mind to know and appreciate the value of good workmanship; he elevated the English artisan with himself, and raised the gunmaker to the acme of mechanical skill: for, without invidious comparison of the ability required in other professions, we may say that a first-rate workman as a _gun-maker_[11] (_I mean only a gun-maker_) is one of the very best mechanics England can boast of, or in truth any part of the world. Gun-making is the profession of a man of mind: any man or any workman cannot make a gun, working by square and rule entirely, as other mechanics do: no, the true _gun-maker_ is an artist, and Joe Manton made him so.

[11] Barrel welders, borers, lock-filers, &c., are not technically gun-makers: the latter are those workmen who, having barrels, locks, wood for stock, &c., make them into a gun. It has been customary to say gunsmiths; but this appellation can be applied to the worker in iron only.

It is true, we have not now that complex machine, the flint-lock gun, in which Joe so peculiarly excelled; but we have a more simple and a more efficacious one in the percussion gun. He was not so fortunate in the latter as the former; but all men are at fault sometimes, and he could not be expected to fondle the child of another: no, it was for the first improvement of the _workmanship_ of the gun, that his memory must be revered. The English gun, at the outset of his career, was as far inferior to what he left it, as the tawdry manufacture of the continent is to ours of the present day. The prices he obtained were enormous certainly; but all men should be paid well, who can prove they possess extra brains and ability: he remunerated his workmen on this scale, and he unquestionably had the best set the world ever saw. We can, at this period, far excel them, for the _pupil_ sometimes exceeds the _tutor_; but this arises from laying firmly the foundation of a superior system.

All my ambition has been to be able to make an article that cannot be exceeded in goodness and neatness, combined with taste, by the generation in which we live. In proof of this success I may mention that the two First Class Prize Medals in the Great Exhibition of 1851; two more in 1853 at New York; and, lastly, two at Paris in 1855, were awarded to me.

The best gun, or as good a one as ever was constructed, or ever will be, should yield the maker a profit at 35_l._ Cheaper it cannot be made, if it be _honestly the best_. I have studied and estimated the cost both of town and country-made guns, and am aware that the London maker would be barely remunerated at this rate, owing to the extra expenses he is liable to. But I also know, without doubt, that as good guns can be, and have been, made in Birmingham as ever were produced in London: the facilities Birmingham possesses will always tell in that competition. Westley Richards is an example; for not much better guns can be manufactured than he produces daily, as most London gun-makers full well know. Let but some individual, with the head and the _cash_, try the experiment of making guns himself at Birmingham, and a fortune would be the result; as better workmen, if well looked after, cannot be found in the world. But their talents are now prostituted in the production of inferior articles; and when wanted are, of course, _amiss_ for any great effort. Birmingham is a workshop where if one tool does not suit you you can get another: if a barrel be faulty, or locks inferior, you can have a new one in the time a London house would take in ordering it. These remarks are not dictated by any feeling of dislike to the metropolitan makers, but from a conviction of their truth. Establishments like Joe Manton’s are not met with in London now-a-days--not one house in the business can maintain them.

I cannot possibly have any wish to depreciate. What benefit would be gained by it? But I cannot praise the London manufacturer against conviction; and I am unfortunately too much in the secret: I know too well where and how the vast majority of London guns are made. Why keep up a distinction that does not exist? Why call a gun London-made because the seller rents a shop and calls himself a gun-maker? Why not at once say, “Our manufactory is in Birmingham, as we find we can make both better and cheaper there.” This is truth, and ought to be told. It is now the extreme of folly to say, “These are _Brummagem_ guns:” that term only applies to the “_rubbish_,” the low priced article, which no honest man has hardihood enough to brand with his own name, but substitutes that of some deceased member of the _fraternity_. But when sensible London tradesmen so far forget themselves as to designate the produce of a “_brother chip_” as “only Birmingham guns,” without ever having seen or examined that work, _I feel sensitive on the point_; for though the term is strictly correct, yet the meaning is slanderous.

I have always written and impressed upon sportsmen the imperative necessity of obtaining the very best gun that hands could produce; I urged this sincerely, and for doing so feel myself entitled to the gratitude of all gunmakers who delight in good work. Yet instead of the merit of my work being appreciated, I have unfortunately had to contend with the secret revilings of those who possess not the heart or ability to compete with me. “A fair field and no favour” has ever been my motto; and, without egotism, I can safely offer to make a gun or guns against any maker in the world. I do not claim this ability exclusively; for I can name several in Birmingham, who, if they have the price, will not be far behind. I may fearlessly point to the fact that throughout the whole breadth of England every gunmaker is a copyist of my patterns. Three months after the opening of the Paris Exhibition, imitations were found in every gun-maker’s shop in Paris, labelled, “Fusils de chasse a l’Anglais.”

Both the Belgians and French are making vast strides in competition with us. In Liege they have very recently purchased guns by most of our celebrated makers as models; and every part of the gun is being imitated to the greatest nicety. I have before alluded to twenty-six of Westley Richards’ guns, forgeries, having been sent to London; in truth they have taken us as a model, and if we do not _keep going ahead_, depend upon it we shall be hard run. In every respectable maker’s shop abroad you will find proof of this fact. I brought to England several specimens of their productions, and amongst others a pair of imitation “Braziers’ locks;” these have been shown to many makers in Birmingham, and pronounced unanimously a fair pair of locks: indeed no workman in the kingdom but would have taken them to be of English manufacture. In Paris they carry their imitation, _if possible_, farther still. I saw in Le Page’s establishment some very good work indeed, and said so; remarking that they were very _little inferior_ to our best English guns. “_Inferior_, indeed!” said he, “we consider them quite as good, I assure you:” showing evidently a wish to _have them as good_. The French may excel us in the laudable desire to improve. Their periodical Exposition is a proof of this. We should have our “Exposition” also. Look at the national importance it would give to our artists in all metals! how many bright men would then spring into notice! what an impetus it gives to competition. Artists and sculptors exhibit the effects of their genius: why should not gunmakers also? The highest skill is required in producing a gun: a first-rate gun is indeed a work of art. Why is it not done? “Self” is the stumbling-block. The first makers “_par excellence_” do not encourage it, being jealous of being beaten by some provincial. There wants unanimity, a co-operative feeling, both in London and Birmingham. A well-arranged “Mutual Improvement Society” would be the means of driving the “_rubbish_” out of the market, and the sordid manufacturer into a reformation of his ways; it would show him that honesty in his manufactures is as essential as honesty in his outward dealings. I lament that this untoward feeling should exist; more especially in Birmingham, where they possess all the elements for future prosperity: but these are blighted, from the want of an expansive, liberal feeling to each other. I hope to see this state of things attained soon: the seeds of improvement are taking root.

The plate (No. 3) opposite represents stub twist and stub Damascus; the former, if properly attended to in manufacture, will long hold its station in the construction of good guns. An excellent second-rate gun can be made for about 20_l._, with case, &c. At this time there are a great number made at this price: in fact, very few cost more; even those of the best production of Birmingham. Superior articles to any yet produced could be made there, if occasion demanded it, and if there were a sufficiency of heads to direct and control. The generality of gunmakers in Birmingham are merely mechanics, and when you say this, all has been said that can be: a vast majority of excellent workmen have never fired a gun, and know nothing, strictly speaking, of its use. A gunmaker, in the true meaning of the word, is, or ought to be, an enthusiast; delighting in, and living for, his art alone; without being clogged with prejudice or with a stubborn mind that refuses to advance, but animated by a spirit to conceive and realize the emanations of genius.

I have already sufficiently enlarged upon the inferiority of barrels made from charcoal iron. A great quantity of these guns are made or got up for the general factors, who take orders for everything, from “a needle to an anchor;” but they manufacture nothing, and only employ their money _for a moderate return_. The hardwareman is the principal seller of this description of guns; he generally pays between eight and ten pounds each for them, and retails them at from twelve to fourteen pounds, if he can make his customers believe that they are as good as they can get elsewhere for twenty pounds. I have known a tradesman of this kind sell more guns in a season than three gun-makers in the same town during the same time. A certain portion of the warranty was correct, “that they were as good as could be got elsewhere for eighteen pounds;” for the articles, as far as barrels and locks are concerned, are identically the same.

Unfortunately, the generality of gunmakers are content to live like the snail, who cares not how the world goes, so long as his house remains whole above his head; rather than try to improve their productions, or to meet the exigencies of the times, they are content to allow the trade to be injured by the influx of worthless articles, to their own loss and the discredit of the business generally. The enormous prices which gentlemen have been charged for provincial-made guns of the most inferior quality, has driven them to obtain still worse at a less cost. An honourable and tradesmanlike method of conducting business will always be appreciated, and if a gun be required at a low figure, an honestly-made article might be furnished at a price to suit the customer, and of equal and mutual benefit to buyer and seller. But this will not do: high prices or no orders is the rule. It would do very well if nothing were manufactured but high-priced articles, as good in quality as they pretend to be; but few provincial makers have the means to do this: an establishment sufficiently large can only be supported in certain districts. I must be excused for making these remarks, as I have both the interest of the maker, combined with that of the sporting world, in view, and have no other end to serve. I do not include all, only a part of the profession in these strictures, for there are many honourable exceptions.

The ironmonger receives these inferior guns, and disposes of them as stub-twist barrels: he knows no other, nor would he care if he did. A flashy outside is very captivating to the novice; but one or two years’ use will soon show the quality of the article: the wood then shrinks, the glue and wax wash out of the fittings, and an apparently crazy and breaking-up constitution displays itself most clearly: for work put together at a certain price will have only a certain duration. Were I free of the gun-making profession entirely, and asked for my conscientious advice in the purchasing of a gun, I should decidedly say, buy a gun from no one who has not a character to lose; who is not only answerable for the article he sells, but also capable of judging of the quality, and appreciates the value of good materials. The trade is over-run with swarms of Jew salesmen and others, who cannot, nor ever will be, able to duly understand and appreciate the responsibility attached to the profession of a gun-maker.

There have been individuals in Birmingham who realised considerable sums by manufacturing guns of this quality only for two or three sale shops of puffing celebrity in London, and so extensive are their orders still, that an engraver is kept in full employment by them, the excellence of whose forged imitations of names, &c., is wonderful: so devoid of shame and debased in intellect do men become from perseverance in evil. Joe Manton’s guns have become like pictures of celebrated masters; had he produced one per hour during his existence, he could not have made one-half of the number that bear his name.

Guns made of threepenny skelp iron are plentifully to be met with in sale-shops and pawnbroking establishments; they generally bear false colours and hail from fictitious ports, and are bedecked with painted stocks and tawdry imitation gold and silver ornaments; but as to the mechanical arrangement, to use a Brummagism, they are as if they had been pitched together. A decent gun could be made with barrels of this quality, if constructed a little heavier than usual; and it would be perfectly safe, and suited for the use of those who could not purchase better: if firm and soundly fitted up, with decent locks, sound stock, &c., it would be worth about eight guineas; but you can get them by the hundred in Birmingham for 3_l._ 15_s._ each, and, if you particularly wish it, at 2_l._ 15_s._, or less; and single guns, with plated barrels, about half that sum.

We have now reached the utmost limits of civilization, and are about to pass the great desert, where science is never seen or heard of, except it be in the pretences of an inventor of deceptions: things of wood and iron, called guns. Pocket volcanoes would be a fitter title, or portable exploders--for no one can possibly expect anything but destruction who uses such compounds of dangerous contrivances. But for the edification of those who use such, we give the prices of each part and cost of manufacture of them: the statement is literally true; and, except that by possibility the items may vary a penny or two, the whole is substantially correct.

_Cost of Material and Workmen’s Prices for making Double and Single Guns, with “Twopenny” or “Wednesbury Skelp Iron” Twist Barrels._

DOUBLE GUNS.

_s._ _d._ Double barrels, twist, patent breeched 12 0 Pair of locks 2 0 Wood for stock 0 6 Set of cast furniture 0 5 Stocking 2 0 Screwing together 3 0 Percussioning 2 0 Polishing and engraving 1 0 Varnishing (including painting) 0 6 Browning 0 6 Finishing 3 0 Ramrod, tip, and worm 0 6 Small work, nails, escutcheons, wood, screws, &c. 1 0 ---------- £1 8 5 ----------

SINGLE GUNS.

_s._ _d._ Single barrel, twist, &c. 5 9 Lock 1 0 Wood for stock 0 6 Set of cast furniture 4 0 Stocking 1 0 Screwing together 2 0 Percussioning 1 0 Polishing and engraving 0 8 Stock varnishing and painting 0 4 Barrel browning 0 4 Finishing 2 0 Ramrod, tip, and worm 0 6 Small work, &c. 0 8 -------- 16 1 --------

Common iron barrels plated with this iron can be furnished by barrel-makers, double for eight shillings per pair, single for four shillings each; which deducted from each, gives double complete, 1_l._ 4_s._ 8_d._, and single 14_s._ 4_d._ each; and for these we have known the factor charge the ironmonger, double: 3_l._ 10_s._ each, and 1_l._ 15_s._ single; so it is strictly an imposition on both sides, one charging 5_l._, and the other 3_l._

Now for the next: bad as is the preceding, this is infinitely worse; the former costs two-pence per pound, the present varies from one penny to one penny farthing per pound. “Sham damn iron” is similar in nature to brass; a metal with fibres certainly, but they are like the fibres of willow compared to oak: it is an iron soft and spongy, capable of being condensed to an immense degree. All slave gun-barrels are made of it. Mungo Park detailed some of the lamentable atrocities committed by these guns bursting. The many thousands of mutilated wretches who have lived to curse the cupidity of their fellow-men, form not a bright side in the picture of human nature; but were you to bawl into the ears of those employed in the construction, all these and a thousand more such direful effects of their handiwork, you would not abate one in the number of these man-traps.

_Cost of Guns made of Sham Damn Iron._

DOUBLE GUNS.

_s._ _d._ Double barrels, plain iron, with side huts, per pair 7 0 Locks 1 6 Wood for stock 0 6 Stocking 1 2 Furniture 0 5 Screwing together 2 0 Percussioning 1 4 Polishing and engraving 0 9 Varnishing and painting stock 0 4 Painting twist barrels 0 4 Rod, tip, worm 0 4 Small work 0 7 -------- Total 16 0 --------

SINGLE GUNS.

_s._ _d._ Single barrel, ribbed and breeched 3 8 Lock 0 9 Wood for stock 0 6 Stocking 0 8 Furniture 0 4 Screwing together 1 4 Percussioning 0 9 Polishing and engraving 0 6 Varnishing and painting stock 0 4 Painting twisted barrel 0 3 Rod, tip, worm 0 4 Small work 0 4 -------- Total 10 9 --------

The above guns are sold to the factor, at 20_l._ and 12_l._ the score respectively. The Jews sometimes get even them at that, or a lower price, as money happens to be plentiful or scarce. There is a description of tradesmen in this town of hardware, whose establishments bear the euphonious titles of the “_slaughter shop_” and “_blood house_;” and in these emporiums of the productions of the needy; may be obtained gunnery of all kinds, as well as all other material, the productions of Birmingham. If the article costs little manufacturing, it costs these men still less. The slaughter-master is a cormorant, who swallows the substance of the weak, and once past his awful jaws he cannot be made to disgorge. Here itinerant hardwaremen find an abundant supply: he has always a stock. The wants of the poor are always pressing, and the gun-making portions of the inhabitants of Birmingham are not _over provident_, seldom caring for what to-morrow may bring forth. The painted pair of shams is faintly portrayed in the opposite engraving (Plate 4); and the uninitiated may be able to detect what I have endeavoured to acquaint them with.

I shall just give the cost of the various items in the fitting-up of an imitation gun for the African market, combined with an _imitation_ musket for the same; the former is not so desperately bad as the latter, the one being barely half an inch in the bore, the other full three-quarters of an inch, and yet their weights are not dissimilar.

You can have a shipload of these for 5_s._ 9_d._ each. It is satisfactory to know that they send powder with them of _corresponding quality_.

_Cost of “African guns” alias “Park Paling.”_

_s._ _d._ Common musket barrel, or birding barrel 2 0 Lock 0 4 Stock 0 4 Stocking 0 5 Brass furniture 0 3-1/2 Screwing together, and finishing 0 9 Polishing and hardening, hammer, &c. 0 4 Steel rod 0 3 Browning and painting barrel and stock 0 4 Small items 0 3 ------------ Total 5 3-1/2 ------------