GUN-FITTINGS AND AMMUNITION.
Powder-flask.--The flask that is carried in the pocket may be small, if roomy; a large one, in reserve, being kept in a bag, at the front of the saddle.
To reduce bulges in a metal powder-flask, fill it up with Indian corn, or dry peas, of any other sort of hard grain; then pour water into it, and screw down the lid tightly. The grain will swell, at first slowly and then very rapidly, and the flask will resume its former dimensions, or burst if it is not watched. Peas do not begin to swell for a couple of hours or more.
Powder-horn, to make.--Saw off the required length from an ox's horn, flatten it somewhat by heat (see "Horn"), fit a wooden bottom into it, caulk it well, and sew raw hide round the edge to keep all tight. The mouth must be secured by a plug, which may be hollowed to make a charger. Pieces of cane of large diameter, and old gunpowder canisters, sewn up in hide, make useful powder-flasks.
Percussion Caps.--Caps may be carried very conveniently by means of a ring, with two dozen nipple-shaped beads, made of some metal, strung upon it; each bead being intended to be covered by a percussion-cap. The beads are cleft down the middle, which gives them a slight springiness, that more effectually secures the caps that are placed upon them: the ring is tied by a thong to the belt or button-hole. It is very Difficult, without this contrivance, to keep caps free from sand, crumbs, and dirt, yet always at hand when required. I can confidently recommend it, though as it is old-fashioned and not well suited for sportsmen in England, it is rarely to be met with. Spring cap holders are, I am sure, too delicate for rough travel.
To protect Caps from the Rain.--Before stalking, or watching at night in rainy weather, wax or grease the edge of the cap as it rests on the nipple: it will thus become proof against water and damp air. Some persons carry a piece of grease with them, when shooting in wet weather, and with it they smear the top of the nipple after each loading, before putting on the fresh cap. It is said that the grease does not prevent the full action of the cap upon the powder. A sportsman has recommended to me a couple of well-marked caps, into the heads of which small wads of cork have been fitted; he uses them for loaded guns that are to be laid by for some hours or days. A broad leaf wrapped loosely round the lock of a gun, will protect it during a heavy shower.
Substitute for Caps.--When the revolution in Spain in 1854 began, "there was a great want of percussion caps; this the insurgents supplied by cutting off the heads of lucifer-matches and sticking them into the nipples. The plan was found to answer perfectly." (Times, July 31.)
Gun-pricker.--I am indebted for the following plan, both for clearing the touchhole, and also for the rather awkward operation of pricking down fresh gunpowder into it, to an old sportsman in the Orkney Island of Sanday. He takes a quill, and cuts off a broad ring from the large end of it; this is pushed over the small end of the quill, and lies securely there. Next, he cuts a wooden plug to fit the quill; into the plug, the pricker is fixed.
The whole affair goes safely in the pocket; the quill acting as a sheath to the sharp pricker. Now, when powder has to be pricked down the nipple, the "broad ring" is slipped off the quill and put on the nipple, which it fits; powder is poured into it, and the required operation is easily completed. This little contrivance, which is so simple and Light, lasts for months, and is perfectly effective. I have tried metal holders, but I much prefer the simple quill, on account of its elasticity and lightness. A little binding with waxed thread, may be put on, as shown in the sketch, to prevent the quill from splitting.
Wadding.--The bush affords few materials from which wadding can be made; some birds' nests are excellent for the purpose. I am told that a dry hide will not serve as materials for wads.
Flints.--According to Ure's Dictionary, the best stones to choose for making gun-flints are those that are not irregular in shape; they should have, when broken, a greasy lustre, and be particularly smooth and fine-grained; the colour is of no importance, but it should be uniform in the same lump; and the more transparent the stones the better. Gun-flints are made with a hammer, and a chisel of steel that is not hardened. The stone is chipped by the hammer alone into pieces of the required thickness, which are fashioned by being laid upon the fixed chisel, and hammered against it. It takes nearly a minute for a practised workman to make one gun-flint.
Gunpowder.--To carry Gunpowder.--Wrap it up in flannel or leather, not in paper, cotton, or linen; because these will catch fire, or smoulder like tinder, whilst the former will do neither the one nor the other. Gunpowder carried in a goat-skin bag, travels very safely. Mr. Gregory carried his in the middle of his flour; each flour-bag (see p. 69), during his North Australian expedition, had a tin of gunpowder in the middle of it.
To make Gunpowder.--It is difficult to make good gunpowder, but there is no skill required in making powder that will shoot and kill. Many of the negroes of Africa, make it for themselves--burning the charcoal, gathering saltpetre from salt-pans, and buying the sulphur from trading caravans: they grind the materials on a stone. In Chinese Tartary and Thibet, every peasant manufactures it for himself.
To make 8 lbs. of gunpowder, take 1 lb. of charcoal, 1 lb. of sulphur, and 6 lbs. of saltpetre. These proportions should be followed as accurately as possible. Each of the three materials must be pounded into powder separately, and then all mixed together most thoroughly. The mixture must have a little water added to it, Enough to make it bind into a stiff paste (about one-tenth part, by measure, of water is sufficient; that is to say, one cupful of water to ten cupfuls of the mixed powder). The paste must be well kneaded together, with one stone on another, just as travellers usually make meal or grind coffee. It should then be wrapped up to a piece of canvas, or a skin, and pressed, with as heavy a pressure as can be obtained, to condense it. Next, the cake is squeezed and worked against a sieve made of parchment, in which the holes have been burnt with a red-hot wire, and through which the cake is squeezed in grains. These grains are now put into a box, which is well shaken about, and in this way the grains run each other smooth. The fine dust that is then found mixed with the grains, must be winnowed away; lastly the grains are dried.
Recapitulation.--1. Pound the ingredients separately. @. Mix them. 3. Add a little water, and knead the mass. 4. Press it. 5. Rub the mass through a sieve. 6. Shake up the grains in a box. 7. Get rid of the dust. 8. Dry the grains.
The ingredients should be used as pure as they can be obtained. For making a few charges of coarse powder, the sieve may be dispensed with: in this case, roll the dough into long pieces of the thickness of a pin; lay several of these side by side, and mince the whole into small grains; dust with powder, to prevent their sticking together: and then proceed as already described.
To procure good Charcoal.--Light woods that give a porous charcoal, are the best;--as poplar, alder, lime, horse-chestnut, willow, hazel-nut, and elder. It should be made with the greatest care, and used as soon as possible afterwards: it is the most important ingredient in gunpowder.
Sulphur.--The lumps must be melted over a gentle fire; the pot should then be put in a heap of hot sand, to give the impurities time to settle, before it cools into a mass. When this has taken place, the bottom part must be broken off and put aside as unfit for making gunpowder, and the top part alone used. Flower of sulphur is quite pure.
Saltpetre.--Dissolve the saltpetre that you wish to purify, in an equal measure of boiling water; a cupful of one to a cupful of the other. Strain this solution, and, letting it cool gradually, somewhat less than three-fourths of the nitre will separate in regular crystals. Saltpetre exists in the ashes of many plants, of which tobacco is one; it is also found copiously on the ground in many places, in saltpans, or simply as an effloresence. Rubbish, such as old mud huts, and mortar, generally abounds with it. (It is made by the action of the air on the potash contained in the earths.) The taste, which is that of gunpowder, is the best test of its presence. To extract it, pour hot water on the mass, then evaporate and purify, as mentioned above.
Rocket Composition consists of gunpowder 16 parts, by Weight; charcoal, 3 parts. Or, in other words, of nitre, 16 parts; charcoal 7 parts; sulphur, 4 parts. It must not be forgotten that when rockets are charged with the composition, a hollow tube must be left down their middle.
Blue Fire.--4 parts gunpowder meal; 2 parts nitre, 3 parts sulphur; 3 parts zinc.
Bengal Fire.--7 parts nitre; 2 parts sulphur; 1 part antimony.
Bullets.--Sportsmen, fresh from England, and acknowledged as good shots at home, begin by shooting vilely with balls at large game. They must not be discouraged at what is a general rule, but be satisfied that they will soon do themselves justice.
Alloy.--Common bullets of lead, whether round or conical, are far inferior to those of hard alloy; for the latter penetrate much more deeply, and break bones, instead of flattening against them. A mixture of very little tin, or pewter (which is lead and tin), with lead, hardens it: we read of sportsmen melting up their spoons and dishes for this purpose. A little quicksilver has the same effect. Sir Samuel Baker, who is one of the most experienced sportsmen both in Ceylon and in Africa, latterly used a mixture of nine-tenths lead and one-tenth quicksilver for his bullets. He says, "This is superior to all [other] mixtures for that purpose, as it combines hardness with extra weight; the lead must be melted in a pot by itself to a red heat, and the proportion of quicksilver must be added a ladleful at a time, and stirred quickly with a piece of iron just in sufficient quantity to make three or four bullets. If the quicksilver is subjected to red heat in the large leadpot, it will evaporate." Proper alloy, or spelter, had best be ordered at a gun-maker's shop, and taken from England instead of lead: different alloys of spelter vary considerably in their degree of hardness, and therefore more than one specimen should be tried.
Shape of Bullets.--Round iron bullets are worthless, except at very close quarters, on account of the lightness of the metal: for the resistance of the air checks their force extremely. Whether elongated iron bullets would succeed, remains to be Tried. Some savages--as, for instance, those of Timor--when in want of bullets, use stones two or three inches long. Some good sportsmen insist on the advantage, for shooting at very close quarters, of cleaving a conical bullet nearly down to its base, into four parts; these partly separate, and make a fearful wound. I suppose that the bullet leaves the gun with the same force as if it were entire; and that it traverses too short a distance for the altered form to tell seriously upon the speed: when it strikes, it acts like chain-shot.
Bullets, to carry.--Bullets should be carried sewn up in their patches, for the convenience of loading, and they should not fit too tight: a few may be carried bare, for the sake of rapid loading.
Recovering Bullets.--When ammunition is scarce, make a practice of recovering the bullets that may have been shot into a beast; if they are of spelter, they will be found to have been very little knocked out of shape, and may often be used again without recasting.
Shot and Slugs.--Travellers frequently omit to take enough shot, which is a great mistake, as birds are always to be found, while large game is uncertain: besides this, shot gives amusement; and ducks, quails, and partridges are much better eating than antelopes and buffaloes. It must be borne in mind, that a rifle will carry shot quite well enough, on an emergency. Probably No. 7 is the most convenient size for shot, as the birds are likely to be tame; and also because a traveller can often fire into a covey or dense flight of birds--and the more pellets, the more execution. If birds are to be killed for stuffing, dust-shot will also be wanted; otherwise, it is undoubtedly better to take only one size of shot.
Shot is made in manufactories, as follows:--Arsenic is added to the lead, in the proportion of from 3 lbs. to 8 lbs. of arsenic to 1000 lbs. of lead. The melted lead is poured through cullenders drilled with very fine holes, and drops many feet down, into a tub of water; 100 feet fall is necessary for manufactories in which No. 4 shot is made; 150, for larger sorts. If the shot turns out to be lens-shaped, there has been too much arsenic; if hollow, flattened, or tailed, there has been too little. Pewter or tin is bad, as it makes tailed shot. The Shot are sorted by sieves; bad shot are weeded out, by letting the shot roll over a slightly-inclined board, then the sho that are not quite round roll off to the side. Lastly, the shot is smoothed by being shaken up in a barrel with a little black-lead.
Slugs are wanted both for night-shooting and also in case of a hostile attack. They can be made by running melted lead into reeds, and chopping the reeds into short length; or by casting the lead in tubes made by rolling paper round a smooth stick: whether reeds or paper be used, they should be planted in the ground before the lead is poured in. The temperature of the lead is regulated by taking care that a small quantity of it remains unmelted in the ladle, at the moment of pouring out: if it be too hot it will burn the paper. (See "Lead.")