THE GUN-SMITH.
1. It is the business of the gun-smith to manufacture fire-arms of the smaller sorts; such as muskets, fowling-pieces, rifles, and pistols.
2. The principal parts of the instruments fabricated by this artificer, are the barrel, the stock, and the lock. In performing the operations connected with this business, great attention is paid to the division of labor, especially in large establishments, such as those belonging to the United States, at Springfield and Harper's Ferry; for example, one set of workmen forge the barrels, ramrods, or some part of the lock; others reduce some part of the forged material to the exact form required, by means of files; and again another class of operators perform some part of the work relating to the stock.
3. The barrel is formed by forging a bar of iron into a flat piece of proper length and thickness, and by turning the plate round a cylindrical rod of tempered steel, called a mandril, the diameter of which is considerably less than the intended bore of the barrel. The edges of the plate are made to overlap each other about half an inch, and are welded together by heating the tube in lengths of two or three inches at a time, and by hammering them with very brisk, but moderate strokes, upon an anvil which has a number of semicircular furrows upon it.
4. In constructing barrels of better workmanship, the iron is forged in smaller pieces, eight or nine inches long, and welded together laterally, as well as lengthwise. The barrel is now finished in the usual way; or it is first made to undergo the additional operation of twisting, a process employed upon those intended to be of superior quality. The operation is performed by heating small portions of it at a time, and twisting them successively, while one end is held fast.
5. The barrel is next bored with several bits, each a little larger than the preceding one. The last bit is precisely the size of the intended calibre. After the barrel has been polished, and the breech closed with a screw, its strength and soundness are tested by means of a ball of the proper size, and a charge of powder equal in weight to the ball. Pistol-barrels, which are to go in pairs, are forged in one piece, which is cut asunder, after it has been bored.
6. Barrels for rifles are much thicker than those for other small arms; and, in addition to the boring in common barrels, they are furrowed with a number of grooves or rifles, which extend from one end of the cavity to the other, either in a straight or spiral direction. These rifles are supposed to prevent the rolling of the ball in its passage out, and to direct it more unerringly to the object of aim.
7. The stocks are commonly manufactured from the wood of the walnut-tree. These are first dressed in a rough manner, usually in the country. After the wood has been properly seasoned, they are finished by workmen, who commonly confine their attention to this particular branch of the business. In each of the United States' armories, is employed a machine with which the stocks are turned, and also one, with which the place for the lock is made.
8. The several pieces composing the lock are forged on anvils, some of which have indented surfaces, the more readily to give the proposed form. They are reduced somewhat with the file, and polished with substances usually employed for such purposes. The several pieces of the lock having been put together, it is fastened to the stock with screws. Other particulars in regard to the manufacture of small-arms will be readily suggested by a careful inspection of the different kinds, which are frequently met with.
9. The period at which, and the country where, gunpowder and fire-arms were first invented, cannot be certainly determined. Some attribute their invention to the Chinese; and, in confirmation of this opinion, assert that there are now cannon in China, which were made in the eightieth year of the Christian era. On this supposition, their use was gradually extended to the West, until they were finally adopted in Europe, in the fourteenth century.