Ordnance condemned, for any of the foregoing reasons as unserviceable, is marked as follows:—
| D × for faulty in dimensions. | |
| S × by Searcher. | W × by Water proof. |
| Condemned Shells are thus marked:— | |
| F — for Fuze hole faulty. | |
| N × for Non-concentric. | W × for Water proof. |
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CARE AND PRESERVATION OF IRON ORDNANCE.
Great attention should be paid to the care and preservation of iron Ordnance when in Depôt or on Service, to prevent the irreparable injury Guns sustain from rust and corrosion.
With this view the first step to be taken is to clear their bores and exterior surfaces from all rust and dirt, which is done on the inside with circular Spring Scrapers, fixed on the end of a long shaft or handle, these scrapers are made to press strongly on the sides of the cylinder, and by being drawn backwards and forwards by two or three efficient labourers, will remove the rust, and if not in a very bad state, will restore a regular smooth surface; the bottom or end of the bore is also scraped with a tool for that purpose, and the vent is opened by passing a square steel rimer of its diameter through it, gently turning the tool round until the vent is clear; after which the bore must be well brushed out, first with a hard round brush, and then with a Turk’s-head brush, so that not the least dirt remains in it. This being performed, the first coat of lacquer may be laid on, to which when dry, a second is to be added. This is done with a common painter’s brush, fixed vertically on the end of a staff sufficiently long to reach down the cylinder; and the bottom of the bore is lacquered by another brush fixed horizontally at the end of the staff; the outside or exterior parts of the pieces are also to be well scraped with an old sea-service sword, or steel tool of that nature, tolerably sharp, especially about the mouldings, where former coatings and dirt have accumulated, and when the rust will not give way, it should be slightly hammered, so as to loosen it. These operations must be continued until the whole coat of old paint, rust, or dirt, is completely removed, after which the dust must be well brushed or rubbed off, and the piece will then be fit to receive its first coat of anticorrosion, to which, when dry, a second is to be added.
Before the work is commenced the pieces should be arranged as nearly as possible in the places where they are to remain, as too much rolling is apt to disturb the coating of paint, especially before it has gained sufficient hardness to be durable.
The following objects also require to be particularly attended to—viz.:
In skidding Guns, &c., care must be taken that they are laid under metal, so that their muzzles may be sufficiently inclined downwards to prevent rain or any moisture lodging, and the bores from time to time should be swept out, as dust or sand blowing into them and being suffered to remain, would be very destructive; nor should the Guns be ever stacked one over the other, if the space where they are kept is sufficiently large to admit of their being laid in single tiers.
After the Ordnance is once got into a complete state of preservation, by following these instructions, very little trouble or expense will attend their being kept so, for a slight coat of anticorrosion on the exterior, and a thin coat of lacquer in the cylinder every three or four years, is all they will require, provided they are every now and then brushed out as before stated.