Among the scraps usually thought to be best are old chains that have been used for many years, the wear and rust of time having left only the best elements of the iron. The Damascus steel, which has attained to so high a reputation, got it by being manufactured out of old coach springs. Of course it is not all made of coach springs now, but it was in years ago; agents then traveled all over the country hunting and buying them up, paying a much higher price for an old broken spring than a new one would cost its owner.
On Making Gun-Barrels.—The selected scraps to be worked into gun-barrel material are cut into small pieces and thrown into a furnace, where they are exposed to intense heat until fused, after which they are brought forth an adhering mass and placed under a hammer, which drives them together and forges them into bars. The bars are next rolled into thin plates, and then cut into strips twelve inches long and six inches wide. The very best guns are made of a combination of iron and steel. Both materials having been rolled and cut into sheets of exactly the same size, these sheets (one-fourth of an inch thick) are piled upon each other alternately to the number of thirty, and subjected to a welding heat; they are then driven together under a five-ton hammer into a consolidated slab. The slabs so formed are next worked down into one-fourth inch square rods. The more the material is hammered and worked the better it is. The rods are next twisted until they present the appearance of a strand of rope, some rods being twisted to the right and others to the left. Two rods, with opposite twist, are heated to the welding degree, placed upon each other, and rolled together; they are now in a narrow slab, presenting that fine curl of “grain” peculiar to the Damascus, or that beautiful wavy figure peculiar to the laminated steel, as the case may be. The next operation is to coil one of these slabs around a mandrel in a spiral form, and weld it securely under the blows of hand-hammers. It is now a gun-barrel in the rough.
Finishing and Proving.—The rough barrel goes from the welder to the borer, where it is put through the process of “rough boring.” From the “rough borer” it goes into the hands of the “fine borer,” who bores it out smoothly and to near the size it is to be when finished. Another operator then takes it in charge and dresses it to smoothness externally, then the “tester” takes it and dips it into strong acid, which soon shows any imperfection in either twist or welding that might exist. If not perfect, it is sent back to be worked over; if all right, it passes to the next department, where it is straightened inside. This part of the work is governed entirely by the eye, and hence demands the services of a workman of great skill, and experience.
Having been “passed on” by the “straightener,” the barrel goes to the “turner,” who turns it in a lathe until the outside is true and correspondingly straight with the interior, and is of exactly the required weight. If the arm is to be a double-barrel shot gun, the barrel next goes into the hands of a workman who joins it to another barrel with the utmost nicety; to attain which, levels and other suitable instruments are brought into requisition. Like the man who straightens the bore, the man who joins the barrels must be a workman of great skill.
The next operation is to braze on the “lumps;” then, next in order, the ribs are put on. Now comes the “proving.” The rear ends having been securely plugged, they go to the proof department, where is placed into each barrel fully four ordinary charges of gunpowder; then, atop of this, a wad of strong brown paper, rammed securely down, then a leaden bullet large enough to exactly fit the bore, and then another wad of brown paper. The charge is fired, and if the barrels stand the ordeal unfazed, they are ready to be fitted to the action; otherwise, they go back to be worked over. In some houses the “proving” is done before the barrels are joined together.
Action, Stock and Final Finish.—The “action man” now takes the perfect barrels in hand and performs his part of the work. In the meantime the stock-maker has not been idle. A stock is already in waiting, and next must come a series of fittings of the most exquisite nicety, until the gun is actually a gun and ready for its final test. This is applied by the “targeteer,” who passes upon it according to its merits. If his report comes in favorable, the gun goes to the proper department for final finish. The stock is dressed up, finished in oil or varnish and chequered, and its mountings put on. Every piece of metal is polished and burnished to the highest possible degree, and all the needed engraving is done. Next comes the case-hardening, coloring, and the browning or bronzing; and this having been well and satisfactorily performed, the gun is ready for market.
On Making the Rifle.—The processes employed in making the modern rifle do not differ materially from those named in the foregoing. Of course there are some processes employed on the shot gun that are not called for in the manufacture of the rifle, and some on the rifle not needed on the shot gun. The general principle is the same, however, and therefore it is not necessary to consume time in further description. The great care mentioned is only done to make a good gun; only the cheap and inferior guns are pitched together in an easier and more irregular way. But the gunsmith would not thank any one for a treatise on cheap and bad guns. They are legion, more’s the pity, and his extensive dealings with them will afford annoyance sufficient to do away with any desire on his part to fight his battles over in a book.
Plain Steel-Barrel Guns.—Of course there are guns with “plain steel barrels,” as they are called, which pass muster as fair; and the barrels of these are made by a process differing materially from that described in the foregoing; all else connected with the making is the same. These plain steel barrels are made of round bars of steel two inches in diameter. The bars are first cut into lengths of nine inches each; a hole or bore three-fourths of an inch in diameter is drilled through the centre. They are now called moulds, and the next step is to pass them through rolls, which reduce them to the required size for barrels and stretch them out to the required length, holding them, at the same time, in the proper shape, externally. Having been thus rolled, they are bored out internally, turned and ground externally, until they have attained to the shape and proportions of correctly-formed barrels. After this comes the fitting up and “proving,” as in the case of the finer guns.