The Derringer.—The old Derringer, though not now much manufactured in this country, is still among the people in considerable numbers. It is a muzzle-loader, with side-lock and full-stock in wood; and, by the way, it is a very good pistol of its kind.
The Pepper Box.—There are quite a number of little breech-loading cartridge-pistols, with single barrels, now in use, but the pistol of the day is a repeater, of which there are kinds in great variety. One of the oldest and now rarest of these is the “pepper-box,” so called. It has a single barrel containing from five to seven bores, which are loaded from the muzzle. A tube for percussion caps communicates with each bore at the breech, and upon these a hammer strikes, having an automatic action, rising up and striking in response to pressure upon a trigger underneath, which pressure also revolves the barrel, bringing the caps into proper position for receiving the blow. It was never a popular pistol, people objecting to a kind of way it had of sometimes letting off its seven charges simultaneously, when the person operating it had intended to fire but one.
Old Colt’s Revolver.—Next among the repeaters, in point of scarcity, is the Colt’s revolver of the earliest patent. It has a stationary single barrel and revolving cylinder, the latter containing from five to seven chambers for receiving the charges. It is not a muzzle-loader, though the charges must be put into the chambers at the breech, somewhat on the muzzle-loading plan. It is fired by means of percussion caps. The cylinder revolves, throwing the chamber to be discharged into proper position at the breech of the barrel when the cap-hammer is drawn back. Though inconvenient, compared to the cartridge pistol of more modern make, the old Colt’s revolver is yet an excellent arm. There are houses still making revolvers on the same plan.
Sharp’s Four Shooter.—Next to the old Colt’s revolver may be placed the Sharp’s four shooter. It is a neat and strong-shooting, little breech-loading pistol, using a No. 22 cartridge. The barrel has four bores but does not revolve; but the hammer has a revolving point, for striking the cartridge, which moves into proper position for a new discharge every time it is drawn back to full cock. The barrel slides forward upon the stock for receiving new cartridges.
The Breech-loading Cartridge Revolvers.—Next comes the regular breech-loading cartridge revolver, which is the pistol now most common and most popular. To attempt a detailed description of every style of this weapon would be to swell our book to unwieldy proportions, and even were the multitudinous styles at present before the public described, it would be impossible to keep pace with the number which would be constantly introduced. But, even were it possible to do so, no good purpose would be subserved. Various as the styles appear, they all embrace devices and combinations which are substantially covered by our several chapters, and the intelligent workman will not require minute descriptions to recognize or understand the individual weapon when well grounded in a knowledge of the class of fire-arms to which it belongs. It is our purpose to give such descriptions, directions and illustrations as shall make everything sufficiently clear and explicit to enable the reader, with careful attention thereto, to handle successfully and satisfactorily any job likely to come to his hands.
CHAPTER V.
ON GENERAL GUNSMITHING.
The Gunsmith and his Trade.—Few trades present so little regular routine as does that of the gunsmith. In most trades it is the same thing over and over again; but, with the exception of taking the gun to pieces and putting it together; and, perhaps, of tempering, case-hardening and the like, the gunsmith may work regularly for a long time without being called upon to do precisely the same thing twice. As a consequence, the gunsmith must be merely an ingenious mechanic or worker in metals, capable of thinking deeply and searching out causes and requirements—there is little need of his being anything more. The gun, in all its forms, is only a machine, and a simple one at that—so simple as to be easily understood by any one capacitated for making an intelligent study of machinery.
Fitting up a Shop.—The specialties to claim the attention of the gunsmith in fitting up his shop if his means are limited may be few. It will be about like fitting up the shop of any general worker in metals. He will need a forge, an anvil and a vise; in a word he will need a light but complete set of blacksmith’s tools, to begin with. This outfit will be his foundation, so to speak; and he can add to it such smaller tools as judgment and experience may suggest as wanted; such, for instance, as a hand-vise or two, cutting-pliers, bending-pliers, holding-pliers, small files of various shapes, small drills, a screw-plate or two, a few gravers, and so on. He might have many special tools, such as could not be bought at the ordinary hardware store, or at any house dealing in outfits for the general worker in metals, but for ordinary repairing, he will not have much need of them. Among the special tools that he will be compelled to have will be a rifle-guide, a few sets of rifle-saws and a few mould-cherries. These with proper instructions he can make himself if he finds he cannot buy them cheaper than he can make them. There are a few specialties in the way of tools or machines for gunsmiths that are offered to the trade by houses dealing in gunsmith’s materials, and some of them may be found very useful as labor-savers, but the gunsmith can get along without them if he does not wish to buy. Prominent among these is a mainspring-vise or clamp, which has several advantages over the common hand-vise sometimes employed for clamping the mainspring. It would be well to look after these things, and to adopt them in every case where it appeared beyond question that they could be made to pay. There is no occasion to speak against any of the specialties that may be presented to the attention of the trade—of their merits the party most concerned must be his own judge.