Gun stock

“ Have him hold the gun immovable thus, and then request him to open his eyes, and it is evident if he requires a stock to be made different from the one he has in hand. If the face comes naturally to the breech and the eye has a “fine sight” along the barrel, it is just the pattern of gun stock for him to have. If it be too straight he will shoot over, if too much crooked he will shoot under. ”

“ The majority of purchasers cannot form an exact opinion relative to the merits of a gun prepared with the utmost skill and ingenuity to deceive them, and must rely mainly on the word of the seller or reputation of the maker. There is something, to be sure, in the smooth working of the locks, and still more in the perfect fitting of the stock; but after all, even to the experienced sportsman, there is little difference in appearance between the Shamdamn and the purest laminated steel. ”

“ The business of the Hotchkiss gun-making concern is shown to have increased one hundred per cent with the war scare, and the eagerness to secure the stock, which now stands at thirty per cent premium, shows a conviction among monied men. ”

“ A tall, long-limbed and long-armed man requires a longer stock than a shorter person, and a straight stock will better answer for a short-necked, high-shouldered man than for a long-necked, low-shouldered person. A straight stock is much more suitable for a short-necked, high-shouldered person than a bent one, and for this reason, that, in fast shooting the point of sight at the end of the gun would come up to the range of the eye before the butt could be placed full against the shoulder, and one consequence would be, when fired, a severe recoil of the gun at every discharge. ”

“ But to this extent it is not advisable to go, for the strain becomes too great on the handle of the gun-stock, and there is too near an apparent approach to a solid resistance, which it is well-known would break the best stock that was ever made. ”

“ When a gun is quickly brought to the shoulder in firing position, there is no time in actual hunting to shift it around. When you buy a gun, remember that your canvas or corduroy hunting coat makes more of a bulge at the shoulder than an ordinary suit and accordingly see that the stock is the proper length. The “drop” of a gun is the number of inches that the stock falls below the line of the barrel. If the stock is bent too much you will shoot under your game. If it is too straight the tendency will be to shoot over game. ”

“ A stock rather long is much better than one too short, and one rather crooked to one that is too straight. If a gun be not held on a perfect level, but the muzzle higher than [109] the breech, the load will be carried over the object aimed at, supposing that object to be on a level with the eye. Let a customer take a gun, such as would be thought to be best suited to his “build,” and request him to close both eyes and raise the gun to a level, as if to shoot thus. ”

“ But why not order a gun at once from a respectable maker? because a gun equally good (perhaps of his make) may be bought at half the price in a second-hand shop. There are many very respectable dealers in London, who have an extensive stock in hand, and good guns may be purchased from them at moderate prices. Many of those who have second-hand guris upon sale have places where they may be tried ”

“ The number of spare parts to be carried is few. On more than one occasion, the gun was caught up by the gunner and used from the shoulder when, owing to scrub and long grass, the tripod could not be used. The present equipment for carrying the gun is not satisfactory.... Every squadron of mounted men and company of infantry should have three of these guns."
Branding of loot stock.—"It is imperative that all captured stock should be at once branded with a distinctive mark. A responsible officer with each column should be detailed for this purpose." ”

“ To give anything like a history of the expansion of, and changes in, the gun trade during the last fifteen years, would require a volume devoted solely to the subject, but it may not be uninteresting to enumerate the manifold branches into which the trade has been divided—till late years most of them being carried on under different roofs:—The first portion, or "makers", include—stock-makers, barrel welders, borers, grinders, filers, and breechers ”

“ I had the whole road to myself, for no one was yet stirring, and I walked on, with a slouching, dogged gait. The gray shooting-jacket was on my back, and from the end of my brother’s rifle hung a small bundle of my clothes. My fingers worked moodily at the stock and trigger, and I thought that this indeed was the way to begin life, with a gun in your hand! ”

“ The enormous prices which gentlemen have been charged for provincial-made guns of the most inferior quality, has driven them to obtain still worse at a less cost. An honourable and tradesmanlike method of conducting business will always be appreciated, and if a gun be required at a low figure, an honestly-made article might be furnished at a price to suit the customer, and of equal and mutual benefit to buyer and seller. ”

“ Krupp, supply the world with guns? Why should not we, instead of Mr. Yarrow, of England, supply the world with torpedo-boats, etc., etc.?
We have supplied other nations with muskets; an American invented the gun which fires a hailstorm of 1,200 bullets per minute, and which bears his name, the Gatling gun; and our fellow countryman is supplying the world with revolving cannon, but not from the United States. Every one of our manufacturing industries has been assisted by the government by high tariff on similar articles of foreign manufacture. ”

“ Coming next to the more personal equipment of the soldier, we find the necessity confronting the Ordnance Department to manufacture shoulder rifles by the million and cartridges for them by the billion. The great war brought the machine gun into its own, requiring in the United States the manufacture of these complicated and expensive weapons by the tens of thousands, including the one-man automatic rifle, itself an arm of a deadly and effective type. ”

“ No one would think of hunting quail, ducks, or rabbits with a rifle, and even if you were an excellent rifle shot at a still mark you might not be able to hit moving game at all. A shot-gun is less dangerous for the reason that its range is limited to a little over a hundred yards, while a rifle may carry a mile. A cheap shot-gun is far more dangerous than a cheap rifle. Until it is possible to buy a good one it is better to have none at all. A good American-made gun can be bought for about twenty-five dollars. A gun suitable for its owner should fit just as his clothing fits him. ”

“ The demand is such that a buyer is constantly urged to close a bargain by the assurance that it may be his last chance to secure such a weapon as the one he is examining,—and great numbers of mere toys have thus been forced upon purchasers, who, if they ever practise enough to acquire a taste for shooting, will send them to the auction-room, and make another effort to procure a gun suited to their wants. ”

“ There is no reason in the world for wholesale gun stores; the business ought to be handled by the wholesale hardware trade, and ought to be done in a legitimate way on a legitimate profit. But some idiotic manufacturer, either being hard up for money, or envious of a competitor, goes to one of these gun houses and offers a special cut price, and within twenty-four hours every little cross-roads dealer is advised of the cut. ”

“ It first must be understood that all modern guns on ships-of-war are breech-loading and rifled, and that the smooth bore exists only as a relic, or to be brought out in an emergency for coast defense, when modern guns are not available. From the thirteen-inch down to the four-inch, the guns are designated by their caliber, the diameter of their bore, and the shot they throw, while from that to the one-pounder they take their name from the weight of the shot. Everything below the one-pounder is in the machine-gun class. ”

“ The sole and dominant thought of many gunmakers is to make the very deadliest guns that human skill can invent, sell them as fast as [Page 146] possible, and declare dividends on their stock. The Remington, Winchester, Marlin, Stevens and Union Companies are engaged in a mad race to see who can turn out the deadliest guns, and the most of them. On the market to-day there are five pump-guns, that fire six shots each, in about six seconds, without removal from the shoulder, by the quick sliding of a sleeve under the barrel, that ejects the empty shell and inserts a loaded one. ”

“ We find between this letter and that addressed by General Dyer to Colonel Benét on the previous day, a singular correspondence: an offer to purchase all the Springfield breech-loaders that can be had; the cartridges which must accompany the guns in each letter stated exactly at four hundred rounds per gun; the cartridges to be manufactured in the Government workshops, and that the production must be increased to the full capacity of the works; the exchange with Remington arms to be effected at some future time; the price of arms to be cost. ”

“ There are many prominent establishments engaged in the manufacture of modern muzzle-loading rifles, some of them carrying splendid reputations, hence in this case a good deal of reliance can be placed upon brands. For instance, should a rifle be seen marked to Wesson, it is a guarantee of a good gun, for the reputation of the manufacturer is worth too much to admit of risking its tarnish by putting upon the market goods bearing his brand that are not fully up to all that is claimed for them. ”

“ Such was the sum which the public poured into the treasury of the Gun Club.
Let no one be surprised at the vastness of the amount. The work of casting, boring, masonry, the transport of workmen, their establishment in an almost uninhabited country, the construction of furnaces and workshops, the plant, the powder, the projectile, and incipient expenses, would, according to the estimates, absorb nearly the whole. Certain cannon-shots in the Federal war cost one thousand dollars apiece. This one of President Barbicane, unique in the annals of gunnery, might well cost five thousand times more. ”

“ Within effective range, however, machine guns, if concealed, should inflict considerable loss on hostile artillery. Engagements with their lines of skirmishers should be avoided, for the risk of disclosing the position of the guns and the heavy expenditure of ammunition involved will rarely be justified by results. Since the gun is not well adapted for keeping up protracted fire, it may be often expedient to withdraw it from action, move it elsewhere, or hold it in reserve for a more favourable opportunity. ”

“ I have read with interest the discussion of the many different makes of guns, the different calibers for large game hunting, etc., and as I am not well up on "gunology," I have listened and wondered why there was so much agitation on the gun question. I believe that nearly all of the modern guns that are manufactured today are good--at least sufficiently good shooters for all practical purposes. Shotguns can be bought at $3.00 or $4.00 that do good work. ”

“ The groans of the wounded and dying on the battle-field, and the lamentations in the desolated home, are music to the ears of those who supply the war-materials; for, with every shot from a rifle, fifty grains of gunpowder are burned, while bullets enough miss their mark to equal the weight of each man they kill. Consequently, there is substantial profit to the cartridge-maker and the gunpowder-manufacturer for every man killed with a rifle ball.
But it is in shrapnel and the ammunition for the big guns that the greatest profit lies. ”

“ It is absolutely forbidden to sell guns to the kaffirs anywhere in the Transvaal, but there are always venturesome traders who find it impossible to overlook the chance of making a big profit, for a gun is worth more than its weight in silver to any native able to pay for it. I remembered my experience with King Buno years before, when Oom Tuys allowed me to present him with a Mauser rifle. ”

“ The tendency of the early actions to part from the barrels at the false breech was so great, that actions became of the first importance. Patents are now run out, and consequently every gun-maker can select the best and make it, and may be trusted to do so provided the weapon is to be paid for at a figure that pays for best work and best material. If this is not the case, still the gun-maker will put in the best action that can be made for the money to be charged; in other words, he will put in the cheapest good design of action, but not necessarily good workmanship. ”

“ Schoverling the point decided was that gunstocks, although intended to be put with barrels to form complete guns, yet no question of the importation of gun barrels being involved, were not guns; and there was no intimation that if the stocks and barrels had both been imported by the same person, and entered at the same time, with the intention of himself putting them together as guns, they not have been dutiable as such, or that gunstocks should not be considered as gunners' or sportsmen's articles. ”

“ But not until fighting began in World War I was it generally realized what an important role the machine gun was to play in modern tactics. For procurement of machine guns between 1898 and 1916, Congress appropriated an annual average of only $150,000--barely enough to provide four weapons for each Regular regiment and a few for the National Guard. Although Congress in 1916 finally voted $12 million for machine gun procurement, the War Department held up expenditure of the funds until 1917, while a board tried to decide which type of weapon was best suited to the needs of the Army. ”