Related article: In the making and assembling of the hundred pieces or so of which a gun is composed, it would be surprising if there were not some irregularity, but, in most cases, it requires a sequence or coincidence of unusual events to produce an "accident." The wea- pon with which Salson recently attempted the life of the Shah was defective; it did not strike cen- trally, so miss-fires were the rule, not the exception. The self-ex- tracting revolver with which a desperate burglar snapped at a pursuing constable some time ago was not defective, but, improperly closed, the striker fell too high and would not detonate the cap. Like instances might be multiplied in- definitely, but neither kind may be regarded as really illustrative of the uncertainty of firearms. It is, and long has been, the rule to make gims of greater strength than requisite to with- stand the strains they will have to bear in ordinary use. This margin of safety is secured in most countries by the compulsory proof of the weapon with heavy charges and loads. It has hap- I900.) A GUN-ROOM CAUSBRIE. 435 p>ened that a gun has withstood ' these tests perfectly, yet burst at the very first time fired with the ordinary load, possibly because the strain of the "proof" charge exhausted the tenacity of the metal, or strained it beyond Purchase Metformin Online the limit of its elasticity. Usually ivhen a barrel is burst it is be- cause it is subjected to a greater strain at a certain point than it is expected, or constructed, to with- stand. Internally a barrel is prac- tically cylinder ; externally it is taper — really a curve so that the thickness of the metal of the bar- rel corresponds to the diminishing pressure of the explosion. If by a too weak cap, or a too strong one, the ignition of the powder is not efi*ected in the powder cham- Order Metformin Online ber, but a portion only of it is ignited there and a part of the charge driven up the barrel before it ignites, then there will be an increased strain at some point for- ward of the chamber, Buy Metformin and it is only a question of Cheap Metformin degree whether the barrel is or is not burst by this unwonted pressure. As the strength of a chain is only that of its weakest Purchase Metformin link, so it may happen that the workman in edging up the rib has cut slightly into the barrel with his file, and thus . weakened the barrel, but so long as he left a sufficient thickness to ensure a reasonable Order Metformin margin of safety, he cannot be held respon- sible. So many things — from varying loads and difierent explosives and detonators to the total or partial obstruction of the muzzles — change or increase the pressure, that the sportsman cannot be expected to know a tenth. He can secure practical immunity from the dan- ger of a burst barrel, or a badly broken action, by using a gun and ammunition which give uniform shooting. Test the gun by shoot- ing, at sporting range, at a target VOL. Lxxiv. — NO. 490. half-a-dozen times consecutively with each barrel ; count carefully the number of pellets on the plate, or target ; if between the greatest number and the smallest the dif- ference is not more than 10 per cent, of the pellets in the load, then, so far as human foresight goes, every precaution has been taken to avoid an "accidental" discharge. If the gun does not shoot uniformly, the load or am- munition should be varied until the proper charge is found. If the gun will not shoot within a maximum variation of 30 per cent., then there is that in the gun or the cartridges which tends to an unusual, and possibly disastrous, discharge. Mechanical uncertainty gene- rally results in • a premature dis- charge, a miss- fire, or the failure to eject a fired cartridge case. A gun with which miss-fires are frequent is clearly defective, and can be remedied. The gun which rarely will not go off, but sometimes goes off too soon, is more common and much more difficult to put right. The usual cause of a pre- mature discharge is the failure of the scear to enter the notch or bent Metformin Online of the tumbler. With an ordinary hammer-gun, when the cock is brought to full cock, it will be noticed that it may be drawn still further back ; this " over-draft " is to allow of suffi- cient time and space for the scear to be worked right home before the thumb releases the hammer. If the lock is clean and the parts quite free of the wood, the scear very rarely fails to catch and to hold the tumbler. In a hammer- less gun there is less room, the parts are cramped, and Generic Metformin the " over- draft " is reduced to a minimum. A slight strain of the cocking- dogs, a Buy Metformin Online maladjustment of the limbs, even the wear of them by the friction oi proper use, will re- 31 43^ BAILY S MAGAZINE. ID duce this "over-draft/* and the scear will catch on the very edge of the bent ; then a tap upon the stock, the jar of firing the other barrel, or the least pressure upon the trigger, will suffice to liberate the tumbler and fire the gun. The common remedy is to pro- vide a " second " scear, or an in- tercepting safety bolt, which will catch the tumbler like the half- bent in an old hammer lock. This is not altogether satisfac- tory. There is not any too much room in the gun-lock for the parts which are absolutely indispens- able ; the second scears and bolts encroach upon this. Then there is the common fallacy of relying upon the second scear to guard the tumbler, and the proper scear and bent are not made deep enough or strong enough for the work required. The right remedy is so to arrange scear and tumbler that it is impossible for the tum- bler to escape Buy Cheap Metformin unless either the trigger is pulled or some part of the mechanism breaks. Gun- makers seem unwilling to do this ; consequently, hammerless guns have an unenviable reputa- tion in this matter of premature discharge ; and, as the second scear sometimes does the work of the primary one, the blow d the striker is shortened, and ixass-