Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 61, November, 1862 by Various

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RIFLE.

_To the Editors of the_ ATLANTIC MONTHLY.

Some thirty years ago, a gentleman who had just returned from Europe was
trying to convey an idea of the size and magnificence of St. Peter's
Church to a New-England country-clergyman, and was somewhat taken aback
by the remark of the good man, that "the Pope must require a very
powerful voice to fill such a building."

The anecdote has been brought to my mind by the unexpected position in
which I am placed, as the recipient of such a multitude of letters,
and from such widely separated portions of the country, elicited by my
article on Rifle-Clubs in the "Atlantic" for September, that I find
myself called upon to address an audience extending from Maine to
Minnesota. Fortunately for me, however, the columns of the "Atlantic"
afford facilities of communication not enjoyed by the Pope, and through
that medium I crave permission to reply to inquiries which afford most
gratifying proof of the wide-spread interest which is awakened in the
subject.

Almost every letter contains the inquiry, "What is the new
breech-loading rifle you allude to, and where is it to be had?"--but a
large proportion of them also ask advice as to the selection of a rifle;
and with such evidence of general interest in the inquiry, I have
thought I could not do better than to frame my reply specially to this
point.

The rifle above alluded to is not yet in the market, and probably will
not be for some time to come. Only three or four samples have been
manufactured, and after being subjected to every possible test short
of actual service in the hands of troops, it has proved so entirely
satisfactory that preparations are now making for its extensive
production. Thus far it is known as the Ashcroft rifle, from the name of
the proprietor, Mr. E.H. Ashcroft of Boston, the persevering energy
of whose efforts to secure its introduction will probably never be
appreciated as it deserves, except perhaps by those who have gone
through the trial of bringing out an idea involving in its conception a
great public benefit.

Lieutenant Busk, in hid "Hand-Book for Hythe," says, "I cannot imagine a
much more helpless or hopeless position than that of an individual who,
having determined to expend his ten or twenty guineas in the purchase
of a rifle, and, guided only by the light of Nature, applies to
a respectable gun-maker to supply his want. I never hear of an
inexperienced buyer in search of a rifle without being reminded of the
purchaser of a telescope, who, on asking the optician, among a multitude
of other questions, whether he would be able to discern an object
through it four miles off, received for reply, 'See an object _four_
miles off, Sir? You can see an object four-and-twenty thousand miles
off, Sir,--you can see the moon, Sir!' In like manner, if you naively
inquire of a gun-maker whether a particular rifle will carry two hundred
yards, the chances are he will exclaim, emphatically, 'Two hundred
yards, Sir? It will carry fifteen hundred.' And so no doubt it may. The
only question, is, How?"

The questions which have been addressed to me for a few weeks past have
given me a keen appreciation of the difficulties alluded to, in which
multitudes are at this moment plunged, to whom I shall be but too happy
if it is in my power to extend a helping hand.

At the outset, however, it is but fair to declare my conviction that
no man who has any just appreciation of the subject would attempt to
_choose_ a gun for another, any more than he would a horse, or, I had
almost said, a wife; but he may lay down certain general rules which
each individual must apply for himself, exercising his own taste in the
details. Thus, I have elsewhere declared my own predilection for Colt's
rifle; and I hold to it notwithstanding a strong prejudice against it
which very generally exists. I do not mean to assert that it is a better
shooter than many others, and still less would I urge any one else to
procure one because I like it, but I simply say that its performance is
equal to my requirements, and that the whole construction and getting-up
of the gun suit my fancy; and the fact that another man dislikes it is
no reason why I should discard it.

I have known men who were continually changing their guns, and seemed
satisfied only with novelties. With such a taste I have no sympathy,
but, on the contrary, my feeling of attachment to a trusty weapon
strengthens with my familiarity with its merits, till it becomes so near
akin to affection that I should find it hard to part with one which had
served me well, and was associated in my mind with adventures whose
interest was derived from its successful performance.

The first piece of advice I would offer to a novice in search of a gun
is, "Don't be in a hurry."

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. Several new
patterns of guns have been produced within the last year, some of which
are very attractive in their appearance, and to an inexperienced person
seem to possess sufficient power for any service they may ever be called
upon to perform. They are well finished, compact, light, and pretty.
A Government Inspector, indeed, would be apt to make discoveries of
"malleable iron," which would cause their instant rejection, but which
in reality constitutes no ground of objection to guns whose parts are
not required to be interchangeable. They might be described as "well
adapted for ladies' use, or for boys learning to shoot;" but it gave me
a sickening sense of the inexperience of many a noble-hearted youth who
may have entered the service from the purest motives of patriotism, when
a dealer, who was exhibiting one of these parlor-weapons, with a calibre
no larger than a good-sized pea, informed me that he had sold a great
many to young officers, being so light that they could be carried slung
upon the back almost as easily as a pistol. It is with no such kid-glove
tools as these that so many of our officers have been picked off by
Southern sharp-shooters. At a long range they are useless; at close
quarters, which is the only situation in which an officer actually needs
fire-arms, a revolver is far preferable. I know of no rifle so well
adapted to an officer's use as Colt's carbine,--of eighteen or
twenty-one inch barrel, and not less than 44/100 of an inch calibre. It
may be depended upon for six hundred yards, the short barrel renders
its manipulation easy in a close fight, and the value of the repeating
principle at such a time can be estimated only by that of life.

In a perfectly calm atmosphere, the light guns I have alluded to will
shoot very well for one or two hundred yards; but no one can conceive,
till he proves it by actual trial, what an amazing difference in
precision is the result of even a very slight increase of weight of
ball, when the air is in motion. Even in a dead calm no satisfactory
shooting can be done beyond two hundred yards with a lighter ball than
half an ounce, and any one who becomes interested in rifle-practice will
soon grow impatient of being confined to short ranges and calm weather.
This brings us, then, to the question of calibre, which I conceive to be
the first one to be decided in selecting a gun, and the decision rests
upon the uses to which the gun is to be applied. If it is wanted merely
for military service, nothing better than the Enfield can be procured;
but if the purchaser proposes to study the niceties of practice, and to
enter into it with a keen zest, he will need a very different style of
gun. A calibre large enough for a round ball of fifty to the pound, or
an elongated shot of about half an ounce, is sufficient for six hundred
yards; and a gun of that calibre, with a thirty-inch barrel, and a
weight of about ten pounds, is better suited to the general wants of
purchasers than any other size. In this part of the country it is by no
means easy to find a place where shooting can be safely practised even
at so long a range as five hundred yards,--which is sixty yards more
than a quarter of a mile. It is always necessary to have an attendant
at the target to point out the shots, and even then the shooter needs
a telescope to distinguish them. For ordinary purposes, therefore, the
calibre I have indicated is all-sufficient; but if a gun is wanted for
shooting up to one thousand yards, the shot should be a full ounce
weight. These are points which each man must determine for himself, and,
having done so, let him go to any gun-maker of established reputation,
and, before giving his order, let him study and compare the different
forms of stocks, till he finds what is required for his peculiar
physical conformation,--and giving directions accordingly, he will
probably secure a weapon whose merits he will not fully appreciate
till he has attained a degree of skill which is the result only of
long-continued practice.

But never buy a gun, and least of all a rifle, without trying it; and do
not be satisfied with a trial in a shop or shooting gallery, but take it
into the field; and if you distrust yourself, get some one in whom you
have confidence to try it for you. Choose a perfectly calm day. Have a
rest prepared on which not only the gun may be laid, but a support may
also be had for the elbows, the shooter being seated. By this means, and
with the aid of globe- and peek-sights, (which should always be used in
trying a gun,) it may as certainly be held in the same position at every
shot as if it were clamped in a machine. For your target take a sheet of
cartridge-paper and draw on it a circle of a foot, and, inside of that,
another of four inches in diameter. Paint the space between the rings
black, and you will then have a black ring four inches wide surrounding
a white four-inch bull's-eye, against which your globe-sight will be
much more distinctly seen than if it were black. Place the target so
that when shooting you may have the sun on your back. On a very bright
day, brown paper is better for a target than white. Begin shooting
at one hundred yards and fire ten shots, with an exact aim at the
bull's-eye, wiping out the gun after each shot. Do not look to see where
you hit, till you have fired your string of ten shots; for, if you
do, you will be tempted to alter your aim and make allowance for the
variation, whereas your object now is not to hit the bull's-eye, but to
prove the shooting of the gun; and if you find, when you get through,
that all the shots are close together, you may be sure the gun shoots
well, though they may be at considerable distance from the bull's-eye.
That would only prove that the line of sight was not coincident with the
line of fire, which can be easily rectified by moving the forward sight
to the right or left, according as the variation was on the one side
or the other. Having fired your string of ten shots, take a pair of
dividers, and, with a radius equal to half the distance between the two
hits most distant from each other, describe a circle cutting through the
centre of each of those hits. From the centre of this circle measure the
distance to each of the hits, add these distances together and divide
the sum by ten, and you have the average variation, which ought not to
be over two inches at the utmost, and if the gun is what it ought to be,
and fired by a good marksman, would probably be much less. This is a
sufficient test of the precision for that distance, and the same method
may be adopted for longer ranges. But if the gun shoots well at one
hundred yards, its capacity for a longer range may be proved by its
penetrating power. Provide a number of pieces of seasoned white-pine
board, one inch thick and say two feet long by sixteen inches wide.
These are to be secured parallel to each other and one inch apart by
strips nailed firmly to their sides, and must be so placed that when
shot at the balls may strike fairly at a right angle to their face.
Try a number of shots at the distance of one hundred yards, and note
carefully how many boards are penetrated at each shot. The elongated
shots are sometimes turned in passing through a board so as to strike
the next one sideways, which of course increases the resistance very
greatly, and such shots should not be counted; but if you find generally
that the penetration of those which strike fairly is not over six
inches, you may rest assured the gun cannot be relied on, except in
a dead calm, for more than two hundred yards, and with anything of a
breeze you will make no good shooting even at that distance. Nine inches
of penetration is equal to six hundred yards, and twelve inches is good
for a thousand.

A striking proof of the prevailing ignorance of scientific principles in
rifle-shooting is afforded by the fact that it is still a very common
practice to vary the charge of powder according to the distance to be
shot. The fact is, that beyond a certain point any increase of the
initial velocity of the ball is unfavorable both to range and precision,
owing to the ascertained law that the ratio of increase of atmospheric
resistance is four times that of the velocity, so that, after the point
is reached at which they balance each other, any additional propulsive
power is injurious. The proper charge of powder for any rifle is about
one-seventh the weight of the ball, and the only means which should ever
be adopted for increasing the range is the elevating sight.

In conclusion, I would impress upon the young rifleman the importance
of always keeping his weapon in perfect order. If you have never looked
through the barrel of a rifle, you can have no conception what a
beautifully finished instrument it is; and when you learn that the
accuracy of its shooting may be affected by a variation of the
thousandth part of an inch on its interior surface, you may appreciate
the necessity of guarding against the intrusion of even a speck of rust.
Never suffer your rifle to be laid aside after use till it has
been thoroughly cleaned,--the barrel wiped first with a wet rag,
(cotton-flannel is best,) then rubbed dry, then well oiled, and then
again wiped with a dry rag. In England this work may be left to a
servant, but with us the servants are so rare to whom such work can be
intrusted that the only safe course is to see to it yourself; and if you
have a true sportsman's love for a gun, you will not find the duty a
disagreeable one.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION.

In so many arid forms which States incrust themselves with, once in a
century, if so often, a poetic act and record occur. These are the jets
of thought into affairs, when, roused by danger or inspired by genius,
the political leaders of the day break the else insurmountable routine
of class and local legislation, and take a step forward in the direction
of catholic and universal interests. Every step in the history of
political liberty is a sally of the human mind into the untried future,
and has the interest of genius, and is fruitful in heroic anecdotes.
Liberty is a slow fruit. It comes, like religion, for short periods, and
in rare conditions, as if awaiting a culture of the race which shall
make it organic and permanent. Such moments of expansion in modern
history were the Confession of Augsburg, the plantation of America, the
English Commonwealth of 1648, the Declaration of American Independence
in 1776, the British emancipation of slaves in the West Indies, the
passage of the Reform Bill, the repeal of the Corn-Laws, the Magnetic
Ocean-Telegraph, though yet imperfect, the passage of the Homestead
Bill in the last Congress, and now, eminently, President Lincoln's
Proclamation on the twenty-second of September. These are acts of
great scope, working on a long future, and on permanent interests, and
honoring alike those who initiate and those who receive them. These
measures provoke no noisy joy, but are received into a sympathy so deep
as to apprise us that mankind are greater and better than we know. At
such times it appears as if a new public were created to greet the
new event. It is as when an orator, having ended the compliments and
pleasantries with which he conciliated attention, and having run over
the superficial fitness and commodities of the measure he urges,
suddenly, lending himself to some happy inspiration, announces with
vibrating voice the grand human principles involved,--the bravoes and
wits who greeted him loudly thus far are surprised and overawed: a new
audience is found in the heart of the assembly,--an audience hitherto
passive and unconcerned, now at last so searched and kindled that they
come forward, every one a representative of mankind, standing for all
nationalities.

The extreme moderation with which the President advanced to his
design,--his long-avowed expectant policy, as if he chose to be strictly
the executive of the best public sentiment of the country, waiting only
till it should be unmistakably pronounced,--so fair a mind that none
ever listened so patiently to such extreme varieties of opinion,--so
reticent that his decision has taken all parties by surprise, whilst
yet it is the just sequel of his prior acts,--the firm tone in which he
announces it, without inflation or surplusage,--all these have bespoken
such favor to the act, that, great as the popularity of the President
has been, we are beginning to think that we have underestimated the
capacity and virtue which the Divine Providence has made an instrument
of benefit so vast. He has been permitted to do more for America than
any other American man. He is well entitled to the most indulgent
construction. Forget all that we thought shortcomings, every mistake,
every delay. In the extreme embarrassments of his part, call these
endurance, wisdom, magnanimity, illuminated, as they now are, by this
dazzling success.

When we consider the immense opposition that has been neutralized or
converted by the progress of the war, (for it is not long since the
President anticipated the resignation of a large number of officers in
the army, and the secession of three States, on the promulgation of this
policy,)--when we see how the great stake which foreign nations hold in
our affairs has recently brought every European power as a client into
this court, and it became every day more apparent what gigantic and
what remote interests were to be affected by the decision of the
President,--one can hardly say the deliberation was too long. Against
all timorous counsels he had the courage to seize the moment; and such
was his position, and such the felicity attending the action, that he
has replaced Government in the good graces of mankind. "Better is virtue
in the sovereign than plenty in the season," say the Chinese. 'Tis
wonderful what power is, and how ill it is used, and how its ill use
makes life mean, and the sunshine dark. Life in America had lost much of
its attraction in the later years. The virtues of a good magistrate undo
a world of mischief, and, because Nature works with rectitude, seem
vastly more potent than the acts of bad governors, which are ever
tempered by the good-nature in the people, and the incessant resistance
which fraud and violence encounter.

The acts of good governors work at a geometrical ratio, as one midsummer
day seems to repair the damage of a year of war.

A day which most of us dared not hope to see, an event worth the
dreadful war, worth its costs and uncertainties, seems now to be close
before us. October, November, December will have passed over beating
hearts and plotting brains: then the hour will strike, and all men of
African descent who have faculty enough to find their way to our lines
are assured of the protection of American law.

It is by no means necessary that this measure should be suddenly marked
by any signal results on the negroes or on the Rebel masters. The force
of the act is that it commits the country to this justice,--that it
compels the innumerable officers, civil, military, naval, of the
Republic to range themselves on the line of this equity. It draws the
fashion to this side. It is not a measure that admits of being taken
back. Done, it cannot be undone by a new Administration. For slavery
overpowers the disgust of the moral sentiment only through immemorial
usage. It cannot be introduced as an improvement of the nineteenth
century. This act makes that the lives of our heroes have not been
sacrificed in vain. It makes a victory of our defeats. Our hurts are
healed; the health of the nation is repaired. With a victory like this,
we can stand many disasters. It does not promise the redemption of the
black race: that lies not with us: but it relieves it of our opposition.
The President by this act has paroled all the slaves in America; they
will no more fight against us; and it relieves our race once for all of
its crime and false position. The first condition of success is secured
in putting ourselves right. We have recovered ourselves from our false
position, and planted ourselves on a law of Nature.

"If that fail,
The pillared firmament is rottenness,
And earth's base built on stubble."

The Government has assured itself of the best constituency in the world:
every spark of intellect, every virtuous feeling, every religious heart,
every man of honor, every poet, every philosopher, the generosity of the
cities, the health of the country, the strong arms of the mechanics, the
endurance of farmers, the passionate conscience of women, the sympathy
of distant nations,--all rally to its support. Of course, we are
assuming the firmness of the policy thus declared. It must not be a
paper proclamation. We confide that Mr. Lincoln is in earnest, and, as
he has been slow in making up his mind, has resisted the importunacy of
parties and of events to the latest moment, he will be as absolute in
his adhesion. Not only will he repeat and follow up his stroke, but the
nation will add its irresistible strength. If the ruler has duties, so
has the citizen. In times like these, when the nation is imperilled,
what man can, without shame, receive good news from day to day, without
giving good news of himself? What right has any one to read in the
journals tidings of victories, if he has not bought them by his own
valor, treasure, personal sacrifice, or by service as good in his own
department? With this blot removed from our national honor, this heavy
load lifted off the national heart, we shall not fear henceforward
to show our faces among mankind. We shall cease to be hypocrites and
pretenders, but what we have styled our free institutions will be such.

In the light of this event the public distress begins to be removed.
What if the brokers' quotations show our stocks discredited, and the
gold dollar costs one hundred and twenty-seven cents? These tables are
fallacious. Every acre in the Free States gained substantial value on
the twenty-second of September. The cause of disunion and war has been
reached, and begun to be removed. Every man's house-lot and garden
are relieved of the malaria which the purest winds and the strongest
sunshine could not penetrate and purge. The territory of the Union
shines to-day with a lustre which every European emigrant can discern
from far: a sign of inmost security and permanence. Is it feared that
taxes will check immigration? That depends on what the taxes are spent
for. If they go to fill up this yawning Dismal Swamp, which engulfed
armies and populations, and created plague, and neutralized hitherto
all the vast capabilities of this continent,--then this taxation, which
makes the land wholesome and habitable, and will draw all men unto
it, is the best investment in which property-holder ever lodged his
earnings.

Whilst we have pointed out the opportuneness of the Proclamation, it
remains to be said that the President had no choice. He might look
wistfully for what variety of courses lay open to him: every line but
one was closed up with fire. This one, too, bristled with danger,
but through it was the sole safety. The measure he has adopted was
imperative. It is wonderful to see the unseasonable senility of what is
called the Peace party, through all its masks, blinding their eyes to
the main feature of the war, namely, its inevitableness. The war existed
long before the cannonade of Sumter, and could not be postponed. It
might have begun otherwise or elsewhere, but war was in the minds and
bones of the combatants, it was written on the iron leaf, and you
might as easily dodge gravitation. If we had consented to a peaceable
secession of the Rebels, the divided sentiment of the Border States made
peaceable secession impossible, the insatiable temper of the South made
it impossible, and the slaves on the border, wherever the border might
be, were an incessant fuel to rekindle the fire. Give the Confederacy
New Orleans, Charleston, and Richmond, and they would have demanded St.
Louis and Baltimore. Give them these, and they would have insisted on
Washington. Give them Washington, and they would have assumed the army
and navy, and, through these, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. It
looks as if the battle-field would have been at least as large in that
event as it is now. The war was formidable, but could not be avoided.
The war was and is an immense mischief, but brought with it the immense
benefit of drawing a line, and rallying the Free States to fix it
impassably,--preventing the whole force of Southern connection and
influence throughout the North from distracting every city with endless
confusion, detaching that force and reducing it to handfuls, and, in the
progress of hostilities, disinfecting us of our habitual proclivity,
through the affection of trade, and the traditions of the Democratic
party, to follow Southern leading.

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