The stock is the wooden part of the firearm, to which all the parts are assembled; it i... preferable that it should be in one piece. The material should be light, strong, and well seasoned. The butt, the part intended to rest against the shoulder and to support the recoil of the piece, should be of such length and shape as will enable it to transmit the recoil with the least inconvenience to the sportsman. The longer it is. to a certain extent. the more firmly will it be pressed against the shoulder, and the effect of the recoil will be a push rather than a blow. The stock is crooked at the handle for convenience in aiming, and for the purpose of diminishing the direct action of the recoil. Changing the direction of the recoil in this manner causes the piece to rotate around the shoulder; but if the stock be made too crooked, the butt will be liable to fly up and strike the face.
The sights are guides by which the piece is given the elevation and direc tion necessary to hit the object. There are two; called front and rear sights.
The front sight is fixed to the barrel near the muzzle. The fineness of its point is regulated by the length of the barrel, or distance from the eye, and the size and distance of the object generally aimed at; it is made coarser in military than in sporting arms, to prevent injury. The rear sight is attached to the barrel a short distance from the breech; it has a movable part, capable of being adjusted for different elevations of the barrel. A sight should satisfy the following conditions, viz.: 1st, it should be easily adjusted for all distances within effective range; 2d, the form of the notch should permit the eye to catch the object quickly; 3d, it shoul I not be easily deranged by accidents.
Globe and telescopic sights are used for very accurate sporting arms, but they are too delicate in their structure and too slow in their operations for general purposes The mountings may be divided into two classes, viz.: 1st, those which serve to connect the principal parts, generally bands and screws; 2d, those which protect from wear or strengthen the stock at certain points, as the butt plate, guard plate, tip; 3d, the minor parts which secure the different parts (including the mountings proper) in their place, consisting of springs, screws, rivets, pins, washers and nuts.
A butt-plate is to protect the end of the stock from injury by contact with the ground; it is generally curved to fit the shoulder in firing. A guard-plate is to strengthen the handle of the stock; it may serve as a fulcrum for the trig ger. A tip is a shield placed on the end of the stock towards the muzzle.
If the piece be intended to carry upon the back, it is provided with swivels for that purpose, generally two, one of which may be fastened to a band and the other to the guard-plate, or to a point of the stock in rear of that plate. The trigger is a lever used to set the lock in motion. Trig-gers are divided, according to their construction and the force required to draw them, into common and set or hair triggers; the latter are employed only in sporting arms. The force required to set off the trigger, if very- great, may- disturb the accuracy of the aim; if it be slight, the piece will be liable to accidental dis charges. The trigger has a guard which protects the finger-piece from injury, and from accidental blows that might produce explosions.
There are many types of magazine guns. I. Those in which the magazine is a tube below the barrel, as in the Winchester. 2. Those in which the maga zine is in the stock, as in the Spencer, Meigs, and others. 3. Those in which the magazine is a separate piece attachable to the gun when required. as in the Lee. The cartridges are fed automatically into the chamber of the barrel, by the manipulation of the breech mechanisn . It is only necessary to close the breech when the arm is ready to fire. This obviates the necessity of nail dling and charging each cartridge, besides preventing the considerable loss of ammunition, occasioned by dropping cartridges while transferring from the cartridge-box to the arm, which, in the excitement of rapid firing, are seldom recovered or saved. The principal objection offered to magazine guns is that their use causes a wasteful and unnecessary expenditure of ammunition. The same argument was largely used, when only a few years ago, the merits of breech versus muzzle-loaders, were being discussed, and is as weak now as then.
No valid reason can be given why, other essentials being equal, the same men should not aim as well, firing rapidly, as slowly sighting requires the same time, whatever may be the time used in loading; and if increasing the time expended between the f ring of one shot and sighting for the next, increases the effectiveness of the man, it follow:, that to shoot accurately, a certain amount of the time must be wasted in operations other than aiming the wea pon—a theory that could hardly be sustained.