Gun-Making in Dublin, 1880

Gun-Making in Dublin

1880

“One hundred years ago Dublin had acquired a celebrity second to no city in Europe for the manufacture of firearms, not only as regards durability but artistic finish. It would appear that particular pains were taken in the manufacture of the gun-barrels, which were then, and for many years later, made of the old nails taken out of horse shoes. The process might appear to be very difficult, but was in fact simple enough.

The nails were collected by the different horseshoers throughout the country, and sold to the gunmaker’s of Dublin.

The barrelmaker prepared a ring of common hoop iron about seven inches in diameter, and into this ring “The stumps”, as the old nails were termed, were tightly packed, all the heads outwards , on each side of the ring; the entire was then brought to a welding heat, and forged into a flat bar; this was twisted round a cylinder, in a spiral form, and being again heated, the joints were welded together, after which the interior was bored to the required gauge and the exterior filed to the proper dimensions.

When polished, a mixture composed of sweet spirits of nitre, tincture of steel, and bluestone , the entire reduced to a certain weakness with water, was applied to the barrels every third hour, the preceding coat being brushed off with a wire brush. When sufficiently dark, boiling water was poured upon them to arrest the action of the acids. Much nicety was required in making up the mixture , which should be only sufficiently strong to stain the softer portions of the barrels, for where the joints were welded , the iron being compressed , and consequently, resisting the action of the acids, remained much brighter than the softer parts, and formed the bright spiral streak by which sportsmen then as now know a twist barrel.

The superior durability of the stubb barrel being generally admitted, it may be asked why are not barrels now made of stubbs? Alas! tempora mutantur, and, so is the iron now used in horse nails. In former days the horseshoer, when purchasing common iron for the shoes, purchased a piece of Swedish iron for the nails. Now the nails are made of patent English rod, which would be totally unfit for gun barrels.

Amongst the many Dublin gunmakers noted for the superiority of their work, none surpassed Mc Cormick, and well he deserved the name he acquired. To him time, money, or profit was nothing, his sole object being to produce work of matchless excellence.  Unfortunately for himself he got into some political trouble and was obliged to fly. At the time of his leaving it was said that he had more orders on his books than he could possibly execute for some years.

Later on flourished Mc Dermott, Mc Knight, Clarke, Fowler, Calderwood, Rigby and several others, the establishments of the two last named are still carried on by their descendants, without any diminution of the success that would appear to have attended them from the beginning.

One branch of the business has happily become extinct- we mean the manufacture of duelling pistols, which not only were regularly kept in stock  for sale, but also for hire , a guinea being the usual price for lending for a duel.

Rifle shooting would appear to have been hitherto not much favoured here, and the American and Swiss rifles to have been considered the best of the day.

However, in Radcliffe’s work on Canada, published nearly half a century ago, he states that “ with a rifle he had made by Calderwood he had shot a match with an Indian chief, and beat him unmercifully.” He then bestows considerable praise on the maker for the pains he had taken with the rifle. Later J. Rigby, father of one of the present firm, made rifles a speciality with considerable success, but it remained for the present Wm & J. Rigby to produce a rifle which we consider as yet unequalled, general workmanship as well as precision being considered. It affords us considerable pleasure to add that at the present day our principal gunmakers turn out their work finished in a style well calculated to uphold the prestige of former days.”    

The Irish Times 30^th June 1880.

Dave Stroud. ramrodantiques.co.uk