Blacking guns and shot.

Coal-tar alone, or mixed with a little water, is the best thing for Blacking Guns and Shot. It should be laid on quite warm; and if the day be cold, a hot shot may with advantage be put into the Guns to warm the Metal, and make it take the Blacking better; due attention being previously paid to unloading.

Lay the Stuff on as thin as possible, with Paint-brushes; using hot Salamanders or Bolts to keep it warm.

If well laid on, and wiped afterwards with an oil-cloth occasionally, this process will prevent rust, and preserve the good look of the Guns for a length of time, without ever having recourse to washing with water. [p 48]

It is useful to measure and keep a memorandum of the quantity of Blacking required for each of the operations. A Ten-gun Brig requires as follows:-

For Blacking	Rigging, ...	12	Gallons
"	Bends, ...	2	"
"	Yards, ...	3	"
"	Guns and Shot, ...	1	"

The time now required for drying the Rigging, &c. may be most advantageously employed in completing Stores, Provisions, and Water.

French recipe for blacking guns.

To one Gallon of Vinegar put ten Ounces of Lampblack, and one Pound and a half of clean-sifted Iron-rust, and mix them well together.

Lay this on the Guns, after a good coat of Black Paint, and rub it occasionally with a soft Oil-cloth.

Alexander D. Fordyce: Outline of Naval Routine.
Smith, Elder & Son, London, 1837. p 47.

Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius

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