DIED. […] On Wednesday last, respected and beloved by all who knew her, aged 71, Elizabeth, the beloved wife of Mr. Leonard Wiswould, late gun-maker, of Russell-street, in this town.
(Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, 1st March 1847)
Tag: Leonard Wiswould (-1848)
Death of Richard Wasdell, 1836
DIED.
At Birmingham, on the 7th inst., aged 38, Mr. Richard Wasdell, gun-barrel maker, and son-in-law to Mr. Leonard Wiswould, for many years a respectable gun-maker of Gainsboro’; leaving a widow and five children to lament his loss.
(Stamford Mercury, 11th November 1836)
Wiswould’s Iron
CHAPTER III.
MR. WISWOULD’S IRON.
THIS is a mixture of steel and iron, invented by Mr. Wiswould,* of Birmingham; but as he wishes the method of making it to be kept secret, I cannot say more than that its composition is three-fourths steel, and one-fourth iron; and that, like the Damascus, it is twisted in the rod, but not to the same extent, not having more than from four to five twists in the inch. Two of these twisted rods are welded together, with the grain of the metal running in an angular direction, as represented below:-
The construction of these rods confirms me in the opinion that iron is much better not twisted at all. I could not obtain an untwisted rod to subject it to experiment; but I am satisfied it would be a very tenacious iron, were the twisting in the rod omitted. I never saw any iron with which I have been more pleased, both for its clearness, and the beautiful way in which the steel and iron are mixed. In its present state it is certainly not stronger than even the Damascus. The rod of thirteen-sixteenths of an inch in breadth, by four-sixteenths of an inch in thickness, containing two and seven-sixteenths solid inches, was equal in strength to 10,080 lbs. consequently a barrel of the above size would bear a pressure of 3,034 lbs. to the inch of tube. The injury by softening is not to the extent of either wire-twist or Damascus, being only 7½ per cent., which is no doubt owing to the great quantity of steel in its composition, which is not so liable as iron to relax from the closeness of its pores. I certainly think the greater the quantity of steel in the construction of the barrel, the better it will shoot, as the expansion is of course less, and the quickness of the re-action will add increased velocity to the projetile. I never met with a pair of barrels the shooting of which pleased me better than a pair that were made of this iron. They were bored perfectly cylindrical; yet they were superior to all that I tried them against, and to some that were relieved behind, and that possessed a considerable reputation. I refer my readers to the drawing of a pair of barrels finished, which accompanies the Damascus on the plate; and that below, for their appearance previous to being welded.
* The Persians have a method of making a mixture similar to this, which is described in the paper before mentioned, by Colonel Bagnold.
(“The gun; or, A treatise no the various descriptions of small fire-arms”, by William Greener, 1835, pp. 20-22)
Declining the sports of the field
To SPORTSMEN. – To be SOLD,
A Brace of good GREYHOUNDS, and an excellent Double-barrelled GUN, the property of a person who is declining the sports of the field.
For particulars apply (if by letter, post paid) to Mr. Wiswould, gunsmith, Gainsborough.
(Stamford Mercury, 3rd November 1820)
Death of Leonard Wiswould, 1848
DIED.
On the 11th inst., after a protracted illness, in his 71st year, deeply lamented, Mr. Leonard Wiswould, of Russell Street, in this town, and formerly of Gainsbro’, Lincolnshire. His memory will be long cherished by those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance.
(Birmingham Journal, 18th March 1848)
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