The Weapon, pages 3 to 33 Summary

In 1768, a gunsmith named Cornish McManus establishes a new gunsmithing shop west of Philadelphia. He had apprenticed for fourteen years under a man named John Waynewright. Waynewright is well known for developing a new method of "rifling" (or adding grooves to the bore of a gun). Rifling is a relatively new development that aids a bullet's accuracy. Previous smoothbore guns were quite inaccurate by contrast.

Most rifles made by gunsmiths are functional guns of middling quality for hunters and farmers. However, great smiths are capable of making what's called a "sweet" rifle, a once-in-a-lifetime kind of rifle that is a work of art. Though technically skilled, Waynewright lacks the genius or vision to produce a sweet rifle. In fact, Waynewright scolds McManus for producing careful drawings of intricately-designed rifles, though McManus persists in daydreaming about creating a...