The Rifle
Gary Paulsen
 The rifle is forged in 1768 by gunsmith Cornish McManus, who is inspired by a beautiful piece of maple stock. McManus crafts a unique weapon; its .40-caliber, 42-inch barrel is narrower than most rifles of the time, its rifling more severe, at one turn in thirty-five inches, and its butt less drooped than customary, to improve its accuracy. Upon completing the weapon, McManus discovers it to be astoundingly accurate – enough, in fact, to deliver three balls in a row to exactly the same hole at thirty yards. However, lacking money and engaged to be married, he is forced to sell the gun to a man named John Byam, who carries it with him into battle against the redcoats. The gun is passed down through the generations, being lost, rediscovered, and sold as an antique. The rifle ultimately comes to rest on the mantle of Harv, a mechanic. On Christmas Eve, 1994, Harv is poking at his fireplace when a spark ignites the rifle, causing it to go off. The bullet goes through the window and hits the neighbor boy, Richard, as he attempts to fix a light on his Christmas tree. The books ends with Harv throwing the rifle in a river only to be recovered by another man.