Rest.
1. (Lathe.) A device for supporting a piece of work in a lathe or vise. A lathe-rest is a horizontal bar attached to the bed or shears, for the support of the turning-tool. A slide-rest supports the turning-tool, and has motion in several directions by means of screws. See lathe; slide-rest. 2. A support for the muzzle of a gun in aiming and firing. The arbalest or cross-bow and the earlier hand fire-arms were always thus supported, and the long guns of the Moors and Arabs are still universally provided with a device of this kind. In civilized countries the rest is employed by sharp-shooters and in practice-firing. See rifle. It may consist of a stake or picket, whose pointed end is driven into the ground, the gun resting in a crotch at the upper extremity; or, as in some of the European armies, of a device having a screw point, by which it may be attached to a tree or other support. In experimental firing, an adjustable table or trestle, on which all that part of the gun in front of the trigger-guard rests, is sometimes employed.
Rifle-rest. |