MUZZLE-LOADERS AND BREECH-LOADERS. 1G3 



In a highly finished article the locks usually work 

 with a smooth oiliness that can be distinguished 

 with a little practice, and are fitted with great 

 accuracy into the stock, so that projections of wood 

 will be left standing not thicker than a piece of 

 blotting-paper. The barrels will be without flaw 

 or indentation, and if looked through with the 

 breech removed, will exhibit a perfect ring of 

 light flowing up evenly, as they are raised or low- 

 ered. The mountings will be faultless, and the cuts 

 in all the screw-heads will point in the same direc- 

 tion ; the screws will work easily and yet perfectly, 

 and the triggers and trigger-plate, which are inva- 

 riably neglected in a poor gun, will be admirably 

 finished and fitted. Examine all these particulars, 

 but especially the last, and you can form some judg- 

 ment whether the piece comes from a good maker 

 or a spurious imitator. 



The greatest attention, however, in the selection 

 of a gun should be paid to the form of the stock 

 and the pull of the triggers ; if the former is unsuited 

 to the shape of the purchaser, or the latter are stifi* 

 or dissimilar, the consequence will be utter failure 

 that no amount of practice will remedy. If the pur- 

 chaser's arms and neck are long, the stock may be 

 long and crooked ; bat if the contrary is the case, the 

 stock must be short and straight. 



If possible, the person intending to use a gun should 

 select it for himself; and if it does not "come up 

 right " the first time he brings it to his eye, he should 

 refuse it positively. He must not allow himself to 



