IMPLEMENTS FOR COLLECTING, AND THEIR USE. 7 



(made of lard) for table use answers the purpose. The quality of any oil may be improved by 

 putting in it a few tacks, or scraps of zinc, — the oil expends its rusty capacity in oxidizing the 

 metal. Inferior oils get ''sticky." One of the best preventives of rust is mercurial ("blue") 

 ointment : it may be freely used. Kerosene will remove rust ; but use it sparingly for it 

 " eats " sound metal too. 



To Load a Gun eflfectively requires something more than knowledge of the facts that the 

 powder should go in before the shot, and that each should have a wad a-top. Probably the 

 most nearly universal fault is use of too much shot for the amount of powder ; and the next, 

 too much of both. The rule is hulk for hulk of powder and shot. If not exactly this, then 

 rather less shot than powder. It is absurd to suppose, as some persons who ought to know 

 better do, that the more shot in a gun the greater the chances of killing. The projectile 

 force of a charge cannot possibly be greater than the vis inertice of the gun as held by the 

 shooter. The explosion is manifested in all directions, and blows the shot one way simply 

 and only because it has no other escape. If the resistance in front of the powder were 

 greater than elsewhere, the shot would not budge, but the gun would fly backward, or 

 burst. This always reminds me of Lord Dundreary's famous conundrum — Why does a dog 

 wag his tail ? Because he is bigger than his tail ; otherwise the tail would wag him. A 

 gun shoots shot because the gun is the heavier; otherwise the shot would shoot the gun. 

 Every unnecessary pellet is a pellet against you, not against the game. The experienced sports 

 man uses about one-third less shot than the tyro, with proportionally better result, other things 

 being equal. As to powder, moreover, a gun can only burn just so much, and every grain 

 blown out unburnt is wasted if nothing more. No express directions for absolute weight or 

 measures of either powder or shot can be given ; in fact, different guns take as their most 

 effective charge such a variable amount of ammunition, that one of the first things you have to 

 learn about your own arm is, its normal charge-gauge. Find out, by assiduous target practice, 

 what absolute amounts (and to a slight degree, what relative proportion) of powder and shot 

 are required to shoot the furthest and distribute the pellets most evenly. This practice, further- 

 more, will acquaint you with the gun's capacities in every respect. You should learn exactly 

 what it will and what it will not do, so as to feel perfect confidence in your arm within a cer- 

 tain range, and to waste no shots in attempting miracles. Immoderate recoil is a pretty sure 

 sign that the gun was overloaded, or otherwise wrongly charged ; and all force of recoil is sub- 

 tracted from the impulse of the shot. It is useless to ram powder very hard ; tw(} or three 

 smart taps of the rod will suffice, and more will not increase the explosive force. On the shot 

 the wad should simply be pressed close enough to fix the pellets immovably. All these direc- 

 tions apply to the charging of metal or paper cartridges as well as to loading by the muzzle. 

 The latter operation is so rarely required, now that guns of every grade break at the breach, 

 tliat advice on this score may seem quite anachronistic ; nevertheless, I let what I said in the 

 original edition stand. When about to recharge one baiTel see that the hammer of the other 

 stands at half-cock. Do not drop the ramrod into the other barrel, for a stray shot might 

 impact between the swell of the head and the gun and make it difficult to withdraw the rod. 

 During the whole operation keep the muzzle as far from your person as you conveniently can. 

 Never force home a wad with the flat of your hand over the end of the rod, but hold the rod 

 between your fingers and thumb ; in case of premature explosion, it will make just the difi'er- 

 ence of lacerated finger tips, or a blown-up hand. Never look into a loaded gun-barrel ; you 

 might as wisely put your head into a lion's mouth to see what the animal had for dinner. 

 After a miss-fire hold the gun up a few moments and be slow to reload ; the fire sometimes 

 "hangs" for several seconds. Finally, let me strongly impress upon you the expediency of 

 light loading in your routine collecting. Three-fourths of your shots need not bring into action 

 tlie gun's full powers of execution. You will shoot more birds under than over 30 yaids ; not 



