AN UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT OF FRANK FORESTER'S. 



[Some \ears ago we had placed in our hands 

 an unpubHshed manuscript from the pen and 

 brain of Frank Forester (W. H. Herbert), of 

 world-wide fame as a writer on sports of the 

 field and stream. Although much of the sub- 

 ject-matter of this manuscript, particularly that 

 portion which treats of the detonator and old 

 flint lock has lost all practical interest to 

 sportsmen, yet its pleasing style and crisp treat- 

 ment, render every line delightful reading. 



It was written forty-seven years ago and is a 

 souvenir of the golden days of field shooting in 

 America, and of the most versatile and talented 

 writer on that subject that tlie world has 

 produced. — Ed.] 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



Neither the author nor the editor 

 pretend to offer this work to the public 

 in general, and the sporting world in 

 particular, as a composition entirely 

 new, and composed of original mate- 

 rials. Much of it is original and self- 

 originated, much is selected and 

 compiled or collated, partly from 

 Greener, and partly from the works of 

 that veteran sportsman among sports- 

 men — Hawker. 



These inaterials have, however, all 

 been weighed carefully, and considered 

 in reference to the nature and applica- 

 tion of the wild sports or wild warfare, 

 to which in this country the weapons 

 of which we treat will be applied. No 

 opinions of foreign authors will be 

 admitted, which do not coincide with 

 those of the author and editor; nor 

 have any of their own been rashly or 

 inconsiderately introduced. 



It is now respectfully offered to the 

 sporting public, with a view of giving 

 much information, not easil}' attainable 

 in a small compass, and with the three- 

 fold hope of driving oitt of the market 

 all the paltry Birmingham trash, with 

 which the hardware luen are flooding 



it, throughout the country ; of protect- 

 ing the honest maker and upright 

 dealer and enabling the sportsmen of 

 America, hereafter, to obtain a good 

 article at a fair price. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Few things are more remarkable in 

 the history of field sports than the 

 general ignorance which prevails even 

 among passable good sportsmen, as to 

 the nature and qualification of the 

 weapon on which, not their pleastire 

 only, nor excellence in their favorite 

 pursuit, but their very life depends. 

 Few know what the material or 

 mechanism of the piece they carry is; 

 fewer yet, what it should be; and, 

 strange as it may seem, when the stake 

 at issue is so great, very few care to 

 know more. 



By the great tuass a gun is esteemed 

 a gun, and no more ; whether it be the 

 masterpiece of a first-rate artist, or the 

 trash of a Birmingham, Liege or Lyons 

 factory. We do not mean here, or 

 elsewhere, to asser.t that all Birming- 

 ham or French or German gunsmith 

 work is trash — for which such men as 

 Westly Richards and Greener to repre- 

 sent the former, and many first-rate 

 workmen, such as LePage, Lecomte 

 and others, for the latter, it would be 

 absurd so to speak — but it is indis- 

 putably a fact that nine-tenths of all 

 things called guns, turned out of 

 Birmingham and Continental factories, 

 are only built to sell, and burst by 

 wholesale; and even by four-fifths of 

 those who call themselves, and would 

 fain be considered sportsmen, the first, 

 if not the only consideration in the 

 selection of a gun, is that of cost. 



