CHAPTER XXXI. 



CHOKE-BORES THEIR TRUE HISTORY, FORM, AND 



MANNER OF CONSTRUCTION. 



Since the invention of percussion-locks, no im- 

 provement in the construction of shot-guns or fowl- 

 ing-pieces, as they were then called, has ever ap- 

 peared so truly valuable to sportsmen as that pecu- 

 liar formation of bore known as the " choke," by 

 Avliich the divergence of the pellets of a charge of 

 shot in their flight is greatly modified and controlled. 

 I do not except even the invention of the system of 

 loading at the breech, or rather the perfection of that 

 invention, which, in fact, dates back to the days of the 

 flint and pan ; for, outside of its superior safety, 

 cleanliness, and greater rapidity of fire (the latter not 

 so extremely desirable as at first might appear, unless 

 to those joersons, not sportsmen, whose only pleasure 

 is the killing of the largest number), it has few real 

 advantages not counterbalanced, as I have before cra- 

 deavored to explain, by those of the much-misprized 

 muzzle-loader, while for choke-boring, equally appli- 



