MUZZLE-LOADERS AND BREECH-LOADERS. 381 
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 stiff 
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; butif the contrary is the case, the 
stock must be short and straight. 
If possible, the person intending to use agun 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 
