28 THE COMPLETE WILDFOWLER 
weapon. Its range is enormous; its hitting power very great, 
and as a duck gun for fast flighting work incomparable. It comes 
to the shoulder—weight 93 lbs.—with the greatest ease, and 
I can shoot redshank and snipe with it with comfort—though 
naturally one prefers a lighter gun for a long day’s walk upon 
saltings. While waiting behind a sea-wall or in a duck-pit 
for fowl I find it admirable, though, of course, not every one 
would be able to use it for snap-shooting. Last season, for 
instance, I took out with me, on evening flighting, a boy of 
nineteen, the son of a regular wildfowler in my employment, 
and himself an excellent shot. I gave him my 1o-bore and 
carried myself a lighter gun, of which I shall presently speak. 
We were behind a tall hedge which borders upon the narrow 
greens which fringe the Blakeney Marshes in Norfolk. It 
was moonlight, and we had not long been in position when a 
skein of grey geese came over us, not flying very fast, and at 
about fifty yards. I got my birds all right—a left and right— 
but my companion missed with both barrels, though the shot 
was not a difficult one, and one which under ordinary circum- 
stances he certainly would not have missed. This happened 
more than once during the night, and was entirely owing to 
the weight of the gun being too great for a slender lad of 
that age. 
The great advantage of the 1o-bore is that it will shoot 
large-sized shot better than the 12-bore, and will also effectively 
carry heavier loads. For smaller shot the heavy 12-bore at 
which we now arrive is, in the opinion of most experts, equally 
good. 
If the double 8-bore is recognised as the ‘‘standard”’ 
shoulder gun for shore-shooting, all wildfowlers of experience 
without exception will bear me out when I say that the heavy 
12-bore chambered for long cases is the handiest and best all- 
round weapon. It is not too much to say that if a sportsman’s 
whole armament consists of this gun alone, he will be prepared 
ee 
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