464 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
kind of game bird on which it is employed. Four 
drams, however, is an excessive load, used chiefly by 
pigeon and duck shooters, and by very few of them. 
Besides the punishing recoil, the excessive load strains 
a gun seriously and shortens its life. 
The most desirable all-round load for a 12-bore is 3 
drams of powder and 1% ounces of No. 7% chilled 
shot. This is a very killing load, and is in general use 
by target shooters at the traps. However, for special 
shooting, different sizes of shot are essential. 
Some shooters use 3% or 3% drams of powder, but 
the recoil is much greater, relatively, than that of 3 
drams, and punishes the average shooter. The recoil 
may be kept within reasonable limits by reducing the 
weight of shot as the load of powder is increased; thus, 
3% drams with 1 ounce of shot gives a high velocity, 
and is very effective in duck shooting, at the same time 
being free from excessive recoil. 
The only advantages of bores smaller than the 12 
are their lightness, and the consequent greater ease in 
carrying them and greater quickness in aiming, because 
of their greater lightness. The ammunition for them 
is somewhat cheaper, but not enough so to be a mat- 
ter for serious consideration. While the smaller bores 
will deliver the load of shot with as much velocity as 
the larger bores, it should be noted that the killing 
circle is less, and that, therefore, a higher degree of 
skill in pointing is a necessary correlative. If the bore 
is such as to make the killing circle equal, then the pat- 
tern is thin. Thus there is reason, while giving con- 
