HOW TO SELECT A GUN. 1 7 



importance, as no gun whatever can be expected to 

 shoot well that is known to be what is termed " bell- 

 muzzled." It is one of the tricks of the trade to make 

 a barrel bell-muzzled, and the defect is not generally- 

 known. It should be sharply looked out for, especial- 

 ly in buying a high-priced gun. Barrel-makers, in fin- 

 ishing up their work, occasionally find the thickness of 

 one barrel at the muzzle to be greater than that of the 

 other; and this being a prominent point, easily de- 

 tected by the purchaser, they sometimes remedy the 

 error at the expense of the shooting power of the 

 gun, by boring out the inside of one of the barrels, 

 that the two may be left of even thickness at the 

 muzzle. All experienced sportsmen know that this 

 has a tendency to scatter the shot widely, and to 

 make the shooting uncertain and defective. 



No sportsman should think of purchasing a good 

 English gun, without looking to find the proof-marks 

 stamped upon the barrels near the breech, with the 

 size of the bore struck in between. These proof- 

 marks guarantee the safety of the gun, showing that 

 it has been tried some four different times with more 

 than double the quantity of powder and shot ordina- 

 rily used in a charge ; and after such a trial it can 

 be relied upon, as the " English laws are sure in their 

 workings." The proof-houses are in London and 

 Birmingham, and all English gun-barrels are proved 

 in the same manner. 



In selecting an English gun, do not be carried away 

 with the idea of getting a superior article at about 

 half-price, thinking that perhaps in this instance the 



