30 ON THE WING. 



ducks, and being asked why he did not kill more, he 

 replied : " Well, it 's always so ; when I get a good 

 chance for a big shot, I always have a little bit of a 

 flint in the old gun. If I had only had a big flint, 

 I should have killed a pile of them ! " 



For powder, I use Hazard's Duck-Shooting, medium 

 size, No. 3 for brush-shooting, and a coarser article 

 for duck-shooting. Fine powder is somewhat quicker, 

 but it makes more dirt, strains the gun, — making 

 more recoil, — and it does not hold the shot up to the 

 mark so well at long distances. One great principle 

 in the loading of any gun is, that a due proportion be 

 preserved between the grain of the powder and the 

 length of the barrel. A person who uses fine powder 

 should also use very short barrels, and vice versa. 

 Fine powder in a long barrel spends its strength be- 

 fore reaching the muzzle, straining the gun and weak- 

 ening the force of the shot. The nearer the muzzle 

 the powder burns, the greater the force of the charge. 



I subjoin a table showing the due proportions of 

 powder and shot, according to the rules above given. 



Proportions of Powder and Shot according to the Rule of 

 Bulk for Bulk. 



i ounce shot calls for 2 T 3 ¥ drachms of powder. 



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