52 ON THE WING. 



barrels outside, and the pipes both outside and inside. 

 Then rub off the oil, brush out the hammers, oil the 

 inside of the stock a little, and wipe dry. Enter the 

 barrels into the stock [ clean and oil the ramrod, and 

 put it in the pipes ; put a cut wad into the muzzle of 

 each barrel, and an oiled rag over both nipples, and 

 let your hammers down upon the rag. Now put on 

 your gun-case, as your gun is at last cleaned and 

 ready for use. 



To clean a gun is undoubtedly a hard job, and un- 

 less you love the gun you will be apt to slight your 

 work. You cannot clean it as it should be cleaned in 

 much less than an hour. This work is one of the chief 

 objections to a muzzle-loading gun, and is perhaps 

 the main reason why many sportsmen give up their 

 shooting. 



Do not trust the cleaning of your gun to a servant, 

 unless you have one who can be depended upon ; and 

 even then, watch him. It is very easy to have the 

 muzzle clean, while rust is at work inside. I would 

 not recommend taking out the nipples while cleaning, 

 except occasionally, and when the shooting season is 

 over. Then I would have the breech-pins taken out 

 and examined, the barrels wiped dry, oiled inside, 

 replaced, and put away in a warm place. 



If a hard day's shooting leaves you too tired to clean 

 your gun, I would recommend swabbing each barrel 

 with tow, with a fair quantity of oil upon it. This will 

 keep the rust from working until you can clean the 

 gun, which should be done as soon as possible. Fan- 

 cy jointed cleaning-rods soon get out of order, and are 



