HEAVY AND LIGHT GUNS. 6 1 



execution ; for it is much more difficult to secure good 

 and true proportions in the larger than in the smaller 

 double-barrelled shot-guns. 



The admirers of the heavy gun frequently remark 

 that it will carry more shot for the charge, in shooting 

 into a flock of duck or other water-fowl, and that con- 

 sequently the chances for securing a quantity of game 

 are increased. I question the correctness of this state- 

 ment as it is commonly made, for the difference be- 

 tween the charge of .shot for a gun of 7 lbs. and one 

 of 8 lbs. will probably be only a quarter of an ounce, 

 or a half-ounce at most, if the gun is properly loaded. 

 The former increase would amount only to 20 per 

 cent, — not such a wonderful difference, after all. And 

 I would ask, moreover, Is there not, in the larger gun, 

 a greater proportionate waste of force by the side-shot, 

 which does not retain its momentum ? In shooting at 

 long distances with any gun, it is well known that the 

 central portion of the charge of shot travels the farthest. 

 Any one can prove this by shooting on the water in a 

 still day. It will also be noticed, that, in very heavy 

 guns, the shot on the side of the charge not only does 

 not keep up with that in the centre, but much of it is 

 wasted at short distances from the gun. This is espe- 

 cially the case when the charge of shot is too large for 

 the charge of powder. These facts show that the 

 opinion above cited is not well-founded. But they do 

 not conflict with the previous statement, that, if the 

 powder be proportionately increased, the central por- 

 tion of the larger charge from the heavier gun will 

 reach and kill at greater distances than the charge 



