MUZZLE-LOADERS AND BREECH-LOADERS. 163 



In a highly finished article the locks usually work 

 with a smooth oiliness that can be distinguished 

 with a little practice, and are fitted with great 

 accuracy into the stock, so that projections of wood 

 will be left standing not thicker than a piece of 

 blotting-paper. The barrels will be without flaw 

 or indentation, and if looked, through with the 

 breech removed, will exhibit a perfect ring of 

 light flowing up evenly, as they are raised or low- 

 ered. The mountings will be faultless, and the cuts 

 in all the screw-heads will point in the same direc- 

 tion ; the screws will work easily and yet perfectly, 

 and the triggers and trigger-plate, which are inva- 

 riably neglected in a poor gun, will be admirably 

 finished and fitted. Examine all these particulars, 

 but especially the last, and you can form some judg- 

 ment whether the piece comes from a good maker 

 or a spurious imitator. 



The greatest attention, however, in the selection 

 of a gun should be paid to the form of the stock 

 and the pull of the triggers ; if the former is unsuited 

 to the shape of the purchaser, or the latter are stiff 

 or dissimilar, the consequence will be utter failure 

 that no amount of practice will remedy. If the pur- 

 chaser's arms and neck are long, the stock may be 

 long and crooked ; but if the contrary is the case, the 

 stock must be short and straight. 



If possible, the person intending to use a gun should 

 select it for himself; and if if does not "come up 

 right " the first time he brings it to his eye, he should 

 refuse it positively. He must not allow himself to 



