GUNS. 435 



What is ten guineas in an article that will last a lifetime, 

 and that will be your companion and friend in the field 

 and the forest during many a pleasant ramble ? You may 

 get a good Birmingham gun cheap or you may not, but 

 with a first-rate name on the barrels you are sure of a 

 first-rate article. The guns of Messrs. Rigby, of Dublin, 

 are as near perfection as possible. 



As regards weight and bore of guns it must be remem- 

 bered that the chief shooting in Canada is wild-fowl shoot- 

 ing. For this sport guns must hit hard, and guns will 

 not hit hard without a big charge of powder, and to burn 

 a big charge requires a big bore. A big bore means a 

 heavy weight to carry. But after all a moderately strong 

 man when he gets accustomed to it will not feel an extra 

 2 Ibs. weight on his shoulder. A gun of the following 

 dimensions fulfils my idea of the requirements of a gun for 

 general Canadian purposes, when one smooth bore only is 

 used. Weight, 9 Ibs. ; bore, No. 10; length of barrel, 30 

 inches. As regards action I consider the double grip 

 lower action as enduring as any other. A very handy 

 second weapon is a light 14-bore for cock, snipe, and 

 quail. The drawback to this is that a man cannot shoot 

 in equal form with two different weapons. 8-bores are 

 much used for wild-fowl shooting, but a good 8-bore weighs 

 11 or 12 Ibs., and with a gun of this description the num- 

 ber of extra long shots one makes in a day's shooting does 

 not compensate for the near snap-shots one misses when 

 flight shooting at dusk, to say nothing of the ponderous 

 mass of iron on one's shoulder. One great advantage of a 

 10-bore over smaller bores is that it shoots with cartridge 

 and big shot much better. The choke bore guns, about 



