436 CLIMATE, ETC. 



which we have heard so much lately, are no doubt good 

 for duck shooting, but I prefer the old system. In a good 

 day's shooting one has as many near shots as long shots, 

 and the gun that makes a fair pattern with the maximum 

 of penetration is a better weapon than the gun that makes 

 an extra good pattern with lesser penetration. Such at 

 least has been my experience. To attain the greater pene- 

 tration one must have a big charge of powder behind the 

 shot, and to avoid disagreeable recoil a certain weight of 

 metal at the breech is positively necessary. The idea of 

 having the left barrel choked and the right plain looks 

 well, though I have never tried it ; but the same result or 

 even a better one can be obtained with a loose charge in 

 the right barrel and a cartridge in the left. 



As regards rifles a 450 double express is about as good 

 a weapon as man wants in the Canadian forest. It should 

 be flush-sighted for snap-shots in the forest, and balanced 

 like the shot gun which the sportsman is in the habit of 

 using. A Holland or Rigby pea-rifle is a toy capable of 

 affording a good deal of amusement. 



As regards the care of firearms there is not much to be 

 said, except that in very cold weather little or no oil should 

 be used, as when in a frozen state it is liable to interfere 

 with the action of the breech and the lock. Oil should 

 never be rubbed into the stock. In hard frost wood satu- 

 rated with oil becomes as brittle as glass. In mid-winter 

 oil is quite unnecessary, the air is dry and so is the snow, 

 the latter dusts off the barrels like feathers, and guns keep 

 in better order outside the camp than inside. In the 

 matter of gun-covers seal-skin is the best material, next 



