GUN9 AND THEIR PROPER CHARGES. 39 



with the Greener gun against any man with a breech- 

 loader, and would have laid all the money I could 

 raise that I beat him in the field and at the traps. 

 I might possibly have done so, for I have never 

 yet met a man who could beat me in field-shooting, 

 but the breech-loading gun would not have been 

 the cause of my opponent's defeat. My opinion of 

 breech-loaders now is, that they excel muzzle-load- 

 ers in three or four particulars of the very greatest 

 importance. Of course I speak of good guns. In 

 the first place, they put the shot closer and dis- 

 tribute them more evenly than muzzle-loaders do. 

 Some sportsmen will say " No ! " I should my- 

 self have said No once, and so would several other 

 noted marksmen I can name who were afterwards 

 convinced by me against their wills, and now use 

 no guns but breech-loaders. A breech-loader will 

 also shoot as hard as a muzzle-loader, provided you 

 use a little more powder. My breech-loading guns 

 have shot harder than any muzzle-loading gun I 

 ever tested them against, but I used a dram more 

 powder, and of fine quality at that. I think I was 

 the first man who ever stepped up to shoot a 

 championship match at pigeons with a breech-load- 

 ing gun. It was against Ira Paine, on Long Island. 

 I was defeated in the match, but it was not the 



