GUNS. 431 



fall into it, is not a positive detriment, for one seldom 

 shoots in bad weather, so that the " glass case" gun, 

 which at once proclaims its own nnfitness to the practiced 

 eye of a thorough sportsman, stands on a level here with 

 guns of so much greater instrinsic worth that comparison 

 between them would be utterly ruinous. 



Then, again, trap-shooting is generally done in the 

 vicinity of towns or villages, so that a complete break- 

 down merely bars the owner from the day's sport, while 

 should such a catastrophe happen far away from the 

 ever-ready gun-smith, then the journey of many miles, 

 taken in perhaps the one annual vacation, assumes dif- 

 ferent proportions in toto. So long, then, as the very best 

 fitting and shooting guns can be obtained that are not 

 open to these most serious objections, it seems strange 

 that so many guns possessed of such glaring defects 

 should sell side by side with others of perfect construc- 

 tion; yet such is the irresistible power of printers' ink, 

 that we may always expect to see catch-penny schemes, 

 well advertised, push their way alongside of true and 

 honest workmanship, that, costing, as it invariably does, 

 more money to execute, leaves less profit to the maker 

 with which to puff his own wares. 



A perfect trap -gun, regardless of its bore, weight, or 

 dimensions, should be so bored and regulated in its 

 shooting that it will give the greatest killing spread at 

 the distance for which it is intended to fire it. There- 

 fore, if a marksman shoots at thirty -five yards, his gun, 

 if bored and loaded to best advantage, should give him 

 all the chances compatible with a regular and even spread 

 of shot at that distance, for it is clearly handicapping him- 

 self to use a gun that so compactly delivers its load at 

 that -distance that nothing but dead center shots will 

 score as hits. A gun so bored that it will keep the load 

 together, and kill at extreme ranges, is indeed a truly 



