GUNS. 435 



the man behind it, seven drams of good powder and two 

 ounces of large shot. When thus loaded, it is quite clear 

 that a ten-bore with five drams and its 1 J ounces is simply 

 nowhere in comparison. 



A thoroughly serviceable wild fowl gun should be as 

 heavy as the owner can handle with comfort and accuracy. 

 If it must weigh between eight and nine pounds, let it be 

 a twelve-bore; if between 9| and 10^, then, by all means, 

 a ten, while the barrels need not be over thirty inches in 

 length, unless very coarse, slow-burning powder is used, 

 then it may go to thirty-two. 



All duck-guns should be bored specially with a view 

 to shooting heavy charges of powder without undue 

 recoil, and be so regulated that they will throw, with 

 compactness and regularity, large shot, as No. 6 is the 

 minimum size used at ducks. A properly bored gun will 

 put over 80 per cent, of its charge of No. 4 shot in a 

 thirty-inch circle at forty yards, while a really first- 

 class one will put fifty pellets of that size of shot on a 

 square foot at that distance. In no branch of shooting 

 is the advantage of choke -boring of so much benefit as in 

 turning out duck-guns, for here, range and penetration, 

 with closeness of delivery, are all-important. 



Next to the shooting qualities of guns intended to be 

 carried in all weather, liable at any time to be drenched 

 from breech to muzzle, exposed to damp and rough usage 

 generally, comes the gun which, if I may use the expres- 

 sion, is nearest to being water-proof, or, rather, the kind 

 and make of gun that will stand the most exposure and 

 remain internally dry. 



A perfect duck-gun would be one that could be 

 plunged into water in all its length, then withdrawn, 

 wiped off with a rag, and pronounced out of danger of 

 rust. There being no such gun so long as triggers are 

 used, the next approach to perfection is the kind that 



