GUNS. 439 



tion of a second, and then pulls trigger. This man must 

 be extremely liberal in the allowance, if in nothing else, 

 for the duck is going ahead all this time. Then comes 

 the man whose muscles and nerves act in quickest con- 

 cert with his brain. This man does not lead his birds as 

 much, but still tie must pull in ahead if he would kill, 

 for nothing can overcome the flight of the bird at right 

 angles to the charge of shot nothing except getting the 

 load where the bird will be when it reaches it; and, by 

 the way, if, as many suppose, a load of shot could be 

 made to fly through the air flat as a plate, instead of 

 stringing out for several feet, it is very doubtful if any- 

 one could be found skillful enough to kill birds on the 

 wing, for then the connection of the bird and the shot 

 would have to be simultaneous, else they would never 

 meet. 



The pattern of a shot-gun, therefore, as revealed on a 

 piece of paper, is very misleading, for although there 

 may be gaps and many places untouched by a single 

 pellet, yet were this paper a moving object it would be 

 pretty certain to fly into the shot by going across it, and 

 thereby allowing either the fastest or slowest pellets to 

 perforate it; hence it is that many guns that don't per- 

 form above the average when tried at paper circles, yet 

 as game-killers they answer admirably, giving, as they do, 

 a greater margin to the shooter, helping him, by their 

 large spread, to correct faulty aim or improper allowance, 

 where a very close-shooting gun just misses altogether. 

 Yet, as before stated, a duck-gun should be a long-range 

 one, for wild fowl are shy, wary birds, that take plenty 

 of hitting to double them up; and as cripples are, for the 

 most part, lost in many places, it is far better to miss 

 completely than wound a lot of fine birds, doomed to die 

 a lingering death, and furnish food for the marauders that 

 ceaselessly watch their prey. 



