CHAPTER III 



AMMUNITION 



The sportsman of to-day is in a most fortunate position in 

 regard to ammunition. He has, of course, his individual pre- 

 ferences in regard to this or that powder, cartridge-cases, and 

 shot. Experience determines them for him. But powder- 

 makers and cartridge-loaders are now so highly trained, the 

 work is carried out under such rigidly scientific conditions and 

 with such an infinity of experiment, that an extraordinarily high 

 average of excellence is obtained. 



It is, indeed, by no means necessary for the modern wild- 

 fowler to be a scientific or trained expert in ammunition. 



The days when Colonel Hawker wrote : " None are better 

 than the most transparent of the common black flints. . . . 

 They should be put in with the flat side upwards, stand well 

 clear of the hammer, and yet be long enough to throw 

 It. . . . 



Or, a propos of powder : " Your powder should be always 

 properly dried ; in order to do which, make two or three plates 

 very hot — keep constantly shifting the powder from one to the 

 other " — are fortunately gone for ever. 



The wildfowler at the present time has an enormous 

 choice of powders off"ered to him, and, with the exception of 

 powders for punt guns, which are treated of in another part of 

 this book, all of them are nitro-compounds. 



These explosives have, more particularly during the last few 

 years, been brought to such a state of perfection that it is diffi- 

 cult to imagine any further improvements. Recoil has been 



32 



