ON LOADING PUNT-GUNS 207 



Some larger weapons are in existence. These, however, are 

 unwieldy brutes, and may really be said to be too large for 

 wildfowling. The largest we know of is a gun with 12 ft. 

 length of barrel, 300 lb. weight, and firing f lb. powder and 

 3^ lb. shot. 



As we have said, excessive powder charges used with 

 standard loads of shot, increase the velocity and penetration, 

 but out of cylinder-bored guns (especially M.L. guns) the 

 patterns are invariably patchy and scattered by so loading. 

 Some one may say this is not a serious matter with a punt- 

 gun. We wish, however, to say that it is, as one desires all 

 his shot to be thrown where the fowl are thickest, and, be- 

 sides, single pellets, unless they strike a bird in a vital part, 

 do not kill. Choke-boring of guns eliminates or rectifies, to 

 an extent, this scattering of the shot charge with heavy 

 powder loads, since it unquestionably improves or tends to 

 close the pattern. Close patterns, however, may still be 

 patchy, even with choke-boring ; but when this is so, some- 

 thing is generally amiss with the workmanship of the boring, 

 or else the loading is a long way from being correct. With 

 black powder, penetration can be readily secured by adding 

 to the powder charge and slightly reducing the shot. We 

 have said this loading tends to give bad patterns, yet have 

 pointed out that these latter can be improved by choke-boring. 

 This being so, we gain both pattern and penetration, and with 

 these two factors combined, a very reasonable argument may 

 be held that the modern B.L. punt-guns of to-day are really 

 the best weapons for wildfowling that have ever been built, 



