'2'2 SPORTSMAN'S HAND HOOK. 



BRASS AND PAPER SHOT SHELL. 



The question which gives the best results, brass or 

 paper shell, is a disputed one; both have firm advocates. 

 This is especially referred to in another place. Brass shell 

 as well as paper, using No. 2 primers, are best. No. 2 

 primers are fitted with a piece of nicked brass, inside the 

 primer, called the anvil. This anvil receives the blow from 

 the plunger, thus protecting the shell from being damaged 

 from repeated blows of the plunger, these being renewed 

 every time the shells are recapped. 



Great care must be used in loading shell to insure uni- 

 formity. The powder and shot measure should be "struck " 

 off every time. The best arrangement for loading shell, 

 paper, or brass, is a tool called the " Barclay loader," which 

 consists of a brass tube just fitting the outside of the shell. 

 The loading tube is double at the upper end; the inside tube 

 is split in four places, making a kind of a spring. When a 

 shell is inserted for loading the inside tube enters the inside 

 of the shell, which guide the wads smoothly into the shell. 

 In reloading shell, be sure to recap before attempting to 

 reload; don't attempt to uncap 'or recap a loaded shell. 

 With this loading tube there is a rammer and a loading 

 block; this block is counter-bored to fit the head of the 

 shell. There is also a hole entirely through the center of 

 the block to insure safety from explosions of the primer 

 while ramming in the wads. One objection to the use of 

 brass shells is the tendency to expand by use, rendering 

 them tight in the gun-chamber, and hard to extract. This 

 can be almost entirely avoided by using light charges of 

 powder in new shell for three our four times and keeping 

 the shell well oiled on the outside. The oil acts as a kind 

 of a cushion, and light charges expands the shell gradually to 

 fit the chamber of the gun. 



