BORE OF SHOTGUNS. 41 



ing of the true philosophy of life, which should be to love 

 the world and mankind, and do all the good you can. 



The caliber, gauge, or bore of shotguns, is determined 

 by the number of round lead balls, of the exact size of the 

 bore, which would weigh one pound. Thus ten balls that 

 would weigh a pound would be the ball for a 10 gauge, 12 

 balls to the pound for a 12 gauge, etc. Muzzle-loading 

 rifles were gauged in the same way, but rifles are now 

 gauged by the one-hundredths of an inch; thus a 22 caliber 

 rifle is one in which the bore of the gun is just -$ of an 

 inch in diameter -a. 45, T % 5 ^ of an inch. When the amount 

 of powder and lead is given the first figure refers to the 

 caliber, the second ones to the amount of powder, and the 

 third to the weight (in grains) of the bullet; thus a 45-70- 

 420 is a 45 calibered rifle shooting a ball weighing 420 

 grains and charged with 70 grains of powder. 



The theoretical length for gun barrels is not less than 

 43 times the diameter," or more than 47 times the diameter of 

 the bore. 



