THE GUN, AND HOW TO CHOOSE IT. 43 



be absolutely dangerous. It is, moreover, perhaps a trifle 

 more difficult to learn to take aim over a single barrel, 

 the double hammers tending, in some degree, to guide the 

 eye along the elevation, so that when the young sportsman 

 is promoted to the height of his ambition, the possession 

 of a double-barrel, he will readily come into its use, and 

 find it, apart from its superior weight, the easier of the two 

 to direct rapidly and effectively toward its object. 



There is, moreover, clearly, less danger of accident, 

 which is a matter calling for much attention from begin- 

 ners, where there is only a single trigger to be drawn and 

 a single explosion to be guarded against. A very effective 

 gun of fourteen gauge and twenty-eight inches, with a bar 

 lock, capable of doing its work cleanly and well at forty 

 yards, can be turned out, not to exceed five pounds in 

 weight, at a reasonable price. Whereas a double-barrel 

 of the same weight could not be manufactured of any thing 

 like responsible materials, strength and solidity, of a cali- 

 bre to exceed eighteen or twenty, with a length of two 

 feet ; a very useless and inefficient tool, incapable of oper- 

 ating, with any certainty, beyond twenty-five or thirty 

 yards ; and one necessarily useless for any purpose, after 

 its owner shall have acquired power to wield the weapon 

 of a man ; whereas the single piece of the same weight 

 would always retain its utility, and be a handy and ser- 

 viceable gun for ordinary purposes. 



The first thing desirable, then, for every sportsman, 

 I hold to be, to furnish himself with the best and most 

 available gun, as an instrument, suited to the purpose for 

 which he requires it, at a price suited to his means. 



