3 ON THE WING. 



ducks, and being asked why he did not kill more, he 

 replied : " Well, it 's always so ; when I get a good 

 chance for a big shot, I always have a little bit of a 

 flint in the old gun. If I had only had a big flint, 

 I should have killed a pile of them ! " 



For powder, I use Hazard's Duck-Shooting, medium 

 size, No. 3 for brush-shooting, and a coarser article 

 for duck-shooting. Fine powder is somewhat quicker, 

 but it makes more dirt, strains the gun, making 

 more recoil, and it does not hold the shot up to the 

 mark so well at long distances. One great principle 

 in the loading of any gun is, that a due proportion be 

 preserved between the grain of the powder, and the 

 length of the barrel. A person who uses fine powder 

 should also use very short barrels, and vice versa. 

 Fine powder in a long barrel spends its strength be- 

 fore reaching the muzzle, straining the gun. and weak 

 ening the force of the shot. The nearer the muzzle 

 the powder burns, the greater the force of the charge. 



I subjoin a table showing the due proportions of 

 powder and shot, according to the rules above given. 



Proportions of Powder and Shot according to the Rule of 

 Bulk for Bulk. ' 



I ounce shot calls for 2^ drachms of powder. 



jl " . u 2^. " " " 



j i > u u -,1 tt 



2* " sA 



2 3 - - H f, 8 



3 " " " " 61 



