BARRELS. 7 



shot receive while passing through the cylindrical 

 part of the caliber) makes the gun shoot so slow, 

 that the sportsman often fires behind his game ; and, 

 of course, so weak, though well directed, that, instead 

 of his birds dying in the air, they are brought down 

 in a slovenly manner, and half of them escape being 

 bagged, although their skins may be filled with shot 

 enough to make a brilliant display at a single sheet 

 of paper. 



Many are apt to suppose, that, if a bird, killed by 

 a long shot, has been struck with four or five pellets, 

 their gun will always be certain of doing execution 

 at the same distance, if properly directed. But so 

 far is this from being the case, that it may proceed 

 from the barrel throwing the grains in patches, and 

 therefore being liable to let even fair shots escape 

 through an interval. 



Indeed, the effect of this mode of boring might be 

 equally well produced by wetting the shot, or loading 

 with very little powder, and elevating so as for nearly 

 all the shot to drop into the mark (a common trick, 

 when an old hand wishes to sell a gun to a Cockney, 

 or win the Christmas prize at an alehouse by shoot- 

 ing at a mark). But enough of imperfections ; and 

 now for what a barrel ought to be 



With respect to the common sized guns, which are 

 usually made for the sports of the field, there are two 

 good ways of boring ; the one is, to leave a cylinder 



