2i8 THE SPORTSMAN IN FRANCE. 



COMPARATIVE RANGE OF THE RIFLE 

 AND SMOOTH GUN. 



Against all authority I maintain that 

 a rifle shoots a ball further than a smooth 

 gun. Take a rifle of the length and 

 weight I have mentioned, which carries 

 sixty balls to the pound ; put in a full 

 charge of powder, so that you may see 

 where the ball strikes ; then take a smooth 

 gun of exactly the same calibre, sixty 

 balls to the pound, and of any length ; 

 fire it, and see which throws the ball 

 farthest. This I have frequently tried, 

 and the result has been uniformly in 

 favour of the rifle. 



When I hear gentlemen say that a 

 smooth gun shoots a ball farthest, I have 

 ever found, upon inquiry, that the ex- 

 periment was made either with a musket 

 or large ducking-gun, and a rifle carrying 

 sixty, eighty, or a hundred to the pound. 



