488 



THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



case of a sound rap of the other end of the rod 

 against a stone floor : through comes rod and cloth. 

 The gun is polished, as the manipulator sees to his 

 satisfaction when putting the barrel between the 

 light and his eye. Some day the owner of the 

 weapon is surprised to hear from his gunmaker 

 that the barrels of his last new, or favourite old 

 gun, are bulged. 



I annex description of the best contrivance I 

 ever used for cleaning out a gun-barrel ; the most 

 clumsy-fisted attendant could not scratch or injure 

 with it. 



CLEANING ROD FOR SHOULDER-GUNS. 



Get a sound straight stick of ash, six inches 

 longer than the barrel and a quarter of an inch 

 smaller in diameter than the bore. Carefully drill 

 a hole at one end to take a thin 2f-in. brass screw 

 up to its neck, leaving' that part about an inch 

 outside the wood. Procure a wad-cutter to just 



