GAME GUNS 3 



Save for this serious objection that wet hammers may 

 slip from under the thumb of a benumbed or highly- 

 excited sportsman, a well-constructed hammer gun with 

 rebounding locks is a remarkably safe and trustworthy 

 weapon. 



As these remarks are not presented with the intention 

 to instruct veteran sportsmen, but are written with a 

 view to the needs of the tyro, and to help less ex- 

 perienced sportsmen in making choice of a weapon 

 suitable for their sport, it will not be necessary to offer 

 an apology for the accompanying simple formulae. 



Many important qualifications are to be looked for in 

 a first-class gun ; of these the following may be enumer- 

 ated ; and these remarks, by the way, apply to both 

 game and wild-fowl guns : 



Appearance. This is placed first for the simple reason 

 that unless a gun is built on good and pleasing lines, 

 with regard to shape and contour, no one with half an 

 eye to beauty will take to it, and unless the shooter really 

 fancies his weapon he will not be likely to make with 

 it his best display of skill. A fair but not elaborate 

 amount of embellishment in the way of engraving or 

 other ornamentation is permissible on a game gun, and 

 to a less extent on a wild-fowl gun. Old writers on 

 shooting solemnly warned the prospective gun-purchaser 

 against engraving, alleging that it was merely a cloak 

 for bad workmanship, and, moreover, harboured dirt and 

 moisture, so engendering rust. With guns as now turned 

 out by the best makers in London or Birmingham this 

 warning is inapplicable. With ordinary care in the 

 cleaning of such guns, which have lock-plates, action- 

 body, and the surfaces upon which engraving is usually 

 placed properly case-hardened, the prospect of appreci- 



