GAME GUNS 15 



generally regarded as the regulation length of barrel for 

 ordinary game guns. Reckoning on the diameter basis, 

 the 12-bore having 3O-inch barrels would be 41 diameters 

 of bore in length of barrel. To be in the same propor- 

 tion a i6-bore would only require 27 inches, a 2O-bore 25 

 inches, and a 28-bore only 22 inches of barrel length. 



A 12-bore of 7 Ib. weight having 24-inch barrels will 

 probably feel as light in hand and prove quite as 

 manageable as a 3O-inch 12-bore weighing but 6J Ib. 

 Naturally a gun with short barrels will feel stumpy to 

 those unaccustomed to handle them ; frequent use, 

 however, soon causes this feeling to disappear. To my 

 mind the great advantage to be derived from the use 

 of short barrels is in the shooting of driven game. By 

 their means the gunner may get on to his game more 

 quickly, as in swinging his gun the muzzles of 26- or 28- 

 inch barrels will have less travel than will those 

 30 inches in length. Those who have shot at fast 

 oncoming and passing grouse or partridges, birds taken 

 at close range or short angle, will be fully able to 

 appreciate this advantage. Still, all considered this 

 question of length of barrels is one best settled by 

 individual taste or requirements. A slow shot may 

 require a 3O-inch barrel in order to feel fully assured 

 that he is on his bird ; on the other hand, the man of 

 quick eye and ready hand may shoot with greatest 

 success with barrels four or even six inches shorter, 

 particularly in close driving work. 



Probably nine-tenths of the guns used for game-shoot- 

 ing in this country are of 12-bore. Sportsmen, good and 

 true, have often advocated the use of guns much smaller 

 than the customary 12-bore for game-shooting. It is 

 undeniable that some men have become exceedingly 



