i8 THE GUN: AFIELD AND AFLOAT 



much will have been expended upon it as would have 

 purchased a new gun of the same quality. 



Spurious guns, that is guns bearing forged or 

 fictitious names, are far more common probably than 

 many people may be aware of. Barefaced forgeries of 

 the names of gun-makers of our day are not wanting, 

 and it cannot be too widely known that guns are floating 

 about the country bearing well-known names, or such 

 close imitations of certain gun-makers' names as are 

 well calculated to deceive. Some sportsmen who do 

 not get sufficient shooting to warrant them going to a 

 high price for a gun, prefer to buy a second-hand one of 

 good quality by a maker of repute rather than purchase 

 a brand-new one of inferior quality at the same price. 

 The novice in these matters will do well, therefore, if, 

 when purchasing a second-hand gun, he seeks the 

 opinion of the maker, or, failing this, of some one 

 properly qualified to offer an unbiassed opinion. 



