20 THE GUN : AFIELD AND AFLOAT 



shooting in daylight, more particularly on the sea and 

 in nearly all open places. At flight-shooting, on the 

 contrary, the shooting frequently takes place at ranges 

 much closer than is the case in many phases of game- 

 shooting. As when shooting rabbits in thick covert, or 

 in partridge-driving, shots are occasionally taken at 

 extremely short ranges ; so, also, in the shooting of 

 wild-ducks at evening or morning flight the birds come 

 in very near at times. On these occasions the shooter 

 is considerably handicapped whilst using a very close- 

 shooting gun. Fifteen yards is quite a common distance 

 at which to shoot at ducks at late evening or early 

 morning flight, and if to bad light is added the extremely 

 close and bullet-like pattern made by a fully-choked gun 

 at that range it will be readily perceived that with such 

 armament the chances of killing fast-flying fowl are not 

 so very great on these occasions. 



Unquestionably there is a tendency among wild- 

 fowlers of the present day in the direction of choice of 

 guns of less weight and, consequently, of smaller bore 

 than were used by a bygone generation of shooters. 

 The circumstances operating towards this change are 

 clearly definable. Foremost may be mentioned the 

 system of barrel-boring known as choking, that is a 

 sharp constriction of the bore of the gun just within the 

 muzzle, whereby a close delivery of the shot is effected. 

 This newer method of barrel-boring wrought a wondrous 

 change in the shooting of the shot-gun, so that powers 

 never before attainable have been developed in marvel- 

 lous degree. Thus it comes about that guns somewhat 

 smaller in the bore are now used pretty extensively for 

 the shooting of wild-fowl upon land. The shooting now 

 obtainable from choked 1 2-bores was formerly procurable 



