WILD-FOWL GUNS 25 



rule there are, of course, exceptions, as there are to 

 almost everything connected with guns and gunnery. 

 Certain guns and methods of loading will consume a 

 greater proportion of powder to shot than will other 

 guns of the same bore ; this with increased efficiency, 

 and perhaps also without an appreciable augmentation 

 of recoil. It must, however, be distinctly understood 

 that the above-mentioned powder charges are for good 

 black powder only. The gunner must also be careful 

 to select powder of a grain sufficiently large for these 

 large bores, for if too small in the grain, the explosion 

 will be unnecessarily severe, perhaps even dangerously 

 so. I have used the adjective " good " advisedly, for I 

 have known several professional punt-gunners habitually 

 fire common blasting-powder out of their big guns, the 

 cost of this explosive being something like lod. per 

 pound. The use of inferior powder has nothing to 

 commend it to the notice of the amateur, either in this 

 or any other branch of shooting. If used in a punt-gun 

 increased charges will have to be fired to make the gun 

 shoot up to its proper form, and this naturally results in 

 an increase of noise, smoke and fouling, three nuisances 

 that can well be dispensed with as much as possible in 

 punt-gunning. 



I recollect some few years ago giving a tin of Curtis 

 and Harvey's punt-gun powder to an old gunner of my 

 acquaintance. Previously he had used nothing but com- 

 mon blasting-powder, and was so impressed both by 

 the readiness of ignition and the driving power of this 

 powder, which added considerably to the killing range 

 of his gun, that he decided to use powder of better 

 quality in the future. I shall never forget his look of 

 blank amazement when he came to mop out his big gun 



