44 THE GUN: AFIELD AND AFLOAT 



less about penetration than about pattern, for, ninety- 

 nine times out of one hundred, provided full powder 

 charges are used and the pattern is fairly distributed 

 over the circle at 40 yards, the penetration will suffice 

 for all practical purposes of game or wild-fowl shooting. 



For sportsmen desirous of testing the penetration of 

 their guns the card-rack is, I think, the readiest and 

 most simple test extant. There are, I am aware, 

 objections to be urged against the card-rack ; still, I 

 think it cannot be denied that at present it is the most 

 reliable instrument that we have for testing the penetra- 

 tion of shot at the end of its journey. The card-rack is 

 simple to work, the results it gives are clearly to be seen, 

 and, provided due care is exercised in procuring straw- 

 board sheets of uniform weight, texture, and dryness, 

 the records obtained are sufficiently reliable for all 

 practical purposes as a comparative test for sportsmen. 

 Delicate instruments like the chronograph soon get out 

 of order, and are totally unsuited for the everyday use 

 of sportsmen. Moreover one great drawback with the 

 chronograph is, that the pellet velocities registered by 

 it are taken at the commencement of the flight of the 

 shot-charge. Under present circumstances we cannot 

 very well dispense with records so taken, but to be 

 thoroughly serviceable the speed of the pellets should 

 also be recorded at the usual distances at which game 

 and wild-fowl are killed. If means could be devised for 

 accurately determining the speed of flight of the shot 

 pellets at various distances from 30 to 100 yards, much 

 more valuable data could be acquired with respect to 

 the driving power of a powder and the flight and rela- 

 tive value of the different sizes of shot at the full 

 distance at which they are required to be used in game 



