SHOT-GUN PATTERNS 61 



combustion, the charge for punt-guns of ij in., if in. 

 and ij in. bore, being about one-third by weight of the 

 load of black powder. It is evident that fairly good 

 results can be obtained with it in practice, for, I am 

 informed by Mr. Duff Grant, the present manager of the 

 Smokeless Powder Company, that orders are now 

 received from gunners who use this S. R. powder in 

 their punt-guns. It is plain, however, that a great stride 

 forward has recently been effected, for good shooting is 

 now obtainable with the powder known as " Rifleite 

 303 " made by the same firm. This powder has water- 

 proof properties which in themselves form strong 

 recommendation for its use afloat, for wild-fowlers, whose 

 sport is nothing if not humid, will necessarily incline 

 to a powder possessed of so excellent a qualification 

 as imperviousness to moisture. It is claimed for "303 

 Rifleite that not only will its shooting qualities remain 

 uninjured by moisture in the atmosphere, but that actual 

 immersion in water does not injuriously affect them. 



In April 1897, at the invitation of Mr. Duff Grant, 

 I visited the Smokeless Powder Company's manufactory 

 at Barwick, Herts, to witness a trial of '303 Rifleite in a 

 punt-gun. The gun used was made by Messrs. Moore 

 and Grey, Piccadilly, W. ; it weighed 75 Ib. with breech 

 mechanism, and had a choked barrel 7 ft. 2 in. long. 

 The cartridge-cases used throughout this trial deserve 

 some mention. They were made up as required from 

 plain tubes of brown paper 8 in. long, these being 

 gripped securely by a screw on to a cartridge-base 

 patented by Messrs. Moore and Grey, the base of this 

 arrangement fitting into a dove-tailed groove in the 

 breech-block of the gun. Ignition was satisfactorily 

 accomplished in this case by the use, simply, of one of 



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