WADDING 85 



wad punches coming into use, old hats, boots, cork, and 

 an endless variety of other things were requisitioned. 



The advent of the breechloading shot-gun gave a 

 marvellous fillip to the evolution of the gun-wad. The 

 process of betterment has at length resulted in the 

 production of wadding that is practically uniform in 

 the matters of gauge, texture, and thickness ; more- 

 over it is produced in a variety of forms eminently 

 suitable for the needs of present-day explosives and 

 gunnery in general. In cartridge-loading as now prac- 

 tised, a thin wad of card or other hard substance is 

 placed next the powder, on this comes a wad of felt, 

 from f to J an inch thick, and greased with tallow 

 or other lubricant ; resting on this thick felt wad there 

 is a second thin card, the shot-charge being finally 

 covered with a similar card, or, in some cases, a white 

 or grey cloth wad. The felt wads for 4-bores and 

 8-bores may run up three-quarters of an inch or more 

 in thickness. To the non-observant sportsman a felt 

 wad is just a felt wad and nothing more ; all the same 

 this apparently insignificant item influences consider- 

 ably, for good or evil, the shooting of a gun. There 

 are several gradations of quality, of hardness, of pliancy 

 and so forth in felt wadding, and strikingly varied 

 results may be obtained with felt wads that to the 

 casual observer differ but slightly from each other in 

 external appearance, the only difference noticed, per- 

 haps, being that of colour. It is not always an easy 

 matter to account for the occasional wild shot that the 

 best of guns now and again display on being tested 

 at the target ; this for the simple reason that exploded 

 cartridges, like dead men, tell no tales. Some of these 

 bad shots may be due to a faulty cap, or a poor turn- 



