280 THE GUN: AFIELD AND AFLOAT 



certainly appears somewhat of an injustice to place any 

 size of shotj smaller than No. 2 or No. 3 in a heavy 8-bore, 

 throwing as its minimum charge 2 oz. of lead. In a 

 general way I find that No. i of 104 pellets to the ounce 

 is a size well suited to choked guns of this calibre, and as 

 excellent shooting may be obtained therewith, this shot 

 is to be recommended for daylight shooting. It is well, 

 however, to bear in mind that the No. i shot of one 

 English firm of shot manufacturers counts but 83 pellets 

 or so to the ounce, whilst I oz. of the No. I issued by 

 another establishment contains 104 pellets. Due regard 

 to this fact, as, also, that there is some disparity of count 

 noticeable with regard to other sizes bearing the same 

 numeral, may prevent much confusion, particularly when 

 gunners come to compare target results. 



In 4- bores throwing 3 oz. of shot, No. I answers well for 

 the general purposes of duck-shooting ; whilst for heavier 

 guns carrying 3 J oz. or 4 oz., B. shot may frequently be 

 substituted for this size with happy results. For goose- 

 shooting with these guns it will be well to use shot rang- 

 ing in size from BB. of 58 pellets per ounce up to AA. of 

 40 pellets per ounce. Wild-fowlers should always bear in 

 mind the fact that certain sizes of shot suit some bores 

 better than others. It is important that due attention 

 should be paid to this matter, for at long ranges such as 

 80 yards, the shot flies none too thickly, and therefore it 

 is imperative that the best shooting that is obtainable 

 should be secured. There are usually some surprises in 

 store whenever guns of this class are shot at long range. 

 For example, I have noticed some guns throw a certain 

 size of large shot admirably, but on using a smaller but 

 unsuitable size, even though containing many more pellets 

 in the charge, there was a marked falling off both in the 



