NOTES ON RIFLES AND AMMUNITION 403 



to get out of order when subjected to tne wear and tear and 

 the rough usage of a shooting expedition than those of the 

 former, to say nothing of their being more easily affected by 

 sand, rust, &:c. They are also less readily taken to pieces and 

 cleaned. 



Too much care cannot be given to the selection of a battery, 

 the minutest details of the weapons, and the ammunition for 

 them, and yet it is a curious fact that sportsmen frequently 

 spend much time and money over their general outfit, and 

 take but little heed about their weapons, upon which their 

 sport, and possibly their lives, may depend. 



In ordering a battery, choose the best rifles you can afford 

 to pay for. The first expense is likely to appear heavy to those 

 who can see little difference between the expensive rifle of 

 a high-class maker and those supplied of a cheaper kind, but 

 very little experience will be needed to prove that the best is 

 the cheapest in the end. 



Few sportsmen know the amount of money, care, and skill 

 that has to be spent upon a double rifle which is the best of 

 its kind and a really accurate weapon ; that is to say, a double 

 rifle which has its barrels so perfectly adjusted that even a 

 skilled shot cannot tell the shooting of one barrel from that of 

 the other. Great care has to be taken in the manufacture of all 

 the parts, for the failure of a striker or a spring may mean 

 serious or even fatal results to the shooter when after dangerous 

 game ; and this work has to be paid for. 



The workmen employed on best rifle work are skilled men, 

 and can always command high wages. In some of the cheaper 

 kinds of double-barrelled rifles one barrel frequently shoots 

 some inches away from the other, rendering it impossible for 

 the sportsman to make good practice even at a target, much less 

 at game. 



Great strides in the accuracy and adjustment of double 

 rifles have been made during the last ten years. It is impos- 

 sible here to say exactly what diagrams one should be fairly 

 entitled to expect, so much depends upon the type of rifle 



D 1) 2 



