TESTING. 133 



folded closely together, and fastened tiglitly on 

 an iron target. A hard-hitting gun will drive 

 No. 5 shot through forty sheets of ordinary 

 brown cartridge paper at forty yards, thirty 

 sheets at fifty yards, and twenty sheets at sixty 

 yards. I have broken ordinary beer bottles at 

 the latter distance with a favourite Joe Manton, 

 but it was a gun among a thousand. 



Having tested the penetration, the next thing 

 is to ascertain if the gun distributes the charge 

 regularly, and this a few shots at a large white- 

 washed iron target will soon determine. The 

 shots ought to strike very close and regular in 

 the middle, gradually spreading as they diverge 

 from the centre. 



When no paper is at hand, some idea may be 

 formed as to the penetrating powers of the gun 

 by observing the state of the shot that has re- 

 coiled from the target. It is flattened in pro- 

 portion to the force with which the gun shoots. 



The elevation and regularity of the distri- 

 bution of the charge is also shown by firing at 



