32 STOCK. 



foot beyond the breeching. Why? because you may 

 have two stocks as much alike as if cast in the same 

 mould all the way to the breeching, and yet the 

 barrels, by being sunk deeper in the wood, may point 

 so much downwards as to give the line of aim more 

 bend ; or, on the other hand, by not being let in so 

 deep, they would mount straighter than the profile. 

 But if you continue the profile for a foot along the 

 gun, you will then be pretty sure of keeping precisely 

 to the bend you want. By being made to fit into this, 

 your new stock must be like the old one. But if you 

 trust to a set of memorandums that are often mistaken, 

 or, in the hurry of business, not half attended to, you 

 may have as many new stocks as would almost amount 

 to the price of a gun, before you would get two precisely 

 alike. 



A stock that is deep, and comes out well at the toe, 

 or bottom of the heelplate, is the most steady when 

 pitched on the object. 



Many a journey to town would be saved to a sports- 

 man if all these trifles were properly attended to by the 

 makers. 



For those who take a pride in the appearance of their 

 stocks, and select handsome pieces of wood, I know of 

 nothing better, to keep them polished, than a little lin- 

 seed oil, and plenty of, what is vulgarly called, elbow- 

 grease ; unless sportsmen choose to take the additional 

 trouble of adopting the following recipe ; which I shall 

 here give, under the idea, that, if considered too trouble- 

 some to apply to gunstocks, it may still be found worth 

 inserting, from its excellence in giving a dark polish 

 to tables, or any kind of furniture. 



