LOADING. 113 



above mentioned put one drachm and a half of powder, 

 exclusive of the priming, to an ounce and a half of 

 shot. The proportion for a twelve pounds gun to be 

 doubled; eighteen pounds trebled; twenty-four pounds 

 quadrupled, &c. with one trifling deviation ; viz. the 

 larger the gun the less should be the proportion of shot, 

 as the larger and longer the caliber the more powder 

 may be damaged in going down it. 



Much more may be fired, but not always with ease 

 to the shoulder. (The powder I have measured by 

 apothecaries' weight, the shot by avoirdupois.) 



The same proportion will hold good from a ladifs 

 gun to the firearms of a punt shooter, though it may, 

 in a trifling degree, be altered, as barrels shoot thin or 

 close. 



Although I have mentioned being guided by weight 

 as one way of regulating a charge, yet this is not the 

 most correct means to be used, with regard to the 

 powder, for the following reason, which is not gene- 

 rally known : As sportsmen charge by measure, the 

 gunpowder-makers endeavour to include, in the space 

 to be filled, as much weight as possible; and in so 

 doing, include as much projectile force as the composi- 

 tion is capable of; it is, therefore, evidently better to 

 be guided in the powder by measure. All the powder 

 made for the king's service is exposed to the air of the 

 magazine, with the door open all day, for three weeks, 

 before it undergoes a second proof, to ascertain whether 

 it will imbibe moisture, and increase in weight, which 

 if it does beyond a certain small allowance, it is rejected. 



Gunmakers will obstinately dispute this method of 

 loading; and for why? Because they try their guns in 

 confined places, use larger shot than No. 7, and look 



I 



