276 DUCK GUNS. 



without a rest, and must therefore be made to mount 

 tolerably well ; I will lay down a simple rule for those 

 of every size : viz. measure the barrels of your best 

 double gun, and see how many times they are in length 

 the diameter of the punched wadding ; and order your 

 duck guns to be never less than from four to six more 

 diameters in proportion. That is, if your double gun, 

 of fourteen gauge, should be of the common length, 

 (2 feet 8 inches), which is forty-four diameters, let 

 your duck gun of seven gauge, and of 13lbs. weight, be 

 never less than from 3 feet 65 to 3 feet 8 inches ; (or, 

 if you can manage 4<feet, so much the better;) and so 

 forth on a still larger scale. The latter gun at forty- 

 four diameters would be 3 feet %$ inches, but with this 

 length it would scatter more at long shots ; and, if 

 properly loaded (say with 3| ounces of shot), would, by 

 flying up forward, be felt too severely to the shoulder. 



Recollect, that although the same ratio might hold 

 good for guns, yet neither the weight of the atmosphere 

 nor the muscular power of a man can be made to serve 

 in proportion. If a duck gun is too large in the caliber, 

 in proportion to its weight of metal, it will recoil con- 

 siderably ; and if too small, it will not have the desired 

 effect of allowing the shot to lie compactly together. 



A gun fired from a rest is felt more than if held out, 

 because the left hand, when grasping it, checks the re- 

 coil. The stock of a heavy duck gun should be more 

 bent than that of a common gun, as, when we are holding 

 out a great weight, it is not so easy to lower the head: 

 and it should also be observed, that the curve in the 

 stock tends to lessen the recoil. 



I have of late years had the duck gun stocks, which 

 I use on the coast, made with a pistol grip, and whipped 



