DUCK GUNS. 



DISTANCE SIXTY YARDS. 



Through a double 

 In 1st half quire of brown 

 sheet. paper. 



Best double gun, 91 bs. . . 4 . j ..- 4 



Fisherman's old gun of 121bs. (com- 

 mon breeching) . . . 8 . . 3 



Joe Manton's duck gun, 17^1bs. 14 . . 14 



An old Birmingham swivel gun 



(common breech) about 701bs. 40 . . 38 



Query. Does this corroborate the assertion, then, that a small 

 gun will kill as well as a large one ? 



For shooting in windy weather, and killing birds 

 that would dive at a flash, there can be no question as 

 to the superiority of detonating duck guns. 



In loading a duck gun, the farther you wish to 

 reach a flock of birds, the more powder and the less 

 shot you must put ; because you may often make good 

 a few random shots into flocks of wildfowl, by putting 

 a considerably larger measure of powder than of shot ; 

 when by the usual mode of loading, you might only 

 hear the shot rattle on the wings of many, without 

 bringing down a single bird. 



To conclude this subject, it need only be observed, 

 that the same directions as those before given will 

 hold good for the -choice, care, and cleaning of duck 

 guns. They cannot, however, be made to balance 

 quite so well as guns on a small construction, without 

 an unmanageable quantity of lead ; and, in these, the 

 scrollguard, or, what is far better, as I before observed, 

 a pistol grip to the stock, may be adopted, in order to 

 prevent the right hand from being driven against the 



