284 TO MAKE AN OLD GUN SHOOT WELL. 



spring would very much accelerate the firing of a 

 musket ; and some of these barrels, if properly loaded, 

 often make a very .effectual substitute for a duck gun ; 

 and particularly if eased a little at the muzzle by the 

 hard working of sand-paper. (This, by the way, would 

 be very near the right bore for a detonater.) 



The proper charge for them would be about two 

 tobacco pipes full of powder, and the same measure of 

 large shot : but, as this had better be regulated by the 

 degree with which they are felt in firing, I shall lay 

 down a rule, which, by the way (with a very trifling 

 alteration, according to circumstances), may be applied 

 to all duck guns, and most other guns, that are fired 

 with a flint-lock. 



Load with POWDER and SHOT by EQUAL MEA- 

 SURE in as large a quantity as can be fired with ease 

 to the shoulder ; putting your WADDING STRONG on 

 the FORMER, and LIGHT on the LATTER. 



As this alteration is all inwardly, it cannot affect the 

 appearance of the musket ; and (omitting the boring) 

 it would, if kept clean, be all the better for his majesty's 

 service. The perforation of the plug, however, should 

 not be too small ; and particularly in cases where it may 

 become necessary to use it with cartridge powder. 



Before concluding the observations on improving 

 common guns, it may not be amiss to mention the fol- 

 lowing circumstances : An old fisherman, in the country 

 where I was residing, had killed more wildfowl than 

 any other man on the river, with a gun which he had 

 picked up for thirty shillings. A few seasons previously 

 to his death, he gave up shooting, and I bought this 

 gun, from the reported excellence of the barrel, which 

 fully answered my expectations. Finding, however, 



