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proper chuiji^e, which having once ascertained, 

 uever chant^o tor any other person's phin. lu 

 respect to tlio proportion of shot, all guns, 

 according to tlicir boro and length, will shoot 

 a certain weight and a certain size of »liot 

 best. A great deal of shot in a small bore, lies 

 too far up tlio barrel, and creates an unneces- 

 Biirv friction ; and tho shot, by the coinpres- 

 biou at tho nionu'nt of expulsion, becomes 

 all shapes — a circumstance which considerably 

 aflccts and modifies its flight. If too great a 

 weight, the powder has not power to drive it 

 with the speed and force required to be efllca- 

 cious, because the weight is too great iu pro- 

 portion. Those who reason from mathemati- 

 cal calculation will object to this doctrine. 

 They say, the greater the weight the greater 

 the effect, ^o doubt it is so, if thrown with 

 a proportionate force ; but that cannot be ob- 

 tained with a small gun. "We must adapt the 

 weight of projectile force to the power we are 

 in possession of; and from experiments, accu- 

 rately made and recorded, we find that a four- 

 teen gauge, two-feet-eight barrel, should never 

 be loaded with above an ounce and a-half of 

 ehot (No. G will suit best), and tho utmost 

 powder she will burn. A fifteen gauge will 

 not require more than one ounce and a quar- 

 ter ; and no doubt No. 7 would be thrown by 

 her quite as stro ug as No. 6 by the fourteen- 

 gauge gun, and do as much execution at forty 

 yards with less recoil ; and, setting aside all 

 other reasons, we should prefer a fifteen-gauge 

 gun, if both be of a length, as we should find 

 as much execution at the same distance as 

 with the other." 



As we have already observed, however, ex- 

 perience is the best teacher. That, and that 

 alone, is the only true and safe director in the 

 use of the gun. 



To shoot a bird when on the wing is a feat 

 requiring great practice, and one which it is 

 sometimes very difficult to accomplish. Some- 

 times men are, themselves, not always in proper 

 trim for shooting. "We remember being out 

 on one occasion, on the borders of Perthshire, 

 for a whole day, with a good shot, and, although 

 birds were not plenty, they were not scarce ; 

 yet we only killed a couple of brace. On other 

 occasions the same shot was often most deadly. 

 But there are all manner of grades of ex- 

 cellence in shooting ; some will feel a degree 



of self-complacency if thoy hit ouo bird in ten ; 

 while others will only miss ono out of aa 

 equal number. A good deal of tho proficiency 

 in shooting birds on tho wing may bo referred 

 to bodily temperament ; some persons aro so 

 nervously constituted, and so hurried in their 

 movements, that they never attain to tho de- 

 gree of coolness and self-possession requisite 

 for a good and steady marksman. A nervous 

 anxiety shakes their system too violently, and 

 they fire without obtaining any decided aim 

 whatever. Tho real foundation of the art of 

 shooting flying will be found to be in the sym- 

 pathy which exists between the eye and t!ie 

 hand, the sight and the touch, and the power 

 of so combining, as it were, the sections of the 

 two senses, that, in their united action, they 

 seem to be the efi'ect of one. The art of mea- 

 suring distances, and directing objects to a 

 definite mark, are learned by degrees ; and so 

 readily is this effected, that very often the best 

 shots are totally unconscious of the internal 

 process which is continually going on in their 

 understandings, when in pursuit of their game. 

 Some sportsmen shoot with one eye shut, 

 others with both open. There is no rule on 

 this matter; it is entirely resolvable into early 

 training and habit iu shooting flying. The 

 great desideratum iu all failures is a want of 

 coolness ; still, many writers say that coolness 

 may exist in excess, and that many birds are 

 lost from the fingers being too slow in their 

 movements after the game is on the wing. 



It is good to go through the entire manual 

 training of shooting. To obtain a mastery iu 

 this fine art, it is best to begin at the 

 beginning. When we commence to be taught 

 the art of writing, we begin with strokes, and 

 go on progressing, until we have, with practice, 

 completely mastered the art of the caligraphist. 

 So, with learning to shoot, we should com- 

 mence in such a manner as will gradually lead 

 us to the attainment of the end in the highest 

 possible degree. With this point in view, tho 

 following plan has been recommended : — Let 

 the handling and the shouldering of the gun 

 be expertly acquired, in its unloaded state, 

 taking care to look at the heiglit, length of 

 arm, and the inclination of the shoulder of the 

 pupil. This handling of the fowling-piece 

 should be practised for an hour or two for some 

 days, until complete familiarity with all the 



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