MANAGEMENT OF THE PUNT-GUN. 137 



any one accustomed to punting*, of the danger and useless encum- 

 brance of such pieces of wild-fowling artillery. 



The Stanchion-gun. 



" Hear his proud thunder floating on the tide ! 

 Mark the dread fiat of the death- winged shower ! " 



T. HUGHES. 



A gun carrying from a pound to a pound-and-a-half of shot at 

 a charge, must of necessity be a formidable weapon ; and no one 

 should attempt fitting one to a shooting-yacht, unless experienced in 

 the manner of using large guns ; the necessary appendages for their 

 safe management, with the requisite equipment for handling, loading, 

 and firing them, being totally different to those employed for small 

 guns. 



The barrel of a stanchion-gun capable of carrying a charge of 

 a pound-and-a-half of shot is generally about eight feet in length, the 

 interior of the barrel being one inch and a half in diameter. A gun 

 of these proportions is much too large for punting ; and the only 

 proper place for using such is aboard a shooting-yacht, where, with a 

 proper equipment, it may sometimes be employed with immense success 

 on the large gaggles of wild-geese which annually visit our coast. 

 Stanchion-guns of this magnitude are of comparatively modern inven- 

 tion ; and many improvements have been made in them of late years, 

 so that they may now be used aboard shooting-yachts with the 

 facility of a shoulder-piece ; and, with care and attention, may be 

 kept in as perfect order, and as bright and clean, as the most fasti- 

 dious sportsman could desire ; and this, too, though in daily use upon 

 the salt water. 



Neat's-foot oil, or boiled linseed oil (such as is used in paint) is 

 the best dressing for gun-barrels, when in use on the salt water. 

 Salad-oil has not sufficient substance to check the tendency to rust, 

 though it is the proper article for the locks and interior fittings of 

 all guns. 



The patent plug and spiral recoil-spring alluded to under the head 

 " Punt-guns," is a valuable and indispensable appendage to the 

 stanchion-gun, and is one of Colonel Hawker's best contrivances. It 

 is a great improvement on the cumbrous machinery which was 

 used previous to that invention, called the " grasshopper- spring" 



