The Shot-Gun. 791 



a gun weighing at least 9 lbs., and from a good, strong, muscular 

 shoulder, is disagreeable. The effect on the body, and especially on 

 the brain, is neither conducive to pleasant nor to good shooting. The 

 number of pellets in a charge of 1 % oz - of No. 8 shot is 499. In a 

 charge of 1 yi oz. of the same shot there are 449, therefore only 50 

 pellets more in a charge of 1 % oz. than in a charge of 1 1 /% oz.; and 

 surely the want of the 50 will not cause a good shot to miss his bird 

 with 449 pellets, nor will the addition of the 50 give a bad shot any 

 more chance of bringing his bird to bag with his 499 pellets. 



There are two styles of shooting on the wing. One is called 

 "snap-shooting," where the shooter, on selecting the bird which he 

 wishes to bag, quickly brings the gun to his shoulder and, at the 

 instant it is in place, fires. If the bird is a cross-shot, he deter- 

 mines, at the moment of fire, the distance to which he should direct 

 his gun ahead of its flight, this distance depending on the velocity of 

 the bird's flight and on his distance from it. This manner of shooting 

 is practiced the more generally by upland gunners in shooting quail, 

 grouse, and woodcock. 



The other style of shooting may be designated as " the swing- 

 shot," in which the gunner swings his gun ahead of the cross flight 

 of the bird till he attains the proper distance ahead of it, and then 

 fires; but he keeps his gun moving, with a regular angular velocity, 

 till after its discharge. This method of shooting is certainly the 

 only one which has been found successful in the shooting of bay 

 fowl, as ducks, brant, and wild geese. There are sportsmen who 

 will contend that they merely follow the bird with the gun, and dis- 

 charge it while it is pointing directly at the bird. I once put this 

 opinion to the test in the following manner: Four willets came over 

 the decoys, flying in line with a good speed. With my gun I followed 

 the leading bird coolly and accurately, and kept the gun moving 

 regularly after its discharge. ' Instead of killing the bird aimed at, 

 the third from the leader dropped dead. 



To give a rule applicable to all gunners, for the distance at which 

 a gun should be held ahead of a bird in the "swing-shot," is not 



ttble. Some sportsmen follow a bird, and then, after reaching 

 before it the proper distance, suddenly stop the angular motion of 

 the gun, and then fire. Others, after following the bird a short dis- 

 tance, give a quick, lateral motion to the gun, and then fire. Others, 



