CHAPTER IL 



GUNNERY MUZZLE-LOADERS AND BREECH-LOADERS. 



To the young sportsman, armed with the finest of 

 implements, and trusting much to them for his suc- 

 cess, it is a matter of mortification and surprise how 

 well a bad gun will shoot in good hands ; never- 

 theless, no true sportsman ever lived but, if he 

 were able by any self-denial to scrape the means 

 together, would purchase a valuable and necessarily 

 expensive fowling-piece, o^ot only is a w r ell made 

 and handsomely finished gun safer and lighter than 

 a cheap affair manufactured for the wholesale trade ; 

 not only does it ordinarily carry closer and recoil 

 less ; but it needs fewer repairs, lasts infinitely longer, 

 and is always a matter of pride and delight to its 

 owner. 



Many guns of inferior workmanship throw shot 

 as strongly as those turned out by the best makers 

 although this is not the fact in general but greater 

 weight has to be given to insure tolerable safety, 

 and the locks, if not the barrels, are sure to give 

 out in a few years ; whereas the high-priced article 

 will be as perfect at the end of a dozen years 

 which have accustomed its owner to its easy, rapid, 

 and effective management as it was in the begin- 

 ning, and will endure until failing sight, wasting 



