288 DEAD WEIGHT 



ordinary sporting rifle would have been 

 much more use to me, but still I thought 

 that proportionately these would be similar, 

 and that therefore I might take it that If the 

 loss of velocity between a barrel of thirty- 

 one Inches and one under twenty was under 

 one hundred and fifty feet — say one-four- 

 teenth, It might also be taken as hardly 

 worthy of consideration In a sporting rifle. 

 Now, although I laboured under certain 

 disadvantages, as I have already explained, 

 I also had a considerable advantage, which 

 was that I had to my hand a weapon on 

 which I was prepared to experiment. This 

 was a .400 express rifle of American make 

 but stocked to my measure in England. 

 The barrel of this was thirty inches long 

 and perfectly cylindrical outside from breech 

 to muzzle. The foresight was one inch from 



