CHAPTER XV. 



HINTS ABOUT SHOT-GUNS AND RIFLES. 



Shot-gu^s are of various sizes and patterns. The best 

 size, I think, weighs about eight pounds, — double barrel- 

 led. The best kind, in my opinion, is the laminated steel 

 twist gun. 



The gun should put about six shot within tlie size of 

 your hand at a distance of eight rods, and for ducks and 

 all large game it should be a strong shooter. 



The most important point in the gun is the construction 

 of the barrel, that is, the shape of the bore. If this is a 

 joerfect cylinder, — of exactly the same size from muzzle to 

 breech, — the gun is worthless, as it would shoot with no 

 force. In order to be a strong shooter it must be a little 

 the largest at the breech. Of course it will " kick," but 

 kicking is not always a sign that the gun will carry shot 

 well, even though it be a strong shooter, and for this rea- 

 son the contraction of the bore toward tlie muzzle may bo 

 too rapid, or too great, so that the lines of opposite sides 

 of the bore would cross each other too short a distance in 

 advance of the muzzle, so that the shot would cross each 



other and so scatter. If these lines cross within a dis- 

 73 4 



