28 THE COMPLETE SHOT 



be in fault when he sees these men make central shots time 

 after time with a gun or rifle that will not do it in novice 

 hands. But some of these experts discover at the first shot 

 where a barrel throws, and make the necessary allowance for 

 it in each succeeding shot. 



In order to be able to do this, a man must have wonderful 

 confidence in himself; but some experts are well able to shoot 

 one shot only from each barrel of a rifle, and then regulate 

 it with no more evidence. Others are obliged to make a group 

 with each barrel in order to negative their own faults of aim, 

 or " let off." That will possibly be the young shooter's form ; 

 and if it is unfortunately so, all the same he is the man who 

 is going to use the weapon, not the gun-maker's expert, and 

 consequently his own test is the best for him, no matter /tow 

 blundering- it may be. 



There is no wisdom in being satisfied or put off with any- 

 thing less than perfect central shots of the shot gun. The 

 relative position of the shot centre in regard to a small bull's 

 eye is not easy to put into figures, but it can be grasped by 

 the mind at a glance. The author has seen some close-shooting 

 shot guns that only put the edge of the 30 inch circle of 

 shot on to the bull's eye. This represents an inaccuracy of 

 15 inches, and is very bad indeed, but 3 inches of inaccuracy is 

 more than equally bad, because it ought not to exist ; it is the 

 worse because it is so difficult to find out. At the best there 

 is only a 15 inch limit of inaccuracy of aim in a 30 inch pattern 

 at going-away game. That is small enough for most people 

 who shoot swerving partridges, twisting snipe, and rising grouse. 

 Three inches of inaccuracy of gun reduces the man's limit of 

 inaccuracy to 12 inches. Is it enough? The author believes 

 that most guns are out double as much as this 3 inches at 

 40 yards, and that the reason is that they are not usually 

 treated to the same process of regulation spoken of for double 

 rifles. 



Were it not that the shot strings out into a long column 

 with as much as 30 feet between the first and the last pellet 

 at 40 to 50 yards range, it would be barely possible to kill 



