32 THE COMPLETE SHOT 



going grouse. The farther off the first bird can be taken, the 

 more certainly will the others be killed. No. 6 shot has 

 enormous energy when the speed of a quick advancing bird 

 is added to the speed of the shot. If it gets in the bird, it will 

 go a long way through him ; but when grouse are coming low, 

 and dead straight to the gun, they glance the small shot like 

 a shower of hail upon a duck's back. Consequently more 

 heavy shot will get in, although fewer will hit. 



The kind of gun to be bought can hardly be determined 

 until the shooter has settled what size of pellets he wants to 

 use at various game. Messrs. Kynoch sell more than twice as 

 many No. 5 shot as any other size. No. 6 comes next, and 

 Nos. 7 and 5| are nowhere. 



With a cylinder gun only placing 100 pellets of No. 6 shot 

 in the 30 inch circle at 40 yards, one could not expect great 

 work from No. 5 pellets on birds as small as partridges walked 

 up. The pattern would be too open at 40 yards, and the 

 penetration unnecessarily high at 25 yards. 



Some, at least, of No. 6 shot has penetration for a slow 

 partridge flying dead away at 40 yards. With a very quick 

 driven bird shot at behind, it has not more than enough 

 penetration beyond 30 yards. The pace of the retreating 

 game reduces the energy of the impact, but there is very 

 little glancing off the feathers when they are struck from 

 behind. The author is inclined to say that in shooting coming 

 game all glancing is away from the game, and from behind 

 all glancing from feathers is into the bird. He has himself 

 heard the clatter of the shot on a straight-coming duck at 

 about 30 yards when no damage whatever was clone. At 

 a low skimming partridge coming straight for an open gate- 

 way in which the writer was standing, he has shot, as at a 

 sitting mark, for there was neither swerve nor rise or fall ; he has 

 seen the earth kick up all round the bird at about 25 yards, 

 and has not been any nearer bagging the game. Surely nothing 

 but glancing shot can account for such escapes. 



A bird partly crossing can be killed farther away, but a 

 partridge coming dead on, in spite of the increase of impact 



