214? OF SHOOTING, 



I have compared two barrels of nearfy the 

 same caliber, one thirty-nine inches and a- 

 nother fifty-two inches long, by repeatedly 

 firing them in the same manner as the 

 others, at different distances, from fifty, sixty, 

 seventy, and eighty paces, the result of which 

 was nearly the same : the barrel of thirty- 

 nine inches drove its shot through as many 

 sheets of paper as the barrel of fifty-two : 

 the conclusion of all this is, that the differ- 

 ence of eight inches in the length of the bar- 

 rel, which seems to me to be more than is 

 ever insisted upon among sportsmen, pro- 

 duces no sensible difference in the range of 

 the piece; and therefore every one may 

 please himself in the length of his barrel, 

 without either detriment or advantage to the 

 range. The circumstance of a duck-gun 

 killing at a greater distance than fowling- 

 pieces, is not owing to its length, but its 

 greater weight and thickness, allowing the 

 charge of powder to be doubled or trebled ; 

 which cannot be done in a fowling-piece 

 though strongly reinforced; for a- barrel of 



