210 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF GUNNERY. 



adopted in the early part of tlie season, is No. 6 ; but let it 

 always be remembered that, cceteris paribus, small bores 

 take smaller shot than larger ones. Later in the season, No. 

 5 may be introduced into use. Some shoot with No. 4, and 

 others, again, consider No. 7 or 8 not too small; but every 

 sportsman has his own fancy, and much depends upon the 

 distance at which he generally shoots. Some men prefer 

 dropping their game as soon as they are on the wing, and 

 for them a scattering gun and small shot will answer the 

 purpose better than a close-shooting gun with larger shot. 

 Others, on the contrary, wait to cock their guns in the most 

 deliberate way, and always allow their birds to get forty 

 yards off before they fire ; by these a larger shot must be 

 used, or their game would almost always escape. Many men 

 use mixed shot; but I believe this plan is essentially bad, 

 producing an irregularity in the delivery which constantly 

 leads to disappointment. Sometimes, also, it is oiled, but 

 this also appears to be perfectly useless though it is most 

 probably harmless, unless the oil is very sticky, when it 

 causes the shot to ball. Small shot, from causing greater 

 friction, requires more powder than large, and therefore, if 

 the usual charge with No. 6 occasion as much recoil as can 

 be borne, the weight of any smaller shot used must be 

 reduced. 



In ramming down shot care should be taken not to crush 

 it out of its spherical shape, which is easily done if too much 

 force is used, either in loading at the muzzle or in filling 

 cartridges. 



Wadding and patches are mechanical means of retaining 

 the powder and shot or ball in their places. They vary 

 according to the kind of gun or rifle used, and each, there- 

 fore, will be better described in their respective places. 



Cartridges are cases of paper or pasteboard, and are of two 

 kinds, one intended to be driven out of the barrel with the 

 shot, which it keeps together for some distance, the other 

 being employed to assist the loading, and being generally re- 

 tained behind. These, also, will be described with the guns 

 for which they are intended. 



Powder flasks and shot pouches are of service for any kind 

 of shot-gun, and they always form a part of the accessories 



