340 SHOOTING. 



pivots, considerable inconvenience will be experi- 

 enced. When too small, they will not explode ; 

 and when too large, the cap on the second pivot is 

 apt to fly off when the first barrel is fired. The 

 shooter will find it convenient to carry a quantity 

 of caps loose in his waistcoat pocket, with a reserve 

 in a box (a metal box water-tight is best) to have 

 recourse to should those in his pocket become wet. 

 He should take care that there be nothing in his 

 pocket to choke the caps ; and by way of precau- 

 tion, he should, before putting a cap on the pivot, 

 see that there be no dirt in the cap, and that it be 

 perfect. 



The best powder does not soil the gun so much 

 as inferior powder. After using good powder, a 

 redness will be observed round the orifice of the 

 pivot. After using coarse powder, a white or black 

 appearance will present itself. The purer the 

 powder is, the oftener may a barrel be fired with- 

 out requiring to be cleaned. 



When the measure on the flask is regulated as 

 it ought to be, it will hold the requisite charge for 

 a clean barrel on a warm dry day. It behoves the 

 shooter, then, when the atmosphere is moist and 

 the wind boisterous, to increase the charge of pow- 

 der in each barrel in a trifling degree. However 

 stormy the day may be, the shooter may prevent 

 the particles of powder from being blown away 

 while he is charging ; but he cannot prevent them 

 adhering to the damp leaded interior of the barrels. 

 Indeed, if the barrels be damp, as they cannot fail 

 to be if the air be so, and there be no wind at all. 



