188 THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE, 



is subject to a variety of modifications, I would advise 

 the sportsman, in choosing a fowling-piece, to prefer 

 a stock rather more bent than usual j as a straight 

 one, in coming up to the aim, is subject to the in-^ 

 convenience of shooting too high ; a long stock too is 

 preferable to- a short one, for the following, reasons*, 

 namely, that it sits more firmly to the shoulder; and* 

 in windy weather, the flash of the pan cannot blow 

 so much in the shooter's face. 



With regard to locks I have nothing material to 

 offer (except on the invention of Forsyth, which will 

 be noticed hereafter). They have already beet* 

 brought to such a degree of elegance and perfection, 

 that we have scarcely any thing farther to hope for or 

 require. The real improvements are not confined to 

 any particular maker; and though the minutia pecu* 

 liar to each may determine the shooter in his prefer- 

 ence, no person need fear much disappointment in 

 the essential qualities of a lock supposing he goes to 

 the price of a good one. It is of the utmost conse* 

 quence to the excellence of a lock that the springs 

 be proportioned to each other: if, for instance, the 

 main-spring be very strong and the hammer-spring 

 weak, the cock will be liable to be broken for want 

 of sufficient resistance to its stroke; on the other 

 hand, if the hammer-spring be stiff and the main- 

 spring weak, the cock has not sufficient force to drive 

 back the hammer; and, in both cases, the collision 

 between the flint and the steel is too slight to pro- 

 duce the necessary fire. The face of the hammer 



