CLEANING THE RIFLE. 395 



the head-skins of the game one has gone so 

 far to find, so also should one take the greatest 

 care of the rifle, to which in a considerable 

 measure one owes the success of a trip. 



I always carry a small funnel with me which 

 fits into the breech of my rifle, and every 

 evening on returning to camp, if I have fired 

 but a single shot during the day, I pour two or 

 three cupfuls of nearly boiling water through 

 the barrel, and then rub it out dry with a 

 cleaning rod. 



In damp or rainy weather, vaseline will be 

 found far better than any vegetable oil to keep 

 the rust off a rifle, but in cold weather the 

 springs and every part of the lock of one's rifle 

 must be kept free of any sort of lubrication, as 

 all kinds of oil will freeze, and may cause mis- 

 fires through not allowing the mechanism to 

 work freely. 



