GUNS AND LOADS 465 



sideration to the powers of the gun, to consider there- 

 with the capability of the shooter. 



Some shooters have a false pride concerning the 

 ownership of a cylinder bore, which is often assumed to 

 indicate inferior shooting qualities in the gun or lack 

 of skill in the shooter; but it is far more sensible for 

 the shooter to use a gun in accord with his shooting 

 capabilities, and the conditions as to cover shooting, 

 etc., and thereby achieve reasonable success in the field, 

 than it is to make a ridiculous failure with a gun which 

 shoots too close. 



A full-choke gun puts about 70 per cent, of the shot 

 in a 3O-inch circle at 40 yards, a half-choke about 60 

 per cent, a quarter-choke about 50 per cent., an im- 

 proved cylinder 45 per cent., a cylinder so called; it 

 commonly has a trifle of choke in it 35 per cent. 



It is a safe assumption that by far the greater num- 

 ber of birds, in upland shooting, fall within 25 

 yards of the shooter; therefore, the pattern made 

 at 40 yards is not the criterion by which to judge 

 of the gun's powers at 25 yards. In cover shoot- 

 ing, a full-choke gun mutilates many birds to a degree 

 which renders them worthless. 



Some shooters have a i6-bore set of barrels fitted 

 to a 12-gauge frame, the barrels being correspondingly 

 heavy, the greater weight necessarily being about the 

 chambers; thus this greater weight negatives all the 

 advantages of the i6-bore in the attempt to shoot heavy 

 loads. 



Again, the 2o-bore, mounted on a i6-gauge frame, 



