GUNS AND LOADS 467 



destructive when in action afield. He can fire with 

 wonderful quickness and precision, and may destroy 

 a small covey at the first rise. Except for that feature 

 it has no advantages over the double and single-bar- 

 reled guns in such sections as have a legal limitation 

 to the number of birds any one shooter may kill in 

 one day. However great the destructiveness of any gun, 

 it may not be properly employed to exceed the statu- 

 tory limit. It is urged as a plea against the repeater 

 that, its capacity to kill being so great, there is always 

 a temptation to kill more than the legal limit; but the 

 same argument can be urged against any other kind 

 of gun in the hands of a skilful but lawless shooter. 

 Men have broken the law many times while using guns 

 other than repeaters, therefore there is nothing inher- 

 ent in the kind of gun which makes for good citizen- 

 ship. That is a point of ethics which refers to the 

 man. 



Factory-loaded ammunition has been so admirably 

 improved that it is practically perfect. The average 

 shooter, in the attempt to kill, is prone to attribute fail- 

 ure to faulty ammunition or to a gun which does not 

 shoot straight or does not fit. If the shooter could 

 calmly persuade himself to look upon his failures with 

 the same unprejudiced opinion common among his com- 

 panions in respect to himself, he could safely place the 

 blame for all failures without any risk of creating an 

 argument. In any event, when afield, it is not an un- 

 wise policy to keep all explanations of one's failures 

 to one's self. Nine men out of ten do not care to listen 



