POWDER, SHOT, AND SHELLS. 471 



occasions will do good service at the trap or in a stand at ducks 

 and geese, yet never be a burden that a man of ordinary strength 

 cannot carry without fatigue. In pronouncing this the best gun 

 for American sporting we are supported by a very large class of 

 sportsmen, who have repeatedly expressed their opinions in our 

 sporting journals, and we believe the day is not far distant when 

 it will practically supersede all others. 



POWDER, SHOT, AND SHELLS. 



Without good powder, shot, and shells the best gun will not 

 kill game. For many years we have given different brands of 

 powder extensive trials in the field, and speaking from experience 

 we are bound to declare Hazzard's Electric the best we have ever 

 used, with the exceptions of Curtis & Harvey's and Pigou & 

 Wilkes's, both of which are imported from England. With either 

 of these three the sportsman will get the greatest penetration with 

 the least dirt and fouling of the gun, and the only objection to 

 their use is their cost. All are high-priced, and this fact forces 

 men to whom cost is a matter for consideration to use cheaper 

 grades. There are many such of about equal goodness, and we do 

 not propose to discriminate between them, having expressed the 

 above opinion upon the same principle as we spoke of the most 

 costly English guns, viz., because they are practically out of com- 

 petition. All black powder is open to the objection of smoke and 

 dirt, and to remedy this many efforts have been made to discover 

 some form of powder free from these defects. Several sorts of 

 " wood powder" have been invented, but as yet none have given 

 general satisfaction or come into general use. It is not necessary, 

 therefore, to speak of them in detail, but we are justified in saying 

 the time will come when black powder, at least in its present form, 

 will be discarded. The improvement in this line must keep pace 

 with that in guns, and defects so great as those we have mentioned 

 will prompt inventors to renewed efforts, which must ultimately be 

 successful. 



Two varieties of shot are now before the public, viz., the soft 



