MISCELLANEOUS HINTS. 381 



Some persons are in the habit of pasting the edges of their 

 cartridges with a trifle of gum arabic or tragacanth. We do 

 not suppose this plan to be of any special benefit, except where 

 very large shot is used for some particular kind of shooting. 

 Pasting partridge or rail-cartridges is worse than useless, as the 

 gum will make the barrels sticky after repeated firing, and conse- 

 quently they will become dirty much sooner than if they were made 

 without the paste ; and, to say the least of it, rolling them in 

 this way will give much additional labor, without a corresponding 

 advantage. 



SPRING-CRAMP. 



It is well for sportsmen to be provided with a spring-cramp for 

 the purpose of removing the mainspring of the lock if it should 

 become too weak, or, if broken, to replace it by another. When 

 using this instrument, care should be had not to cramp the spring 

 more than is absolutely necessary to place it in its proper position, 

 or its elasticity might be injured by the unusual pressure. Before 

 applying the cramp to the spring, it is necessary to put the lock 

 on full cock ; then, if the hammer be let down, the mainspring will 

 fall out. 



POWDER AND SHOT GAUGE. 



This Ittile affair is a very useful and simple contrivance, and the 

 possession of it will save the sportsman, at times, much trouble 

 and speculation as to the correct loading of his gun. 



We are somewhat at a loss how to speak of this instrument, lest 

 we may perplex our readers without making the description suffi- 

 ciently lucid for their comprehension, when a single glance at the 

 gauge itself would clear up the whole difficulty. We will there- 



