MISCELLANEOUS HINTS. 861 



not suppose this plan to be of any particular advantage, except 

 where very large shot are 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 consequently they will become dirty much sooner 

 than if they were made without the paste ; and, to say the least 

 of it, making them in this way will give much additional labor, 

 without deriving the most trifling benefit from it. 



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 neces- 

 sary to put the lock on full cock; then, if the hammer be let 

 down, the mainspring will fall out. 



POWDER AND SHOT GAUGE. 



This little 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 describe this instrument, 

 lest we may perplex our readers without making the description 

 sufficiently lucid for their comprehension, when a single glance 

 at the gauge itself would clear up the whole difficulty. We 

 will, therefore, preface our remarks by stating that this instru- 

 ment is intended to proportion the charge of powder to a cei'- 

 tain measure or weig-ht of shot. 



It is a general rule among Sportsmen to use the same bulk 

 of powder as shot ; that is, to have the charger of the powder- 

 flask so graded that it will just hold the usual charge of shot. 

 This, to be sure, is very easily arranged ; but then it is often 

 necessary, at all events very satisfactory, to know the exact 

 weight of both powder and shot that a gun shoots well with ; 



