;]02 GUNS AND CHARGES 



like women : treat them unfairly, and they will have 

 their revenge. For my own part, I think that a 

 6f lb. gun, properly balanced and able to carry a 

 charge of 2)\ drams of powder, and i-^ oz. of shot, is 

 quite light enough. 



The best bored barrels I ever owned were made by 

 James Lang, of Bond Street, and these barrels killed 

 farther than any choke-bore ; indeed, I have often had 

 to show the barrels to friends before they would credit 

 that they were not choked. Many a time during a 

 day when birds were wild I have had to shoot at 50, 

 60, and 70 yards, using the above charge and No. 4 

 shot ; and from the way in which these barrels dropped 

 the birds, it was hardly to be wondered at that on- 

 lookers were inclined to think they were choked, and 

 that I was using concentrators, and since then many of 

 my friends have had the choke taken out of their 

 barrels. 



A 32-inch barrel, i6-bore, with 2.'^ drams of powder 

 and I oz. of shot, should give the same results as a 

 28-inch barrel of the same bore and 2f drams. I 

 mean, of course, with the use of black powder. It is, 

 therefore, evident that a 32-inch barrel will beat a 

 30-inch, and similarly that a 30-inch will beat a 28-inch, 

 the charges being equal in all cases. Therefore it 

 may well be understood why 30-inch guns are pre- 

 ferred, by those who have been in the habit of using 

 them, to a shorter length of barrel. A 30-inch barrel is 

 also more easily balanced. It is quite true that many 

 men use short barrels and shoot well enough with 

 them, but I never knew an instance of anyone of them 

 going back to the use of such barrels after he had 

 used the 30-inch gun. I am certain that for all-round 



