RIFLE- CO VERS AND SAFETY-STOPS 379 



accident will be likely to occur ; but rifles nowadays 

 should never be loaded when in the open forest, until 

 just before firing. 



When going through woods, or thick brushwood, 

 the rifle should be out of the cover, except in wet 

 weather, and the stalker should always be m front of 

 the gillie or keeper. 



When the stops are put forward, care should be 

 taken to see that the rifle is at half-cock, and this should 

 never be done until after the click of the half-cock Is 

 heard, as I have several times known rifles go off 

 when the stops have been pulled back, the nose of the 

 ' sear ' not having entered the ' half-bent,' and this has 

 happened with rifles by some of the very best makers, 

 and is entirely due to the way in which the hammers 

 have been held back in order to prevent the ' click ' 

 being heard by deer. It is easily possible to half-cock, 

 so as to avoid the full or ringing sound of well-made 

 locks being heard by the deer, and yet perfectly audible 

 to the user of the rifle ; and this is useful knowledge 

 when stalking geese, ducks, rabbits, and such-like. 



The cover of a rifle should be made of material stiff 

 enough to stand away from the rifle when wet, and not 

 cling to the latter, as is too frequently the case. It 

 should be soft enough to prevent noise when rubbing 

 against the heather, and yet stiff enough to allow of 

 the hand being as readily inserted in wet as in dry 

 weather, free enough to admit of the rifle coming out 

 in one motion, when the hand reaches the hammers, 

 and to prevent their catching in the cover. 



The sportsman will do well to see to the well-being 

 of his rifle, even before he changes his wet clothes. 

 This is the motto of the genuine deer-stalker ; and I 



