164 



BUCK-SHOT. 



For many a clay I puzzled myself to account for 

 the uncertainty of the patterns frequently made with 

 buck-shot, from the same barrels, with the same qual- 

 ity and quantity of powder ; at one discharge at long 

 range, say eighty yards, every pellet would enter a 

 disk of live feet in diameter ; at the next discharge, 

 for no obvious reason that I could learn, they would 

 be scattered over the extent of a coach-house door ; 

 through the first pattern it would be impossible for a 

 deer to pass scatheless ; through the second the proba- 

 bilities were all in his f ivor. 



However, after much time, I think not wasted, I 

 believe I have hit on a method by which the wan- 

 dering inclinations of buck-shot can be curtailed and 

 reduced to considerable subservience. For instance, 

 we will suppose a ten-bore gun (the size I invariably 

 used abroad) be taken; procure buck-shot of such a 

 size that the barrel will exactly chamber four, that 

 is, that four w^ll fit in the barrel without using force. 



