THE GUN, AND HOW TO CHOOSE IT. 83 



possibility of mistake, that these trials are directed for a 

 general fowling-piece of 31 inches and 14 gauge. For 

 ducking guns of all descriptions, a longer distance will be 

 required correctly to test their properties. 



For the double-barrelled duck guns which I have 

 recommended for river or marsh shooting, of ten Ibs. 

 weight, three-foot barrels and 8 or 9 gauge, fifty to fifty- 

 five yards should be the distance with loose shot, and the 

 piece ought to execute at that range with the same effect 

 as the lighter gun at forty. 



The great fowling gun, again, of 16 Ibs., four foot bar- 

 rel and 5 gauge, ought to do its work with three or four 

 ounces of shot, at sixty-five yards, as powerfully and with 

 as much penetration as the others at forty and fifty-five. 



Beyond this, I have nothing to say in regard to the 

 choosing a gun. 



If he will follow the instructions laid down above, the 

 merest novice who wishes to buy, may be sure of getting 

 what he asks for, and is willing to pay for. 



The quality of what he gets, must, after all, rest with 

 the amount that he is willing to pay. 



I shall now proceed briefly to teach how to use the gun 

 when it shall be chosen. How to carry ; how to clean ; 

 how to load ; how to learn to shoot it. 



I cannot make a man a crack shot, but I can show 

 him how to be a safe one. " Legere et scriberc" says J. 

 Cypress, Jr., " est pcedagogi sed optima collincare est del.'' 1 

 Reading and writing come of schoolmasters, but a crack 

 shot is the work of God. 



