THE SPORTSMAN'S VADE-MECUM 



G-UNS AND ElFLES. 



This may be well styled a dangerous subject, as to mention 

 individual makers would lead to the supposition that it was worth 

 my while to puff them; I must therefore omit all names, and 

 trust my readers to believe me when I say I have tried and fired 

 weapons by most well-known, and by some unknown, makers. 

 In the latter category are included those who are local and do 

 not advertise in any papers that have passed through my hands, 

 besides those who have joined the great majority and are now 

 forgotten. From all I have tried I have drawn my own deduc- 

 tions, and to-morrow could select a gun from one house and a rifle 

 from another without any deliberation as to which to choose for 

 a name. 



No matter where you buy your weapons, try them yourself 

 at 100, 150, and 200 yards for the rifle ; at 40 yards for the gun. 

 Diagrams are perfectly correct and dependable when supplied, 

 but it is a fact that they have been made by men who have much 

 experience and practice, and represent what can be done with the 

 weapon when in their hands. There are many reasons why you 

 cannot do as well, and, unless you can make fairly average shooting 

 with both barrels, try another and another weapon until you get 

 what you want. One of the commonest sources of irregular 

 shooting is the weight of the pull-off of the triggers ; for a rifle 

 they must be heavy, otherwise the left hammer may fall on the 

 explosion of the right barrel. But they should be alike, and you 

 should be thoroughly accustomed to the strain required. Last 

 winter a friend of mine made vile shooting with a gun he had 

 selected after trial at a well-known maker's ; he shot so badly 

 that at last he appealed to me. I tried the gun at rabbits bolting 

 across narrow rides cut through high gorse, found the pull-off 

 excessive, told him so, and he had it rectified, making excellent 

 practice subsequently. 



When firing snap shots with a rifle you may not heed the pull-off, 

 but at the end of a long stalk, after a good head, you will find that 

 an excessive strain on the forefinger is by no means conducive to 

 good shooting. 



Tears ago I had a wonderful short-barrelled 12-bore rifle, with 

 patent eccentric triggers ; snap-shooting was painful, as the triggers 

 came back over half an inch before the hammers could fall ; but 



