50 PEACTICAL TAXIDERMY. 



CHAPTER VI. 



CARE OF GUNS. 



A good gun is indispensable to the collector's success, 

 and should have the best of care, particularly in remote 

 districts. Some let their guns lie around camp like an 

 axe, but the keen hunter early learns to care for and pro- 

 tect his weapon. A gun, like a watch, is useful if kept 

 in good order, but worthless if neglected. It should be 

 clean when in camp. Use in rainy weather should be 

 avoided, and it should not be kept over night when wet 

 without cleaning. A rifle needs even greater care than a 

 shot-gun, and should not be carried all day in wet weather 

 without the barrel being wiped out, or a shot fired. How- 

 ever slight the rust at first in the rifling, it will gradually 

 increase until the gun becomes leaded, and shoots wild. 

 Some writers assert that water should never be used in 

 cleaning a gun, whereas it is the only fit fluid to remove 

 burnt powder and lead. Others recommend kerosene, 

 which, though effective in cutting dirt and rust, also eats 

 the metal, and is ruinous to rifling. The oil of porpoises, 

 seals, sea-birds, bears, skunks, wood-chucks, and the 

 larger land birds, is good for guns, though refined sperm 

 oil is generally used when friction occurs, and heavy pe- 

 troleum oils to prevent rust. To clean a breech-loading 

 shot-gun, remove the barrels from the stock, and swab 

 them out with a damp rag, twisted tightly around the 

 wiper. Dry them thoroughly, and work the oil over 

 their entire surface by rubbing with a woollen rag. The 

 dust may be removed from the stock and about the ham- 

 mers with a stiff brush, and the whole should be oiled. 

 The inside of the locks need to be cleaned and oiled but 

 once or twice a year. The barrels of a muzzle-loader 

 should be washed out in hot water, thoroughly dried, 

 slightly heated, and oiled. 



