THE GUN, AND HOW TO CHOOSE IT. 43 
‘be absolutely dangerous. It is, moreover, perhaps a trifle 
‘more difficult to learn to take aim over a single barrel, 
the double hammers tending, in some degree, to guide the 
eye along the elevation, so that when the young sportsman 
is promoted to the height of his ambition, the possession 
of a double-barrel, he will readily come into its use, and 
find it, apart from its superior weight, the easier of the two 
to direct rapidly and effectively toward its object. 
There is, moreover, clearly, less danger of accident, 
which is a matter calling for much attention from begin- 
ners, where there is only a single trigger to be drawn and 
a single explosion to be guarded against. <A very effective 
gun of fourteen gauge and twenty-eight inches, with a bar 
lock, capable of doing its work cleanly and well at forty 
yards, can be turned out, not to exceed five pounds in 
weight, at a reasonable price. Whereas a double-barrel 
of the same weight could not be manufactured of any thing 
like responsible materials, strength and solidity, of a cali- 
bre to exceed eighteen or twenty, with a length of two 
feet; a very useless and inefficient tool, incapable of oper- 
ating, with any certainty, beyond twenty-five or thirty 
yards; and one necessarily useless for any purpose, after 
its owner shall have acquired power to wield the weapon 
.of a man; whereas the single piece of the same weight 
would always retain its utility, and be a handy and ser- 
viceable gun for ordinary purposes. 
The first thing desirable, then, for every sportsman, 
I hold to be, to furnish himself with the best and most 
available gun, as an instrument, suited to the purpose for 
which he requires it, at a price suited to his means. 
