THE GUN, AND HOW TO CHOOSE IT. 81 
its object to pieces in the hands of a dead-shot, or miss it 
clean with a novice. This is easily ascertained by trying 
it at a shorter range, say fifteen or twenty yards; and if 
at the former distance it concentrate its charge in the size 
of a tea-cup, it certainly does carry too close, and should 
also be laid aside. 
But this I must add, that of all the guns I have ever 
seen, handled, or shot with, which amount to a pretty con- 
siderable number, I have never seen one which shot too 
closely. Nor do I believe that a gun ever did carry too 
closely, provided that it did not lose force by supereroga- 
tory friction, for a good shot. For it is the simplest of 
all things, to a person who is continually making allow- 
ances on almost every shot that he fires, if he finds that 
his gun hits too hard and tears its game, when too near at 
hand, either to give the animal time in the open, and let 
it get away to a just distance, which is always the better 
plan, or in: thick covert to shoot a little wide, so as to 
avoid raking it with the body of a charge. 
Generally, if one hear a person say that he prefers a 
scattering gun, he may be tolerably satisfied that it is be- 
cause the speaker cannot shoot with a close-carrying piece, 
or, in other words, cannot cover his object. 
Lastly, in regard of trials, it is not one or two shots 
that will thoroughly test a piece. Ten or twelve fires of 
each barrel, should the result prove satisfactory, and with 
little variation of effect, the same number of pellets, more 
or less, being put into the mark and through the last sheet 
each time, will be a sure proof of the quality of the gun, 
at the range of forty yards) A few shots may then be 
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