94 MANUAL FOR YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 
You are now loaded—recover your piece, bring the 
lock to half-cock, remove the broken cap from the nipple, 
and see if the powder be up to the mouth of the orifice. 
If it be not up, there is much danger of the piece missing 
entirely, or making long fire; rap the lower side of the 
breech smartly with the hand, holding the nipples down- 
ward, which will usually bring the powder up. [If it fail, 
try the cones with the pricking needle, and, if needful, 
pour in a grain or two of powder, put on the copper cap, 
and press it down tightly with the ball of the thumb, to 
insure its fitting so closely that it will not readily fall off. 
Nothing is so vexatious as a miss fire, and by these 
precautions, and the use of good materials, it is rendered 
all but impossible. 
Cut wadding for a double gun is indispensable; it is 
cleaner, more expeditious, safer. Tow and loose paper are 
both dangerous; the former from its liability to remain 
ignited in the barrels, and fire the second load, the latter 
from its tendency to slip, at the shock of the first fire, and 
leave a vacuum between the powder and shot, which will 
often produce a burst. 
Wads can be readily cut at home from pasteboard, 
cards, old bandboxes, old hats, or the like, with a cutter, 
which always accompanies a good gun, numbered accord- 
ing to the calibre, a mallet, and a piece of sheet lead, on 
which to rest the substance to be cut. They are, however, 
to be bought of all sizes, in boxes of 250 each, at all gun- 
smiths’ shops, so cheap as to render it a waste of time 
and trouble to cut them, unless in an emergency, when the 
