GUNS ar 
bunch of three or four birds is fairly certain to have an influence on 
the weight of the bag. Being able to use one’s ordinary game cart- 
ridges for close shots is a great advantage; for when hurriedly re- 
loading to polish off cripples, one feels the difference between the 
paper and brass cartridges at once, and there is no chance of cutting 
a wounded duck to ribbons with an ounce and a half of No. 1. 
‘‘ FLEUR-DE-Lys.” 
Only two other varieties of shoulder guns require any 
mention. The first is a ‘“‘cripple-stopper”’ for use in punting 
after the big gun has been fired. Asa gun of this class must 
inevitably get wet and suffer hard usage, a valuable weapon is 
a mistake and quite unnecessary. <A good ‘‘farmer’s gun” of 
the kind that Messrs. Jeffrey turn out for five pounds is all 
that is necessary. 
There remains the question of a rifle. It often happens 
that after flight-shooting at geese, two or three of the big 
birds manage to get away to the open sands, where they 
become exhausted and must remain. They are not able to 
fly back to their inland feeding-grounds, and, if not captured, 
waste away and die of hunger. Without any possibility of 
cover, it is impossible to get near enough to these cripples for 
a shot with an ordinary gun. The only alternative is a rifle— 
or torun them down. Anyone who has tried the latter will 
know what an almost impossible business it is, and hence a small 
rifle becomes most useful. 
Almost any make will do; there are dozens of cheap and 
reliable weapons on the market at prices from £2 1os. upwards. 
I use an excellent little rifle built for me by Messrs. Greener 
for five guineas. It fires the 297/250 shell, and I recommend 
the hollow-point bullet. It is sighted up to 150 yards, but 
reliable at greater range when once thoroughly understood. 
So much for the armament of the wildfowler. In the next 
chapters I shall deal with Ammunition, and—a most important 
point—the ‘‘Complete Gun-Room.” 
