THE COMPLETE GUN-ROOM 43 
together and ready for use. The flat leather cases are simply 
made for travelling, and are neither convenient nor pleasant 
to look at when used for storage purposes in a gun-room. 
The tall cupboard against the wall, with its glass door and 
row of shining weapons within, focusses the eye at once and 
gives interest and character to the room dedicated to the 
service of sport. Gun-cupboards can be bought from gun- 
makers, but they are generally somewhat expensive. A good 
carpenter can make an excellent cupboard for a good deal less 
money than one would have to pay in the shops. Well- 
seasoned oak is the best material of all, and the inside of the 
cupboard should be lined with red or green baize. Slight 
depressions, also lined with baize, should be cut in the floor to 
take the butts of the guns, and to hold the barrels at about an 
inch or two from the sight, any one of half a dozen simple 
devices can be employed. 
I have seen steel rings, screwed into the back wall of the 
cupboard and covered with twisted yarn to prevent scratching, 
act very well, but I think that the shelf-rest answers as well as 
anything. I use a shelf with slots cut in it for the reception of 
each pair of barrels, each aperture carefully padded with wash- 
leather. Each slot is opened and closed by a thin piece of 
oak working up and down on a central pin at one end. 
It is essential that gun-cupboards should be entirely dust 
and damp proof. 
It is a sound maxim, especially for wildfowlers, 
THE that the sportsman should always clean his gun 
CLEANING |. a 
OF GuNS himself. In the case of big game shoots the keepers 
assemble in the gun-room after the day’s drive and 
clean the weapons while their masters dress for dinner. But 
that is not the wildfowler’s way, and even so great an authority 
as Lord Walsingham has a strong condemnation for it in 
Badminton. More guns are ruined by careless attention on 
the part of keepers and servants than many people are aware 
