AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
19 
ably freed , the back action is considered preferable, in con- 
sequence of its remaining clean considerably longer than 
any other kind. 
The stock should be sound and free from shakes or 
cracks, and the grain of the wood should run exactly with 
the bend at the breech, and the next important consideration, 
and on which the sportsman’s chance of success greatly 
depends, is the length from the trigger to the heel-plate. 
This should be proportioned to the person and to the 
length of his arms; should his neck be long, the stock will 
require to be more crooked than for a shorter person — 
much depends on this for quick shooting. The manner 
the author adopted to prove these requisites, was to fix the 
eyes on any given object, then shutting them, bring up the 
Gun to the shoulder, and point it direct at the object to the 
best of his judgment; then opening his eyes, examine how 
far the muzzle of the piece is above or below the object; if 
above it, the stock may be considered too straight, or if 
below it, too crooked: in this way the hand generally 
coincides with the judgment, and when a Gun is found 
answering to both, it will be all important, particularly in 
snap-shooting, where the Gun is required to be raised and 
fired instanter; in which case, success depends entirely on 
the co-operation of a quick hand, and a corresponding 
judgment; and to answer this purpose, no Gun is so well 
adapted as that on the percussion principle. 
The best shots seldom look along the barrels, but depend 
entirely on the obedience of the hand to the will. It is so 
with all who shoot well in cover, because they see no trees, 
or if they see them, such shots are not baffled by inter- 
vening objects, and many a bird is doomed to fall that 
would assuredly escape, where sight alone is depended on. 
Some persons try new Guns by firing them against a 
target, or fence, and commonly by the road side, to the 
great annoyance of those who happen to pass, at the time. 
This may be a popular mode, but it is certainly a very 
indifferent and reprehensible one. The principal object of 
trying a Gun in this way (as far as the author’s observations 
have gone) is, to ascertain if the Gun will shoot close, and 
is condemned or approved, according to the number of 
shot placed in a given surface. But this is fallacious; 
sometimes indeed the shot are examined with reference to 
their penetrating the wood, but the nature and condition of 
the wood is seldom taken into account, or the uniform 
manner in which the shot are planted. 
It is not generally known or believed, that a Gun may 
shoot too close, even for an expert shot. When used for 
birds on the wing there should be a certain medium, and 
to obtain this medium is the great desideratum. 
At a distance of from twenty to thirty-five yards most 
game is killed, and may be considered point blank for 
small or medium size shot, and an ounce, or one and a 
quarter ounces of shot at thirty yards, will cover regularly 
a disk twenty-four inches in diameter, so as to secure 
within that range such game as pheasant, grous, partridge, 
rabbit, snipe, &c. In Europe, thirty-five yards is the set- 
tled distance for trial, as game is larger than in America. 
Three-fourths of the game in the United States is killed 
within the distance of twenty-five yards, excepting deer, 
wild turkeys, and water-fowl, and which require a different 
class of Gun from that which we are now treating of. The 
author does not mean, that a gun should not be tried, on 
making a purchase, but he only objects to that practice as a 
standard or criterion, solely by which it is or ought to be 
judged; his own experience has taught him the following 
manner: Having satisfied himself of the requisites already 
pointed out, he charges with an ounce to an ounce a half of 
shot, according to the weight of the Gun, and size of the 
calibre, with as much fine quality powder as would occupy 
two-thirds of the cubic bulk of the shot, and then placing 
himself as near as safety will permit, to some object aimed 
at, procures another person to fire the gun : . his motive in 
this, is to ascertain the manner in which the shot strikes 
the board or target, for, according to the rattling or chatter- 
ing of the shot against this object, so is the Gun condemned 
or approved. If the shot comes up all at once, with a sharp 
stroke resembling the single blow of a hammer, he is con- 
fident all is right on that point, and only approaches the 
target to see how the shot is planted, and if satisfied with 
this, he seeks no other mode of trial, but proceeds in search 
of game, and has never been disappointed in a single in- 
stance, during a practice of thirty years in the field, in 
which period he has been the proprietor and vender of 
some hundreds of Guns. 
October 19, 1830. 
HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS. 
About twelve miles above Bangor, in Maine, is a 
small island, inhabited by the Penobscot tribe of Indians; 
they reside in a village called Oldtown, so termed from a 
tradition among them, that their forefathers dwelt in the 
same spot, long before the appearance of the first whites in 
the country. In the burying ground is a large, moss grown 
cross, which bears a date of the beginning of the last cen- 
tury. These Indians are Catholics, and are peaceable, 
though dirty and lazy. At this place, in 18 — , I applied 
for a guide, in a projected hunting-expedition in the unset- 
tled part of the country to the N. W. of their village, and 
it was not without difficulty that two young men could be 
induced to venture with a white stranger, and they would 
