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Material for a mixed bag 
the bays, sloughs, ponds, and 
streams with the annual southern 
migration of wild fowl. This year, 
fortunately, they seem to be unsually 
plentiful, and, in some cases, to be un- 
usually wary. And that brings up the 
usual discussion of wild fowl loads and 
guns. And these seem to become stand- 
ardized more and more every season. 
In duck guns we have progressed 
gradually to three well-developed types. 
The full-choke 12-gauge repeater or 
automatic, to handle 2% inch shell, is 
probably the leader. This style of duck 
gun is increasing in popularity each 
year. And they are not all plain guns. 
Many built-to-order fancy repeaters or 
autos, both duck and trap guns, go out 
to the flats or the marshes every sea- 
son. A few days ago I saw an extra 
fancy auto-loader with an exceptionally 
beautiful stock that had been sent back 
to the factory to be refinished after 
killing hundreds or possibly thousands 
of ducks on the celebrated Susquehanna 
Flats. As it was returned from the 
factory, it was a beautiful weapon but 
even then the inside of the barrel still 
showed evidences of the years spent out 
in the wet and damp where it is impos- 
sible to care properly for any firearms. 
But the owner demanded beauty as 
well as utility in his duck gun, so he had 
the bluing renewed, the dark, curly 
stock refinished, and the action re- 
polished. 
gree and cold snaps have filled 
ND this is only one of thousands 
of a similar type—heavy, hard- 
shooting, fast-handling weapons that 
drive out their five or six loads in a 
minimum of time and to a maximum 
distance. 
And then there are the special heavy 
12-gauge double hammerless duck guns, 
bored to handle maximum loads up to 
13% ounces of shot in 2% or 3 inch shells 
as preferred. Smith and Fox are two 
manufacturers that make a specialty 
of these “super” duck guns which are 
bored to put every possible ounce of 
hitting power into two heavy charges 
for open water, pass, and long-range 
shooting. One school will use nothing 
else. They are the boys that dream of 
knocking down single birds on 50, 60, 70 
or 80 yard shots and killing them clean. 
Standard boring, standard velocities, 
standard length shells, have lost their 
attractiveness. The “special” bug has 
gotten in its work and nothing but the 
maximum in close patterns, even in a 
24 inch circle at 40 yards, will be toler- 
ated. The fact that such guns shoot 
like a rifle at 20 and 30 yards is readily 
overlooked if they will only bunch 80% 
or 85% of the charge in a 30” circle at 
40 yards. Such weapons use hard-kick- 
ing, heavy loads, so the guns them- 
selves, of necessity, weigh 8 to 9% 
pounds. They are, in some cases, 10 
gauge in everything but name and shell 
specifications. 
AND then we have the 20.gauges, 
both the repeaters and the long, 
close shooting, heavy hammerless 
doubles. Most of them are bored to 
use 2%4 inch shells and %, or an ounce 
of shot at high velocities. They are 
sixteens in power, in weight, in killing 
effect, and in substance, but 20-gauge 
in name and in shell wording. The 20- 
gauge class is really a half brother to 
the Hi-Speed, maximum velocity, light 
bullet crowd in the rifle game. Small 
caliber, maximum velocity, high pres- 
Duck Guns 
and 
Loads 
Practical Hints for the 
Wild-fowler 
By (C... Si LANDES 
sure, and comparatively light recoil, 
are the family characteristics—all ten- 
ors or baritones, no bass voices in the 
family. But they get their share of the 
ducks and their owners probably have 
more than their share of fun doing it. 
Rut after all the main duck hunting 
host will not use specials of any 
kind. They will shoot 3% drs. or 26 
grs., 1% ozs. of 6s; or 3% drs. or 28 
grs., 1% ozs. of 6s or 4s, in most cases. 
Regular standard, hard-hitting, close 
shooting duck loads that make up the 
bulk of the shell business for wild- 
fowlers in either specified or unspecified 
charges. They do most of the shooting, 
kill most of the game, bring most of 
the satisfaction because they satisfy 
a majority of the people. And they get 
results, just as a Buick, Hudson, or 
Willys Knight gets results for the aver- 
age automobilist who has not ‘yet 
reached the stage of the Rolls Royce or 
Lincoln. 
M R. AVERAGE SHOOTER is out 
after ducks, not to prove theories, 
ideas, hunches, or to use out-of-the-or- 
dinary or especially expensive combina- 
tions; consequently one of the two 
standard 12-gauge duck loads satisfy 
him. Both develop 1,300 foot seconds 
velocity over 40 yards, and deliver the 
shot pellets at 60 yards in exactly one- 
quarter of a second. And they are 
adapted to decoy, pass, point, or deep 
water wild fowling just as required. 
And there are a surprising number of 
ducks killed with 3 dram 1% oz. loads. 
They don’t shoot quite as hard, as fast, 
or kick as much as the heavier charges, 
but they shoot very close, regular pat- 
(Continued on page 58) 
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