Morning journal and courier., 1890-04-25
No. 98

i loaders. No other kind is worth buying. cannot here recommend any special makers gun, but would say that Americans make as good guns as the English or anybody else. The best rifle for boys is a 32 caliber breeeh loader, which uses short metal shells, Such gun,if of good make, will be quite &C., oufate at any range within 150 yards, ,and will kill any game that boys are privileged to hunt. I say this because game that is large or dangerous should never be followed by the young or inexperienced. If, however, a boy must shoot large game, let him have gun of large caliber. For deer, antelope and the like 44-gauge is quite heavy enough but for bear and all large and dangerous animals the guns to be used are extra heavy Express rifles, which none but strong men should try to handle.
 For target shooting at short range a 9 cal iber or even smaller rife may be used, and these small guns are very effective for squir- rel shooting in low timber or for killing rab- bits.
 The rife may be used for shooting at nov ing objects but it requires great expertness. in it.
 In choosing shotgun tEe chief thing is to get one of excellent workmanship, and to do this requires some knowledge of the parts of the weapon. Of all the parts the barrel is the most important, though, for that matter, nearly all the reputable makers turn out good ones and no other sort. Order gun with Damascus or laminated steel barrels and re- bounding locks;ha the left barrel "choked" and the right with cylinder bore. A choked barrel is bored so that it throws the shot very close together and with even distribu- ton. The cylinder bore is of the same dies meter throughout it's length, and it scatters the shot over large surface. I
 Boys will find gun of the size called 20- L game not larger than quail. For all ordinary inland shooting, however, the preferable weapon ia the 16 gauge, weighing about sev- en, or better, six and @ half pounds. Let the stock be as straight as you can well use, and the barrels should be twenty eight or not un- der twenty-six inches long. I have used gun of the heavier weight mentioned for years and have found it just the thing for small game, and have used it successfully on wild fowl. Still, for shore and boat, when water fowl are flying high and fast it is much more satisfactory to handle heav- fer gun.
 The safe range of shotgun loaded with small shot is from fifty to sixty yards at the greatest, though you will hear men bost ofa their guns killing every time at much greater distances. About forty yards is the lmore probable limit of safety for light guns loaded with, say, No. 8 shot. The pellets go with great force when they first leave the gun, but
 lose speed rapidly as their distance from the muzzle increases. Moreover, they spread apart or scatter as sson as they fly, soon getting SO widely separated that there can be no certainty of their hitting the object aimed at. The object in having the left barrel of your gun "choked" is to make it more effective at long range. Thus, if bird is fired at and missed with the right brrrel, which is ale ways first used, the left barrel is better snit- ed to make the second shot, as the flying bird has got much further away.