, 1890-04-19
HOW TO SELECT AND USE A GUN.


A Talk for Eoys from which Older Per-
ons May Get Some Benefit
The gun is, perhaps, the most fascinating
thing TO boys that can be thought of, and it
is, therefore, necessary that they should be
instructed in is use. There is comparatively
little danger in handling firearms II careless
ness is avoided. Nearly all the accidents by
which boys have been hurt or killed while
using guns have been the result of gross
neglect Of the simplest rules Of safety.
Three kinds of weapons may be classed rs
handguns-the rife, the shotgun and the
pistol. 1t is rare indeed for a boy to need a
pistol, and | shall only say here that it is the
most dangerous and the least useful of all
arms. 1t is so short that it is hard TO handle
with perfect safety, and it is not accurate
enough for use as n sport weapon. Ny ad-
vice TO boys is to let it alone.
The rifle is a long range weapon of sport,
and for large game it is the only effective
one. Since the perfection Of the shotgun the
old time rifle has been less and less I'm de-
mand for small game; still, for squirrel hunt
ing, especially in the south, it is in common
use. and for target practice it cannot be
equaled.
All the best guns now made are breech
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 rife for boys is a 32-caliber
breech loader, which uses short metal shells.
Such a CUR, il of good make, will be quite
accurate at any range within $50 yards, and
will kill any game that boys are privileged to
hunt. l say this because game that is large
or dangerous should never be followed by the
young or inexperienced. II, however, a boy
must shoot large game, let him have a gun of
large caliber. For deer, antelope and the like
a 4+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
10 handle.
For target shooting at short range n 22-cali-
Der or even a smaller rifle may be used, and
these small guns are very effective for SPUR
rel shooting in low timber or for killing rab-
bits.
The rifle may be used for shooting at NOV
ing objects, but it requires great expertness,
and there are few who can attain TO success
in it.
In choosing a shotgun the chief thing is to
get one of excellent workmanship, and to do
this requires some knowledge of the parts Of
tho 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 a gun
'AAA u - cNA 80
and rebounding locks; have the left barrel
'chokedn and the right with cylinder bore.
A choked barrel is bored so that it throws
the shot very close together and with even
distribution. The cylinder bore is of the
same diamete throughout its length, and it
~scatters the shot over IA large surface.
Boys will find a gun of the size called 90
gauge the lightest and best for shooting all
game not larger than quail. For all ordinary
u N-1u.I .IAat.-r I,r.v.- a.. -.N.u.ll.
weapon is the 1G-gauge, weighing about seven,
or better, six and a half pounds. Let livestock
be us straight as you can well use, and the
barrels should be twenty-eight or not under
twenty-six inches long. l have used a gun of
the heavier weight mentioned for years and
havo 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 a heavier gun.
The safe range of a shotgun loaded with
small shot is from fifty to sixty yards at
the greatest, though you will hear men boast
Of their guns killing every time at much
greater distances. About forty yards is the
more probable limit Of safety for light guns
loaded with, say, No. s shot. The pellets 60
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 us soon 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 you
gun "chokedn is to make it more effective u
long range, Thus, If a bird is fired at ant
missed with the right barrel, which is al
ways first used, the left barrel is better suitet
to make the second shot, as the flying birt
has got much further away.-M. Thompson
in Minneapolis Tribune