The morning call., 1893-10-29


for close and hard shooting the American
spOrtsmen prefer them.
No guns are made in this country unless
to order OF smaller bore than 20 and rarely
over II. The most popular bores are II
and II. the latter being the more in use,
although good IL gun should answer al
purposes excepting, of course. the market
hunter. who would probably be better sat-
isfed with an 8.
As rule sportsmen shooting smaller
boIe than IL handicap themselves. for it is
an acknowledged fact that 16 bore Is less
effective than IL, excepting, possibly, for
quall-Sn0otlng, where snap shooting must
be done.
Another thing against the 16 bore is the
annoyance frequently incurred in procur-
Ing cartridges when away from home.
Should sportsman decide when select
Ing gun to purchase a 12-bOre it may
perhaps seem to him that everything is
y. e. as long as the instrument fits snugly
and IS free from blemish.
1t must be remembered that guns are
Dored In such way that one which would
be desirable for one style OF shooting
would prove totally unfit for another.
Inc barrels OF gun. or tubes. as they
are called In the rough state. are bored
within IN such manner that they will
throw charge of shot so as to give an
even distribution of the pellets at GER
tain distance. On the other hand they
may be bored so as to give a desired pat
tern at a much longer range.
The various MODES of boring a gun are
known to the trade as cylinder bored.
meaning tube or barrel bored perfectly
or almost straight; next comes the modi-
fed choke. which means boxing the barrel
SO that 1t will be slightly contracted at the
muZZle end, and the third process Is full
choke. which means contracting the barrel
IN Cyi un a IA
OF shot at limit OF the positive effective
range OF the gun, which is recognized the
world over as about forty yards.
Ii sportsmen intend gun for, say, quail
shooting In heavy cover, where majority
of shots will be made inside of twenty five
yards. cylinder bore would assuredly
give the better results. Frequently in
quail-shooting snap shots are taken when
bird IS not more than twelve or fifteen
yards from the sun. and charge of shot
al that distance il fired from full-chOked
gun would tear the tird so badly that
well-broken dog would positively refuse to
recognize it. On the other hand, if sports
man was to cODfine his shooting to snipe or
duck, the range would generally be from
thirty to fifty yards, and, by using choke
bore gun the charge of shot would be kept
together so that at the above distance
good pattern would result.
Professor Cooper, the famous local snipe
shot, who has record of killing 125 birds
straight, says that 10-bore, when handled
properly, is superior to all other guns, es-
pecially when birds are wild and a second
is frequently necessary.
For trap-shooting gun OF full choke for
both barrels would be the choice of a
majority OF people who have made study
OF this kind of sport, if such it can be
called.
At the present time hammeress guns
are the fashion, but if a mans purse be
limited, he can purchase a hammer gun at
much lower price; and it is not unlikely
he may flnd those of the latter style of
some famous maker which may be much
better gun, so far as wearing and shooting
qualities are concerned, than more fash
ionable gun less thoroughly made. Ham,
merlesS guns are admitted TO contain ad-
vantages that the hammer guns do not;
bCt there Is one decided advantage which
hammer gun has over a hammerless gun,
and that is, it is less complicated. If one
Is Obliged to visit a remote section where
he is liable to lnJure his gun, If accident oc-
ours 1t Is much easier to send the broken
part to the factory and TO replace it in a
hammer gun than in hammerless. The lat
ter being so complicated, there are few per-
sons, unless they possess considerable
mechanical ingenuity, competent to take
apart and put together hammerless gun.
During the past few years there has
been great rage for light guns, and man
ufacturers vying with each other have in
some cases produced guns SO light that it
has given rise to doubt as to their
safety. 1t is of course desirable to pro-
cure llghtness If YOU can secure strength
with it, for carrying heavy gun all day is
a burden, and every ounce seems like a
pound at the end of day. But 1t should
be remembered that the lighter the gun
the greater the recoil, and the greater the
recoil the poorer the shooting.
Generally speaking majority of sports
men who use the scatter-gun are willing to
admit that when a gun is less than seven
pounds in weight it is not capable of using
charges that one might desire to in all
styles of shooting, and that gun weig b.
ing over eight pounds is unnecessaril lily
heavy.
The fit of gun has considerable to
with It's shooting. An ill-fitting gun is
to shoot, and the sportsman
is generally unable to do satisfactory work
with 1t. The average man will find gun
with 14-inch stock and a drop OF three
inches approximately correct. If he be a
tall man with long neck he may prefer a
gun with more drop to it; but if be be stout
with short neck it is more than likely a
gun with straight stock. having drop of
from TO 21a inches, would be preferred.
Messrs. Murdoch, Kittle and Webster
left yesterday for duck and snipe shoot
on the Country Club preserve in Marin
County. Kitle expects to stop the flight
OF dozen canvasback to-day.
Dave FlemmiDg says that it will give
him much pleasure to back Richard Brooks
against English Snipe Cooper in pigeon
match. twelve birds per man, the use of
the second barrel barred.
Thomas Kennedy, the talking sportsman,
is on the lookout for a preserve where gun
trials can he held. Kennedy is great ad-
mirer of the pump gun.
Thomas E. Flynn of the celebrated
Qunn-Flynn case has informed John Muir
bead that he intends to have skiff con-
structed for winter shooting on the bay.
Ii Flynn is as slow with the gun as he is
with the oar there will be no danger that
markets will be flooded with bilge-water
game this winter.
Louis R0ndeau and Al Smith had great
days ail-Shooting at Point Reyes last
Sunday. Their bag of birds was not ex-
ceptionally heavy. however.
Mike Leahy is authority for the state
ment that cottontail rabbit shooting is
better sport than quail-shooting.