The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1934-09-07
HOW T $40
S HO Or
BY Bob Nichols


AVA shooting make the mistake Of
trying to use gun too heavy for their
strength. Shooting quail, woodcock.
grouse, pheasant and rabbit calls for
fast snappy action. The game bursts
from cover, usually at the most unex-
pected moment. When this happens in
dense cover, as 1t most frequently does,
one must be able to snap his gun into
position instantly and shoot in flash.
If your gun weighs too much for
your arms you simply cannot do effec-
tive work. The overweight In your
heavy gun not only tires you out be-
fore the days hunt is done, but 1t
gives you an ever-present sense of UNI
easiness. You lack composure. You
lose that confidence that is so neces-
sary to good shooting-the feeling that
you can hit anything that gets up in
front of you. Down in your lower
nerve centers always turks the fear
that you will not be able to swing
your gun into action fast enough.
The result Of such fear is usually a
hurried, uncertain shot. Time and
again you shoot and miss. Yet you do
not understand why you miss. You
may have shot over, and under, or
wobbled right or left. But until you
learn to call your shots, to know why
you are missing, you can never progress
very rapidly towards becoming a, crack
wing shot.
The good shot is practically never
in doubt about miss. He knows
where he shoots. When he makes a
mistake it is frequently because he
misjudged the rise of the bird and
consequently understood. Or he fails
to take into account the birds speed
in a sudden swerve to right or left
and shoots behind his target. 1t is
little errors like these that first led
gun makers to add a second barrel, or
a magazine with extra shells, to their
guns.
Using gun that is too heavy is one
of the chief reasons why the poor field
shot continues being poor shot-in-
definitely. Point your finger at any
object and you not only point with
accuracy, but with effortless ease. Ma
ture neutrality-suspicious. your hands
and arms to the weight Of your body.
But suppose your pointing hand sud-
denly had five pounds of dead weight
added to it. Your pointing would not
be near as quick or as accurate. The
same thing is true of your gun. If you
want to hit what you shoot at, with
reasonable regularity, see that your
gun weight is proportioned to your
weight.
The average upland gunner has no
business with gun that weighs more
than about 61h pounds. Yet remem-
Der also, that the weight of your gun
should be proportional to the charge
it shoots. A Ga pound IL gauge gun
is just trifie too light to shoot heavy
loads. Especially for the beginner. 1t
kicks like samhill and before you
know It you may acquire that worst
of all shooters curses-the flinching
habit.
The 16 gauge is an admirable gun
for upland work. But best of all, es-
pecially for the beginner. is the 20
gauge. It is powerful and deadly
gun. Shooting the ounce loads it has
80 per cent of the maximum killing
range of the IL gauge. Rating the
dead certain killing range Of the IL
gauge at so yards-and this is all you
can expect Of it, claims to the con-
trary Notwithstanding 16 gauge
has a range Of As yards. and the 20
will kill with absolute certainty at 40
yards. So what's the sense of toting
III to 8 pound IL gauge in the field for
a mere 10 yards extra range? Especial
ly since the lighter weight 20 can be
brought into action quicker and thus
reduce its handicap over the larger
gun. And especially, too. since more
than 80 per cent of all upland game
is killed within 80 yards.
Cut down your gun-poundage and
you will find you have more comfort
and you will get more game.
After all, the shot gun is distinctly
a short-range weapon that calls for,
fast, snappy action in handling 1t. Try
a 6 to 6h pound 20 guage. See how
quickly 1t will help you gain conf
dence in your ability to use it. See
how quickly your shooting improves.
@. Western Newspaper Union.
-------