The heavier and harder the metal of which shot is made the better.*

CHARGING THE FOWLING-PIECE.

It is not usual to charge the gun until arriving at the shooting ground. When there, however advisable on the score of caution it may be, flashing off a quantity of powder to clear out, dry, and warm the gun before loading, has certainly a Cockney appearance; the more sportsman-like practice is, the party having reliance on the person who cleans his gun,—merely to permit the ramrod to fall lightly to the bottom of each barrel. The barrels are then held as perpendicularly as possible while the powder is poured in, so that nearly the whole charge may reach home, and not adhere in its descent. The barrel is then tapped with the ramrod, or the gun slightly shook against the foot, that powder may find its way into the pivots,this is the more necessary when coarse-grained powder is used. A wadding is then gently pressed down. The shot is next poured in, and a slight shake of the gun in an upward direction causes it to lie evenly;—a wadding is pressed upon it. The

* As shot is numbered differently by different manufacturers, we give the number to the ounce of the sizes to which we have referred:

shooter next removes the remains of the caps, and looks whether the powder has found its way to the orifice of the pivots, and if it has, he places fresh caps on; if powder is not visible at the orifice of the pivots, he removes any obstacle with a pricker, and contrives to push down a few grains of powder. It is very material to attend to this point, to prevent miss-fires.

THE WIRE-CARTRIDGE.

The wire-cartridge was invented in 1828 by Mr. Jenour. It consists of a cylindrical case or network of wire, the meshes of which are somewhat more than an eighth of an inch square; at the lower end the wire partially closes; the wire case is then enveloped in fine paper, and at the upper end a cork wadding, cut so as to fit the guage of the gun, is affixed, the case is then filled with shot and bone dust. The first cartridges made, though ingenious in construction, were defective in operation. It was a matter of no ordinary difficulty to fabricate them in such a manner that the shot should leave the case at the precise distance required. This at first could not be done so that they might be trusted in every instance; every alternate cartridge might fire well, but the rest would fire irregularly, being liable to ball, that is, the shot would not leave the case until fifty or sixty yards from the gun, and such

cartridges were, of course, not only useless but dangerous. They have been from time to time. improved, and almost every difficulty has been overcome. The sporting cartridges now made never ball, they act with a considerable degree of precision and certainty, and that they may be safely trusted may be inferred from the fact that they are often preferred by persons engaged in pigeon matches. Various materials were used experimentally to fill up the interstices between the pellets, but nothing seems to answer so well as the material now used. Another difficulty in their construction presented itself. It was requisite to accommodate them to the various methods of boring pursued by different gunmakers, and the unequal length of barrels, the object in view being to produce a cartridge that would suit all barrels of the same gauge, and this has been in a great measure, if not wholly, accomplished. The liability to ball which, notwithstanding various improvements made in them, was not effectually obviated for many years, during which they were tried, and in many instances prematurely condemned, either from real defects, or from the parties not knowing how to use them. They were not brought to perfection until the year 1837.

The wire-cartridges possess two principal advantages over loose shot; they are propelled with greater velocity, and thrown more evenly. A loose charge is always thrown in patches; the shots of a cartridge, as seen on a target, are comparatively equi-distant from each other. There are four

classes of wire-cartridges, which the patentees have named the battue, the blue, the red, and the green; each intended for a different range. There is some little difference in the construction of each of the three kinds; the meshes of the frame-work are larger in the battue and the blue, than in the red, and in the red than in the green, and there are doubtless other differences not perceptible to the uninitiated. The battue and the blue cartridges are intended for general use; the battue for the shortest distance; the blues will kill several yards further than loose shot of the same size, and, of the four kinds, are, in our opinion, decidedly to be preferred; each blue cartridge being thrown more nearly alike, they are more certain in their operation than the red and the green, which are intended for longer distances. The red may be serviceable in open places, when game is wild, and the shooter is provided with a gun of not less than fourteen gauge, or with a very short barrel, which does not throw its shot very strongly. The green cartridges are intended chiefly for wild-fowl shooting; these should be used in barrels of not less than twelve gauge. The red and green cartridges retain the shot in the case longer than the others, and are carried with an astonishing force to an incredible distance, and at the same time very closely. The red may generally be trusted for long distances, especially from barrels of large calibre; but at short distances the smallness of the circle they describe renders them objectionable. The green cartridges should never be used for shooting game.

The blue and battue only should be used in barrels of small gauge.

The cartridge does not require either a greater or less charge of powder than loose shot, but there is this peculiarity attending it. A heavy charge of powder throws the shot from the cartridge more closely than a small charge, by reason of its allowing more time for the escape of shot from the network. This is exactly the reverse of the manner in which the loose charge acts. The greater the charge of powder when loose shot and wadding are used, the more is the shot dispersed, and vice versa. Either loose shot or cartridge shot is projected with greater force and velocity when a heavy charge of powder is used. When birds lie well, we would recommend the shooter who adopts the cartridge to charge lightly with powder, to give the shots time to spread well; but when birds are wild, he should charge with as much powder as the shoulder can conveniently bear, so as to give the greatest possible force, and at the same time the greatest practicable degree of closeness. It is at long distances only that the superiority of the cartridge is conspicuous.

Amongst the advantages attending the adoption of the cartridge, it may be mentioned, that the recoil is not so severe, and consequently a lighter gun may be used, than with the loose charge, and this is a great relief to the shooter in a heavy country, and especially on the hills in August, when the heat of the sun is frequently overpowering. The cartridges act well when fired from