If It Gives A Slight Heel To One Side At The
Commencement, It Is Certain To Stick In Its Course, And It Then
Occupies Much Time And Trouble In Being Rammed Home.
Neither
will it shoot with accuracy, as, from the amount of ramming to
get the ball to its place, it has become so misshapen that it is
a mere lump of lead, and no longer a rifle-ball.
My
double-barreled No. 10 rifles are two-grooved, and an infinity
of trouble they gave me for the first two years. Many a time I
have been giving my whole weight to the loading rod, with a ball
stuck half-way down the barrel, while wounded elephants lay
struggling upon the ground, expected every moment to rise. >From
constant use and repeated cleaning they have now become so
perfect that they load with the greatest ease; but guns of their
age are not fair samples of their class, and for rifles in
general for sporting purposes I should give a decided preference
to the many-groove. I have had a long two-ounce rifle of the
latter class, which I have shot with for many years, and it
certainly is not so hard a hitter as the two-grooved No. 10's;
but it hits uncommonly hard, too; and if I do not bag with it, it
is always my fault, and no blame can be attached to the rifle.
For heavy game-shooting, I do not think there can be a much
fairer standard for the charge of powder than one-fifth the
weight of the ball for all bores.
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