Before this end is attained, and between each shot, Mr. Holland has twisted, screwed, and bent, in all ways, the stock of the try-gun, and though this part of the curious weapon is as complicated to look at as a sewing machine, or the inside of a clock, it is in reality simplicity itself. Anyhow, the stock of the try-gun is now fixed in a position that causes our friend to spread the shot from its barrel smack on a pigeon, whenever one is exposed to view, short as this exposure is. Here is, anyhow, something gained to start with; for, do as he would, he was quite unable to shoot half so accurately with his own gun at these same pigeons. The fact is the try-gun has been gradually and carefully altered in form to suit the eye and figure of our friend, and would show a very different bend and set-off from his own gun were the two contrasted. Our friend's spirits are rising; he is interested, he says little, but, like the sailor's parrot, he is evidently thinking a good deal. He is no doubt pondering to himself, By Jove, there must be a lot more in the fit of a gun than I thought; fancy my living all these years and never realising it before!' It is, though, not the mere fact that a gun needs to fit a shooter, we all know that; the trick is, how to fit the gun to the shooter, and here is where the try-gun, adequate moving targets, and an experienced gun-fitter come in, whether to alter a gun, or to tell in what manner a new one should be shaped to match our separate peculiarities. II. on the left of the Up the centre of this bird from the ground. In the illustration on p. 543 (at No. long target) may be seen a high tower. tower, and close to its surface, dashes a This target is most useful, for it soon shows if the shooter aims too much to the right or left or, a common error, too low at a rising bird. Many a man can drop, one after the other, birds flushed before him, which fly away level with his eye (as in test No. I.), but yet fails to kill when they spire quickly upwards, on taking wing. Target No. II. very soon proves if the gun fits and the aim is true for this class of shot, for there is the pattern thrown by the gun plainly visible on the face of the tower, and the bird lowered to the exact spot it was on when you fired at it. A very slight alteration of the try-gun-should such be necessary and you will find you can strike this rising bird with it as regularly as you did the pigeons previously fired at, and without in the least affecting your precision in regard to the latter. This last test is a sure one for finding out whether a gun is properly set off or not. Our friend has now a gun in his hand, with which he can kill straight-forward shots at birds flying from him about level with his eye, and he is also able to account for a bird rising ahead and flying rapidly skyward. His next lesson, or test of the fit of his gun as the case may be, is to kill crossing shots, which are, perhaps, the most difficult of all. These are obtainable at the part of the target marked No. III. in the same illustration as No. I. and No. II. Here we have birds flying and rabbits scampering-metal KILLING CLAY PIGEONS SENT OVER THE TOPS OF HIGH TREES, LIKE PHEASANTS DRIVEN OUT OF THE END OF A WOOD though they be-across the open spaces between the three shelters (shown shaded) in front of the long part of the target to the right. Both birds and rabbits move with accelerated speed (a necessity if they are to resemble the actions of game), leaving their respective shelters at a moderate pace to dart (at the moment you are inclined to hang on the trigger) into hiding, just as a live creature runs to ground-cover or skims out of sight over a hedge. One rabbit or bird, or two of either, can be made at will to move as slowly or rapidly as wished across the target; and, as they are arranged to run or fly in different directions, when started in couples, this affords excellent practice for crossing or for quick right and left shots. Here again we can instantly detect if the aim is to the right or left, high or low. Provided the aim is all right, as it should be after the previous experiments, these crossing-shots are most useful as a final test to prove that the general fit of the gun is correct and the pull of the trigger adapted to the finger and nerve of the shooter. By this time the shooter and the try-gun are on very friendly terms, and the former is wondering if he will ever manage to shoot as well with his own gun as he does with the try-gun. But the try-gun is now discarded; it has done its work, and our friend has a new ejecting hammerless placed in his hands, the shape of the stock of which is as near as possible to the shape the stock of the try-gun has finally attained under Mr. Holland's manipulation. Our next move is to the flying birds (sketches on pp. 545, 547, 549) that approach the shooter for all the world like driven game. No better practice could be desired than these clay pigeons, sent overhead as they are, for testing the fit of a gun, for teaching the beginner to kill game, and, above all, for instructing him. in the safe handling of his gun. They are also admirable aids to concluding the fit of a gun. A few birds, single These illustrations speak for themselves. ones, or, if wished, a continuous stream, a veritable hot corner,' can be whisked over the gun, or guns, by a man hidden on the raised platforms, placed for security behind hoardings which, in their turn, are concealed by trees. The 'driven partridges' are wonderfully life-like, and dart whirring over one's head, sometimes one or two, then a half dozen together, precisely in the manner of 'Perdrix' himself when he is in a fuss. How the time flies! we have been here a couple of hours, intensely interested, and uncommon busy, too, from first to last. What more can there be? 6 Why, here is my own gun come back!' says our friend. 'Yes, and what is more, it has made a journey to the factory whilst we have been so occupied, and is now altered to the shape the trygun assumed when it was proved to suit you, as evidenced by your success with it at the various targets.' 6 Take your old gun again, put a couple of dozen cartridges in your pocket, and walk through this rough grass and young covert,' requests Mr. Holland, and see what you can kill. You must not expect pheasants and partridges, for they are not in season; but we shall, at all events, soon discover if your aiming powers have benefited by the alteration I have made to your gun, and by your first visit to a "shooting school."' |