Handbook of field and general ornithology : a manual of the structure and classification of birds / with instructions for collecting and preserving specimens.

Elliott Coues

Date:: 1890

Credit: Handbook of field and general ornithology : a manual of the structure and classification of birds / with instructions for collecting and preserving specimens. Source: Wellcome Collection.

22/360 page 10

$Shoulder it reversed, the hand grasping the barrels about their middle, the muzzle pointing forward and downward; this is per- fectly admissible, but is the most awkward position of all to recover from. Always carry a loaded gun at half-cock^ unless you are about to shoot. The best guns are now fitted with rebounding locks, having a device by which the hammer is thrown back to half-cock as soon as the blow is delivered on the firing-pin. This admirable device is a great safeguard, and is particularly eligible for breech- loaders, as the barrels may be unlocked and relocked without touching the hammers. Unless the lock fail, accidental discharge is impossible, except under these circumstances : {a) a direct blow on the nipple or pin ; (h) catching of both hammer and trigger simultaneously, drawing back of the former and its release whilst the trigger is still held,—the chances against which are simply incalculable. Full-cock, ticklish as it seems, is safer than no-cock, when a tap on the hammer, or a slight catch and release of the hammer, may cause discharge. Never let the muzzle of a loaded gun point toward your own person for a single instant. Get your gun over fences, or into boats or carriages, before you get over or in yourself, or at any rate no later. Kemove caps or cartridges on entering a house. Never aim a gun, loaded or not, at any object, unless you mean to press the trigger. Never put a loaded gun away long enough to forget whether it is loaded or not. Never leave a loaded gun to be found by others under circumstances reasonably presupposing it to be unloaded. Never put a gun where it can be knocked down by a dog or a child. Never imagine that there can be any excuse for putting away a breech-loader loaded under any circumstances. Never forget that the idiots who kill people because they “didn’t know it was loaded,” are perennial. Never forget that though a gunning accident may be sometimes interpreted (from a false standpoint) as a “dispensation of Provi- dence,” such dispensations happen oftenest to the careless. To Clean a Gun properly requires some knowledge, more good temper, and most “ elbow-grease ”; it is dirty, disagreeable, inevitable work, which laziness, business, tiredness, indifference, and good taste will by turns tempt you to shirk. After a hunt you are tired, have your clothes to change, a meal to eat, a lot of birds to skin, a journal to write up. If you “sub-let” the contract, the chances are it is but half fulfilled j serve yourself, if you want to be well served. If you cannot find time for a regular cleaning, an intolerably foul gun may be made to do another day’s work by swabbing for a few moments with a wet (not dripping) rag, and then with an oiled one. For the full wash use cold water first ] it loosens dirt better than hot water. Set the barrels in a pail of water; wrap the end of the cleaning rod with tow or cloth, and$