14 MAY 1892, Page 25

Something about Guns and Shooting. By "Purple Heather." (Alexander and

Shepheard.)—In this little brochure, the author has compared the comparative merits of the bores 12, 16, 20, and 28, and analysed the various experiments he and others have made with varying charges of powder and shot. There is much sound advice in it, and much that is really a help to those un- decided as to the shooting capacities of different guns, the fitting of the stock, and the length of barrels. "Purple Heather," how- ever, falls into the same mistake that so many writers about shooting fall into, and that is inability to grasp the fact that there are plenty of keen sportsmen who have not "£10 or £20 to spare" for a gun. This class of writers seems a little too well off to appreciate the difficulties of poor sportsmen. The struggle between the 12 and the 16 bore seems to "Purple Heather" undecided still. Taking it all round, the commoner bore has the advantage; when held straight, it is the harder hitter of the two. No true cylinder barrels, says our author, are made now.