Lieutenant Busk, in hid “Hand-Book for Hythe,” says, “I cannot imagine a much more helpless or hopeless position than that of an individual who, having determined to expend his ten or twenty guineas in the purchase of a rifle, and, guided only by the light of Nature, applies to a respectable gun-maker to supply his want.  I never hear of an inexperienced buyer in search of a rifle without being reminded of the purchaser of a telescope, who, on asking the optician, among a multitude of other questions, whether he would be able to discern an object through it four miles off, received for reply, ’See an object four miles off, Sir?  You can see an object four-and-twenty thousand miles off, Sir,—­you can see the moon, Sir!’ In like manner, if you naively inquire of a gun-maker whether a particular rifle will carry two hundred yards, the chances are he will exclaim, emphatically, ’Two hundred yards, Sir?  It will carry fifteen hundred.’  And so no doubt it may.  The only question, is, How?”

The questions which have been addressed to me for a few weeks past have given me a keen appreciation of the difficulties alluded to, in which multitudes are at this moment plunged, to whom I shall be but too happy if it is in my power to extend a helping hand.

At the outset, however, it is but fair to declare my conviction that no man who has any just appreciation of the subject would attempt to choose a gun for another, any more than he would a horse, or, I had almost said, a wife; but he may lay down certain general rules which each individual must apply for himself, exercising his own taste in the details.  Thus, I have elsewhere declared my own predilection for Colt’s rifle; and I hold to it notwithstanding a strong prejudice against it which very generally exists.  I do not mean to assert that it is a better shooter than many others, and still less would I urge any one else to procure one because I like it, but I simply say that its performance is equal to my requirements, and that the whole construction and getting-up of the gun suit my fancy; and the fact that another man dislikes it is no reason why I should discard it.

I have known men who were continually changing their guns, and seemed satisfied only with novelties.  With such a taste I have no sympathy, but, on the contrary, my feeling of attachment to a trusty weapon strengthens with my familiarity with its merits, till it becomes so near akin to affection that I should find it hard to part with one which had served me well, and was associated in my mind with adventures whose interest was derived from its successful performance.

The first piece of advice I would offer to a novice in search of a gun is, “Don’t be in a hurry.”