INSTRUCTIVE ADDRESS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 79, Issue 7077, 6 July 1949, Page 7

INSTRUCTIVE ADDRESS

THE USE AND CARE OF GUNS

MR MURRAY PRATT TALKS TO SPORTSMEN

A feature of Thursday night’s meeting of the Te Awamutu Acclimatisation Society was an address by Mr Murray Pratt, of Otorohanga, whose skill in the shooting world of the Dominion is too well known to need comment. Mr Pratt drew from his rich store of knowledge, with the result that his address was of intense interest and of highly educative value of those who derive their sport with a gun.

Mr Pratt said that there were many makes of guns but "he gave it as his considered opinion that there were no guns that would, stand up to the hard work of a high grade English gun. Mr Pratt said he had an English gun that had been in use for just on fifty years and the locks were in perfect condition, and which the speaker said he used for all kinds of shooting and it gets a lot of rough work. Mr Pratt impressed on his hearers and shooters generally the necessity of keeping their guns clean and to see that they were overhauled every two or three years. For game shooting, Mr Pratt advocated the use of a modified and full choke as being the best weapon. For trap shooting, a full choke was recommended, for if an open cylinder was used it was inclined to make the shooter careless as he would think that there was more spread and therefore more chance of connecting. That might be so at close quarters but not at 35 to 40 yards. Mr Pratt advised possessors of guns chambered for 21inch shells never to use a larger shell as it would blow out the pattern. Shooters would always ge.t better results by using a shell made to fit the chamber. Continuing, Mr Pratt said that the first thing to learn about a gun was the care in handling it. “It is a very dangerous weapon and many deaths have been caused through careless handling,” stated the speaker. Mr Pratt said that a gun should never be pointed at anyone, whether it be unloaded or otherwise, and very many shooters, old and young, were very careless at times. In speaking of the correct method of procedure when two men were out shooting, it was for the 'man in front to have the muzzle of his gun forward, while the man behind should carry his gun on his shoulder with the muzzle facing behind. They often read of accidents caused through shooters getting over or through fences. The correct and safest method was to empty the gun or otherwise break the breach open, or put the gun through the fence muzzle first. Mr Pratt cautioned shooters against holding their guns by the muzzle if it was loaded. If it was kept away from the shooters, accidents would never happen. It was only last year that one of the oldest and best game shots in the country was fatally shot while he was duck shooting, the accident being caused by pulling the gun towards the shooter. Speaking of the storage of ammunition, Mr Pratt said that a room with a warm, even temperature was the best, and if the ammunition was in cases it was wise to leave a space so as to allow the. air to get between them. Mr Pratt then dealt extensively with the subject of pellet velocity and striking power, stating that a full choke would hold its pattern up to 40 or maybe 45 yards. As the distance increased the pellet velocity or striking power decreased. The time of pellet flight increased disproportionately at the longer ranges and the speaker gave statistical calculations in support of his contention.

Mr Pratt used his own gun to illustrate holding positions and stances, and he also answered a number of questions to the satisfaction of his questioners. He was accorded a very hearty round of applause at the conclusion of his address as well as a hearty vote of thanks.