The Daily Dispatch: December 7, 1861., [Electronic resource]

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A fact about shot guns.

--In a French journal, called Fuille de Tout le Mond, an explanation is given of a fact which has puzzled sporting men, namely: why the left barrel of a gun bursts so much more frequently than the right? The explanation is this: The sportsman on going out loads both barrels, and on seeing a bird rise, fires naturally the right barrel; he reloads that barrel, and when he again sees a bird or a hare he fires it again, and so he does perhaps twenty times in succession. But each firing gives a shock to the charge in the left hand barrel, and at last the succession of shock separates the wadding from the powder and shot; the consequence is that a vacuum ensues between them, and when the second barrel is fired it frequently bursts. To prevent this danger, the recommendation is made that whenever the right hand barrel is loaded, the charge in the left hand one should also be rammed down.