GOOD SHOOTING. By J.E.M. Ruffer.

1980 1st edition thus. 8vo (140 x 220mm). Pp208. B/w photographs, illustrations by John Catchpole. Dark olive boards, spine titled in gilt.

A well thought of manual for those wishing to improve their shooting performance in the field. "Shooting is an art which can be taught and learnt quite easily: it depends not on any special gift, but on instincts which are common to us all, if we only knew how to use them. ...Into this definitive volume, incorporating some material from his successful earlier book The Art of Good Shooting (1972), he has put everything that the sporting shot could wish to know..." Chapters include: Handling your gun - how it works, holding it, mounting, gun fit, footwork; Firing your gun - lead, poking, special shots, the master eye, see the shot; How to practise - value of practising, clay pigeon shooting, then and now; Guns and cartridges - pattern and killing power, how to choose your first gun, when to start a boy shooting, best guns; Behaviour when shooting - safety, conduct in the field; Shotgun coaching - general methods, coaching for clay pigeon clubs, coaching at game fairs, schoolboy coaching; Out coaching - types of game fair, experience of driven grouse, a good pheasant shoot, reputation, for ladies only, how to marry a grouse moor, final advice. Appendices discuss pattern and killing power, and give suggested rules for a clay pigeon club.