There should be no crevices between the wood and iron. If any such crevice exists between the stock and the false breech it is likely that the wood was green when put up, which would settle it that the gun was not the work of a responsible maker, for no such person would work imperfectly-seasoned wood. The extractor of the central fire should never be permitted to escape the closest scrutiny. It should work without the slightest hitch, and its arms should enclose about one-half of the cartridge rim. The countersink should fit the rim precisely, in order that there may be no slipping. _The Breech-Loading Rifle._—Most of the rules suggested as aids in forming judgment upon the quality of the breech-loading shot gun, can be trusted as bearing with equal force in case of the breech-loading rifle. The makers of breech-loading rifles in the United States have won for themselves a noble reputation throughout the world; and, to be perfectly plain, there are very few unreliable manufacturers to be met with among them. As a consequence, there is not much risk to run in passing judgment upon a breech-loading rifle of American make. The first thing to decide upon is the principle, if there is a preference in this direction. Such decision brings up the gun of some particular maker, after which the road is easy enough—the price set upon the grade of gun by the maker, may always be accepted as a clear indication of its quality. In referring thus to American rifles the idea is not advanced that good guns are not made in other countries—such a position would be going wide of the truth. There are _some_ gunmakers in England who turn out the finest rifles that the world has yet seen, and the most costly. They are models of perfection in every particular, but when the best shooting is ascertained it is discovered that they have not proven themselves superior in that respect, to the more substantial (generally speaking), but less finely finished and less expensive guns of the American makers. It is this matter of a really good rifle at comparatively low figures that has given the American product such an enviable reputation throughout the world. Then there is another reason for favorable mention of American rifles in cases where the quality of the gun is to be judged—there are fewer chances for meeting with counterfeits on American guns than there are on guns of foreign make. Here the gunmaker is so deeply concerned in his own good name that it would be very unsafe to attempt running a “bogus” upon him—he would trace it to the “last ditch.” Not so in case of the English maker—having no direct interests thrown all over this country like a network, as have the American makers, he would, in all probability, never hear of the bogus gun branded to him and sold on his good reputation for many times more than it was really worth.