_Dimensions for Double Gun._—For a double gun: Length of stock, from butt to cap, two feet one inch; length or depth of butt, five and a half inches, with a slightly concave surface two inches in width; from centre of lock-tumbler to cap, ten and one-quarter inches; width of stock before guard, one inch and three-quarters, and made nearly square. _Laying out Gun Stocks._—Several patterns each, of double and single, and rifle stocks are necessary. These patterns may be made of thin wood or thick straw-board. These patterns ought to be a little larger than the finished stock, and are intended only for a proximate measurement of the stock when to be sawed from the rough wood. Select the wood, lay the pattern upon it, mark around with a pencil or crayon, and then saw out by the lines made. With a plane, smooth one side of the wood so as to show the grain and the direction in which it runs. This must govern the position of laying the pattern. The weakest portion of the stock is the small, and there it is almost a necessity that the grain should not run across the line of the stock, but with it. If a very little divergence be made, it may not matter, provided the wood be of a hard and close grain. If the grain run across, or at an angle at this weakest spot, a slight blow or accidental fall is liable to cause a breakage which can best be repaired with a new stock. If the wood be in some places mottled, with curled or twisted grain, or has a knot that is hard and sound, let this spot come in the center of the butt, for by its width and thickness no accident is liable to break it, and the rounded form gives opportunity to show off the irregular grain to good advantage. Let the wood where the butt plate is attached be of straight and regular grain if possible. The grain where the locks are let in, and also where the barrel is let in, should be straight and run in the same line as the barrel. The planks or rough pieces for double gun stocks should be about two and a quarter inches thick before they are reduced. Two inches for a single gun, and about one and three-quarter inches, or a little thicker, for rifles, depending on their weight and the taste of the customer. It is best to have a number of stocks roughed out. Maple for rifles and black-walnut for single and double guns. Let them lay in a dry place to thoroughly season, and if they remain in this manner for several years, they are all the better for it. It is claimed that it takes seven years for a plank to season, and even then when sawed into stocks, they will be observed to shrink and change form, and often small cracks will appear.