Between 1867 and 1923 the second Marquess of Ripon[Earl de Gray] Shot 556,815 head of game. The vast majority of this game was shot with with cylinder bored Purdey hammer guns [used as pairs or as trios].In this era the standard shot charge was 1 1/8 ozs and shot shell muzzle velocity was 1200 ft; per second approx. To my knowledge the shooting skills demonstrated in the field by the Marquess have never been surpased; regardless of todays availability of high velocity shells,overweight shot loads and heavily choked guns.
