THE OOLOGIST. 



105 



A Collector's Gun 



Under the lieadinjj, 'A Field Natura- 

 list'sOutfit," the writer deseril)es among 

 neeessaiy articles his gnu and attach- 

 ments, and as it has been more than 

 IB years since I was a beginner at the 

 collecting of eggs, mammals and birds 

 it may not be presumption on my part 

 if I describe a part of my collecting 

 out lit which to my mind seem superior 

 to any heretofore descril)ed in your 

 valuable paper. For this locality 

 at least a rifle is of little use in secur- 

 ing game to say nothing of the damage 

 done to specimens 1)}' the whirling 

 motion of the bullets. 



Hunters prefer shotguns to rifles 

 because game is seldom seen at long 

 range. Bears are usually trapped and 

 killed with a charge of shot in the head 

 at close quarters: if pursued bruin 

 will rush away through briars and 

 swamps where dogs can scarcely follow 

 the thorns seeming only to comb his coat 

 of jet. Large shot is sure enough for 

 deer so what use of a rifle barrel here? 



I see DO use of anything more than a 

 good killing breech loading shot gun 

 and an insertion barrel. The latter 

 can be made bv any practical gun- 

 smith. One wliiih I have used for 8 

 years with the ulinost satisfaction is of 

 the following de.>-( ii])tion. 



Length 8 inches, boied to receive 32 

 calibre win<-heslcr cartridges, is not 

 chambered but taper.s gradually from 

 breech to muz/le, the latter being the 

 same diameter as liu? wads which snug- 

 ly lit the shells. A ban<l i inch long is 

 shrunk arouml the muzzle to make it 

 fit the gun barrel am! another band \i 

 inches long is shrunk on the breech end 

 and a rim is maib; on it when it was 

 hnished in the laLle so tiiat it fits the 

 gun just the same as a paper shot shell. 

 Room is made for the head or rim of 

 the cartridge to sink in even with the 

 breech end of the barrel, and a square 

 notch is ma<le on one side deep enough 



to allow the use of a small chisel-like 

 instrument to extract the shells. The 

 shells I use are the common 32 calibre 

 Winchester amunition. I pulled out 

 the bullets with pinchers, and a few 

 shots expands the bottle-necked portion 

 of the shell so that it is all the same 

 size. I punch out the exploded caps 

 with a piece of pointed steel wire and a 

 light hammer, and to seat the new 

 primer I stand the muzzle end of the 

 shell upon any smooth metal surface 

 and give the cap a few light blows with 

 the same hammer. These shells are 

 very durable and will st,and thousands 

 of shots Ijefore they wear out. What I 

 u.se were bought in 1883 and all have 

 been fired many hundreds of times and 

 except for blackness seem none the 

 worse of wear. My wad cutter is a 

 hollow belt punch of the proper size. 

 For amunition measure I use a 32 

 calibre short Smith and Wcsj^on centre 

 lire shell, I drilled a hole through the 

 exploded cap and lixed in a wire for a 

 handle and when heaped full of powder 

 and level full of shot is a proper load, 

 and thei'e is 800 charges of powder and 

 12o of shot in a pound of either. 



High priced coarse grained powders 

 are of no use in these shells.the line grain- 

 ed cheap grades, or the quickest wood 

 powder are all right. One wad on 

 powder and one on shot is I all use. 

 With flue quick powder and !No. 10 

 shot I have killed such birds as 

 Tauagers, Grosbeaks, Jays, etc. at the 

 height of over 75 feet and have secured 

 many warblers at the same height with 

 dust shot. The pattern and penetration 

 of this little ijarrel is wonderful, for 

 destroying such vermin as the English 

 Sparrow, Chipnionks, Scjuirrels. etc. it 

 has no equal, for it is nearly sure-diath 

 to them and does not make much noise 

 and uses the least amunition of any 

 effective gun using powder and shot. 



For the collector of birds nothing can 

 surpass it, in eillu-r utility or economy'. 

 With one of tlii-sc insertion barrels a 



