198 MY SOMALI BOOK 



undoubted killing powers of these little rifles, I will 

 endeavour to show that the results of using them at 

 long ranges must be as I have stated. There is no 

 doubt that the light Sherwood bullet, with its com- 

 paratively low muzzle velocity of some 1450 feet per 

 second, is yet, owing to its expansive qualities, good 

 enough when correctly placed to kill a blackbuck or a 

 fallow deer at even 300 yards. But one cannot expect 

 that its remaining energy at that range will be sufficient 

 to produce an adequate shock or to cause disablement 

 if it fails to hit a vital part. Nor can it be expected to 

 have sufficient power to smash a shoulder bone, for 

 instance, with any certainty. And my experience 

 fully bears- out these theoretical expectations, though 

 200 yards is the longest range at which I have ever 

 fired the Sherw^ood at an animal. 



With a high-velocity small-bore rifle one may 

 sometimes be justified in shooting at comparatively 

 long ranges, by reason both of the much lower trajectory 

 and the far greater smashing power of the bullet. 

 But with a weapon like the Sherwood there can be no 

 justification for firing at an unwounded buck unless 

 one has a reasonable expectation of hitting a vital 

 spot. 



Up to what range can a fair shot have such a 

 reasonable expectation ? It is mainly a question of 

 trajectory. To take some figures from Mr. Henry 

 Sharp's interesting tables in Modern Sporting Gunnery : 

 the -256 Mannlicher rifle shoots a 160 grain bullet and 

 31 grains of cordite, e.g. a bullet only 20 grains heavier 

 than the Sherwood but a powder charge 4J times as 

 great. The height of the trajectory curve at 300 yards 



