408 SPOETING EIFLES AND AMMUNITION 



the two hollows there is an interval containing nothing but 

 air. The effect of the presence of this air is, on impact, 

 totally to change the conditions. This bullet — instead of, 

 like the old -303, going in at a small hole and clean through 

 with practically no shock — "sets up" at once, enters by a 

 hole a good deal larger than the bullet, and inflicts (I quote 

 Mr Percy Easte, M.R.C.V.S., who conducted a series of tests 

 on large animals) "the greatest possible amount of damage, 

 both on hard and soft tissues, with great shocking power and 

 not too much penetration." This is exactly what the sports- 

 man wants ; and it makes the "303 what it was not before, a 

 reliable weapon for use at dangerous game. 



The fact, however, that the importation of rifles of this 

 bore into India was prohibited, together with other reasons 

 into which it is beyond the scope of these pages to enter, 

 decided Mr Taylor to push the matter further ; and the result 

 of his experiments has been the devolution of the 'SlS-bore 

 Accelerated Express, which may be taken as the " last word " 

 in sporting rifles, and as to the details of which I quote his 

 own words at the end of this Appendix. 



The sporting rifle might have been said, until comparatively 

 recently, to occupy the proverbial position of the man between 

 two stools, these being the old-fashioned Express rifle and the 

 modern high-velocity weapon respectively. Neither of these 

 altogether fulfils a sportsman's requirements, although the 

 former did so until we realised that something better could 

 be obtained, which we did on the introduction of the latter 

 class of weapon. Rifles of this latter class have been fully 

 dealt with above. I propose now only to consider their 

 drawbacks from the sportsman's point of view, and of which 

 their ammunition was the cause. These are (1) unreliability, 

 (2) difficulty of cleaning, and (3) shortlivedness. 



The most reliable of the English nitro- compounds was 

 undeniably Cordite; and after the first few years of its 

 manufacture it was, and is, made as nearly perfection in this 

 respect as may be. One difficulty, however, there has always 

 been with it, and that is the effect of changes of temperature 

 on it. A great deal, practically all, of the really big game shot 

 nowadays is killed in hot countries, and it is exactly heat that 

 most affects Cordite. 



