44 



SPORTSMAN'S HAND BOOK. 



CHOICE OF A HUNTING RIFLE. 



How often the question is asked, "Which is the best 

 hunting rifle?" The question is an unsettled one, and will 

 never be answered satisfactorily to all inquirers. 



Inasmuch as a rifle is not necessary in the pursuit of 

 small game, it is presumed that the question has reference 

 strictly to large game, such as is found in the north and 

 west, but if the rate of shameless butchery and destruction 

 continues for a few years there will be no occasion for a 

 hunting rifle of any kind. The choice of a hunting rifle 

 depends entirely upon the kind of ammunition it uses. This 

 has no reference to muzzle-loaders, for they are a thing of 

 the past, so far as hunting is concerned. Any of our mod- 

 ern, regularly manufactured breech-loaders, are good ones; 

 the caliber, quantity of powder, and of lead they use, is the 

 important question. Important as the weight of the bullet 

 is, by the following table it will be seen that caliber is no 

 index to the weight of the bullet used. Take a list of dif- 

 ferent cartridges and compare them. 



The first column of figures represent the caliber in 

 hundredths of an inch, the second column the number of 

 grains of powder, the third the number of grains of lead: 



