XXV ADVANTAGES OF THE LEE-METFORD CARBINE 443 



thought I was only throwing away cartridges, when they 

 saw me firing at over 200 yards. It was not till they 

 saw the dust fly all round the animal aimed at, and 

 occasionally saw him come down, that they began to 

 believe in the accuracy of the little rifle. This is why I 

 think the carbine selected should be sighted to 500 yards. 

 All sporting carbines used to be sighted to this range, 

 but recently those brought to India have been only 

 sighted to 300. This is not, I think, sufficient. The 

 weapon is quite accurate enough for the longer range, 

 and a sportsman is, I think, badly handicapped if he has 

 no sight for anything beyond 300 yards. 



As minor advantages I may mention the slight noise 

 made by the report, the absence of smoke, the absence 

 of recoil, and the lightness of the cartridges. Until I 

 showed myself, most of the game I fired at did not 

 know where the shot came from. The three antelope 

 killed on the 30th of August would probably never have 

 been bagged if I had been using an express, as the shots 

 fired at the first one I saw that day would in that case 

 have cleared them out of the country. The lightness of 

 the cartridges is not a matter of much moment ; still it 

 is a point distinctly in favour of the .303. Perhaps also 

 the difference in the original cost might be mentioned. 

 A first-class express by a good maker will cost 60 

 guineas. The best Lee-Metford carbine in the market 

 can be bought for about a fifth of this sum. 



All the gunmakers now sell double-barrelled weapons 

 of .303 bore. I do not think these are as good as the 

 carbine with the magazine. It is true that the second 

 barrel enables a second shot to be put in much quicker 



