THE -303 SPORTING RIFLE 



cordite and rifleite are now being made of "400, 

 450, '500, and '577 bores, but of two very different 

 types. For instance, the more powerful pattern, of 

 say '45O-bore, made to shoot a large charge of 

 cordite, say 50 grains or more, and a heavy bullet 

 with a velocity of 1,900 or 2,000 feet, the stress or 

 strain of which charge is far more severe than that 

 caused by five drams of black powder, has for 

 safety's sake to be made much stronger, and there- 

 fore much heavier, than a rifle made for black 

 powder. The lighter type, on the other hand, is 

 built to shoot a charge of cordite powder large 

 enough to give only the same velocity and strain as 

 result from a charge of four drams of black powder. 

 Now the strain in the case of the larger charge of 

 cordite is from 50 to 100 per cent, higher than that 

 of the comparatively small charge of the same, and 

 one trembles to think what might happen, should a 

 cartridge loaded for use in the heavier weapon be 

 fired by mistake in a rifle of the lighter type. Yet 

 this might very easily occur in the case of a powder 

 taking up so little room in the cartridge-case as does 

 cordite. The safest plan would be for the gunmaker 

 to stamp the outside of every cartridge with the 

 weight of the contained charge. 



THE '303 SPORTING RIFLE 



The author has had no opportunity of trying the 

 303 at game, but he was delighted with a double 

 rifle of this bore by Messrs. Holland and Holland, 



459 



