402 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



conical bullet; in fact, even the admirers of the '450 warn sports- 

 men that such rifles are useful under certain conditions only, 

 and this warning is absolutely necessary, several fatal accidents 

 having taken place through sportsmen having misread or not 

 properly appreciated the accounts of the shooting made with 

 these small weapons and the circumstances under which they 

 may judiciously be used. 



Systems of Actions for Rifles. Different kinds of ' actions ' 

 are constantly being invented for double-barrelled rifles, but 

 very few, if any, have the sterling qualities of the old double- 

 grip lever, especially when used for rifles shooting heavy 

 charges. No doubt snap-actions of various kinds are made 

 which are sufficiently sound to stand the strain of the charges 

 fired, especially if the ' body ' be long and deep, but none of 

 them have the binding down power of the grip lever, which 

 is really a kind of screw-grip. Another point in favour of trie- 

 grip lever is that, should there be a piece of cap or other obstruc- 

 tion between the action and the barrels, the grip lever will have 

 sufficient power to force the action to close and allow the 

 rifle to be fired ; and the same thing applies when a very tight 

 cartridge, or one with somewhat too thick a rim, requires 'to 

 be forced home. Now, under the same circumstances, a rifle 

 with a snap action could not be closed at all, or, at all events, 

 only with great difficulty and with unusual force, because all 

 spring bolt systems require that the barrels should close up 

 freely upon the action before the bolt can move into its proper 

 position for fastening down the barrel. 



For small bores such as are used for deer stalking, &c., 

 the hammerless system has some advantages ; but there are ob- 

 jections to these actions for weapons intended for foreign sport, 

 and these objections apply more particularly when big game 

 rifles are in question. Most sportsmen are fairly well acquainted 

 with the construction of the ordinary hammer gun fitted with 

 rebounding locks, but very few know anything of the internal 

 arrangements of the hammerless system, and there is no doubt 

 that the internal arrangements of the latter are more likely 



