HUNTING-RIFLE, AND FLIGHT OF BALLS. 349 



ing power; its starting speed and bottom. Moreover, 

 the velocity in feet per second is of no consequence to 

 the mere hunter. The velocity compared with the 

 velocity of other rifles is all he need consider. This 

 method shows not only the comparative mean velocity 

 in a way easily measured, but gives also a view of the 

 bullet's path that no chronograph can ever give. The 

 method I use is as follows: 



Twisting a wire into a hoop, I fasten it on the end 

 of a stake about shoulder-high. Two of these are set 

 in the ground about fifteen yards apart, the first one 

 about eight or ten yards from the firing-point. Over 

 these thin paper is pinned. In line with them, but at 

 a hundred yards, or a hundred and fifty yards, or 

 whatever the distance for which you wish to measure 

 the drop of the ball, is something to catch the balls; 

 a smooth tree-trunk or old door, etc., will do. The 

 rifle is then fired through the screens so as to strike 

 the tree or other object. 



As the fall of the bullet up to twenty-five yards is 

 imperceptible to ordinary observation, and is a con- 

 stant factor in all the experiments anyhow, the two 

 holes made by the bullet through the two papers may 

 be considered the line on which the bullet leaves the 

 muzzle. The distances of the screens may of course 

 be reduced to the nearest point at which the powder 

 will not spoil the first hole, if greater accuracy be 

 desired. 



A heavy pencil- mark is then made on the side of 

 each screen on a level with the bullet-hole. By the 

 aid of a glass these are then " ranged in" by an assis- 

 tant with a horizontal line on the tree. The distance 

 from that line to the bullet-hole will give the fall of 

 the bullet within at least an inch if care be used in 

 making the lines. 



