RIFLES AND GUNS 47 



sight can be cut down to suit the purchaser's require- 

 ments. For this the maker should keep the back sight 

 full enough to start with. 



The sighting should start at 50 yards, then go to 

 100, 200, and so on. Some writers recommend the 

 first sight at 80 yards, the next at 150, and so on. 

 Both systems are equally good, and the only thing 

 that counts is that some sight under 100 yards is 

 most useful for game shooting : therefore perhaps the 

 50 yards is more practical than the 80. 



Take more than one fore sight, and a sling is also 

 most handy when the rifle has to be carried any 

 distance. 



For the ammunition have both solid and soft-nosed 

 bullets. The latter can either be the true soft-nosed, 

 hollow-nosed, or split ; the last is perhaps the most 

 deadly. 



About 1906 some special bullets for the "303 with 

 copper tips, called " Axite," were used by the writer. 

 These certainly did mushroom ; but except with small 

 animals, where they were no better than ordinary soft 

 nose, they had a bad habit of breaking up on the skin 

 and losing their penetration. 



Unless forced to, never file down the solids to turn 

 them into " dum-dum," as, with most, the lead is ex- 

 posed at the base of the bullet, and, should it stick, 

 the lead will fly through, leaving the nickel in the 

 barrel, even if no worse result happens. 



This once happened to the author, and had the nickel 



