RIFLES AND AMMUNITION 197 



to be ejected. It was got out at last, but 

 only just in the nick of time. The bore of 

 magazine rifles is nearly always too small 

 for heavy game, and another objection is 

 that only one kind of cartridge can be used at 

 the same time. So that if your magazine is 

 loaded up with solid nickel bullets, and you 

 get a broadside shot, the beast may go for a con- 

 siderable distance; while if you have soft-nosed 

 cartridges in the magazine, they will not be of 

 much use for a raking shot, and in the event of 

 a charge may land you in a hole. And if you 

 mix them, putting in some soft-nose and some 

 solid, the chances are that you will fire a solid 

 when you want to use a soft-nose, and vice versd. 

 Magazine rifles may be all very well on deer 

 and soft-skinned animals, but they are not the 

 proper weapons for the pachyderms. It may 

 be as well to state that a '450-'400 rifle means 

 that the chamber alone is '450 bore, the rifle 

 being bored for the '400 bullet. A bottle-nosed 

 cartridge is used, the base fitting the '450 

 chamber. Thus the required amount of powder 

 can be utilised without increasing the length of 

 the cartridge case. 



With regard to the price of rifles, it is un- 

 doubtedly sound to buy the best you can afford. 

 A rifle used on heavy game is bound to come 

 in for a lot of hard wear and tear. Exposed 

 to all kinds of weather, with no efficient gun- 



