FOREST AND STREAM. 



35 



CEKEIiMOOB, A.vtj, 10. — .:-, -:l K.r,-. I Gum ■dsmim 'S Mulch. 

 open only to members >v :■ > distances, 300 



and 600 yards; seven scoring shots at each nu, ; 

 military rifles. State model. Poll [iatl core: 



CHEsglB 96 



Jamas Robs M 



1KB Bayley «3 



PC & r cLewea 24 



E W Price 



40 WA PtepoB . 



47 J-Wttnriliier 19 



..,;., s\ <' UwMj ...'/(I 

 ■15 < • n ; • i. J r. Price K) 



■■.-, w BStaJtii, so 



15 84 

 U 34 



The seventh competition for the " Skirmishers' " Mate]) 

 ■was next in order. The distances wen: from 500 to 200 yards ; 

 five shots per man, advancing aud retreating, each shot to be 

 fired within the space of thirty second* The beet. scores 

 were as follows, the highest attainable number being 50 

 points : 



Advance. Retrqnt. Total. 



PCMcLewee 21 IS 37 



JRBBayley - IS 37 



WS8mu.li. 18 U SO 



W A French tT 30 



Capt W C Hedtly - it> L« an 



- iSLPriea 



E w Pric 

 CHEa: 

 Jumei : 

 J WGi 



...17 





,10 



: : xa 



hi is as 



Selection foe the A-Merman I'; r, Auguat 



l§,-^Tiie ranges were 800, 000 and 1,000 vards, and 16 

 made were as follows: K. .70, 70— »18 ; H. I\ 



Clark , GS. 73, 03—304 ; T, P. Dudley, 66, 06, 56 - -18 

 Fisher, (10. 62, 57—180 : P. G. Doughty, 71, 10, 45— 186, 

 Scores in the Team CONTEST. — Mr. Editor: Pardon me 

 e that I think yon have been misinformed in re- 

 here being any feeling auiongtbose "ho are com- 



peting for a placi 

 posed indifference to i 

 would be a coir.. 

 but we feel greatly com] 

 in us in trusting us to ki 

 Bides, whenever 

 to the. officers of the N 

 formly been treated wit 

 have no claim on them : 

 upon your time and pat. 

 is certainly due to f 



aiifof 1878. with re sard to a sup- 

 esertiouB by the N. R. A. it 

 is, of course, to have a scorer, 

 ented by the confidence placed 

 ud send in our own scores. Be- 

 lecessary for us to refer directly 

 A. for anything, we have uni- 

 o most generous courtesy. We 

 i scorer. 1 am sorrv to inlrude 

 a with this note, but" the at 



Association, and in par- 

 8- T. C. D. 



ticular to Judge Stanton, the President. 



July 10, 1878. 



We do not mean in the least to cast discredit on the N. R. 

 A. or its officers, but public interest in regard to the select- 

 ing of members of the teams has very much slackened, and 

 as chroniclers of that opinion we only stated the facts. 



Zettt.ee Club. — The fourth annual prize contest, open to 

 all comers, for prizes aggregating $250, will be held at the 

 Union Hill Schutlzeu Park, Aug. ST. Entries may be made 

 at the Zettler headquarters, 205 Bowery, aud at the Park 

 during the match. 



Policemen at the Btnrs.— The Twenty-eighth Precinct 

 Gun Club, composed of the second platoon of the above- 

 named precinct, and. it is said, the first of its kind in the 

 police force, held its first target excursion on Friday at Wash- 

 ington Park. A 100 yards range was marked out, and three 

 silver medals, raised by subscription among the members of 

 the club, were shoi for. Officer Woods won the first prize. 

 Detective Wdson the second, and Roundsman Martin the 

 third. This is a most laudable ' undertaking if it shall give 

 the officials good aim and steady nerves. The numerous 

 highwaymen "gangs" who have made themselves so notori- 

 ous during the last few weeks, might take the place of targets 

 some night. 



BroDTNG Me. C. E. BLTDEMnTRGn Qood-By. — On Thurs- 

 day evening, Aug. 1, a number of friends of Mr. Blydenburgh 

 assembled at the Grand Hotel to offer their kindest wishes to 

 the young rifleman, who leaves New York for an indefinite 

 period, having accepted the position of Territorial Assayer of 

 Wyoming. Some twenty-five gentlemen, mostly members of 

 the New Tork Rifle Club, of which Mr. Blydenburgh was 

 Captain, with a few representatives of the press, were present. 

 Appropriate speeches, eloquent with good will, were made by 

 Commodore Cheever, Mr. J. S. Conlin, Mr. O'Donnel, Mr. 

 Ounlapand most everyone present. The sentiment manifested 

 in all the speeches was one of regret, as it was felt thar, not 

 only among rifle circles the departure of Mr. Blydenburgh 

 would be a severe loss to New Tork, but that aside from his 

 skill on the Tange, the captain of the leading rifle team pos- 

 sessed many other sterling qualities, which would make his 

 absence marked. With the regrets of the gentlemen present 

 were, however, mingled the kindest wishes for Mr. Blydeu- 

 burgh's future success. We shall undoubtedly hear from Mr. 

 Blydenburgh when at Rawlins, and it was pleasantly re- 

 marked by the representative of the New York Herald, as 

 their Captain had shot off a great many loads, no doubt he 

 would fire away at a second Comsloek load lief ore long. With 

 Mr. Blydcobu'rgh's record on the field, and his pluck aud 

 courage, there, is no doubt but that the Rawliuites will soon 

 appreciate those merits which made him so popular in New 

 York. 



Jersey Souuetzen Corn's— August 13. — Union Hill was 

 well filled on the occasion of the sixteenth aunuat match. At 

 the. ring target David Miller was four points in advance of his 

 highest competitor, the register standing: Miller, 74; R. 

 Bpifcz, 70; H, Oehl, 70; John Kaschcn, 68: G. Tonlen, 67; 

 J. W. Schneider, 07; II. Raschen, 00; William Klein, 04 ; 

 N, Crusius, 64. The target of houor registered the following 



Sointsiu favor of the following marksmen : Henry Oehl, 66; 

 lavid Miller, 63; N. Crusius, 55; Captain Brmisch, 54; 

 Charles Robe, 54; August TSocmecke, ■ 58 ; Frederick Horst- 

 man, 53 ; M. Dorler, 52 ; Hermann Rascher, 51 ; B. Lipp- 

 ruann, 51 ; A. Zeugner, 51. Out of a possible 75, on the target, 

 of honor, H. Oehl has thus far made 6)5, D. Miller 62, Nic, 

 Crusius 55, Captain Brmisch 54. Charles Babe 54, August 

 Boemecke 53, Fred. Hortsmann 58, H. Raschen 51, B. Lieb- 

 mann 51 and A. Zeugner 51. At the man target, Tuesday, 

 the highest scores were, out of a poBsible 30 ■ John Schneider 

 39, John Raschen 27, R. Spitz 37, Phil, Klein 86, G. Joiner 

 26, Hermaun Raschen 25, F. Broadway 25. Nic. Crusius 24, 

 D. Miller 24. and R. Deb! 34. President Ernijscb hit the last 

 bull's eye and won $1. The festivities will continue to-day. 

 There will be a grand coronation aud a banquet in the even- 

 ng. A report will he given in our next issue.; 



De. Cabyek.— Exhibitions were given at Albany, N. Y., 

 Aug. 6 and 7; Saratoga, N. Y., Aug. 9 : Sing Sing, Aug. 10; 

 Syracuse, Aug. 12. The attendance at all of the exhibitions 

 Was large. 



\ IJALLAKU— At the regular match of the Bergen 



Point Rifle Association Mr J. P. Kathycn, of Port Richmond, 

 made the extraordinary score of 49 out of 50 in ten shots, and 

 followed it with 48 out, of 50, thus making 95 out of 100 in 

 twenty ghOtS, without cleaning between shots. He uses a 

 Ballard. 



AoooTrariKO pqb LjnauooijNtablbs.— Mr. Edil*r: Ever 

 since breech-loading rifles have been used with the paper- 

 patched bullets, i here has been now and then an " unaccount- 

 able" shot that has troubled many a good rifleman, and many 

 a score has been lost by one or more bad shots. In the Forest 

 ajjd Stucam, of July 25, is an account of a fine score (with the 

 exception of one accountable) made by D. McGregor, at Glen 

 Alger Range, Harrisville, Micb., 119 out of a possible 135. 

 He says s " The miss on the fourteenth shot 1 cannot account 

 for ; seemed to have a good sight and pull off ; have, before 

 had l he same experience— all low and falling short of the 

 target. Perhaps some brother sportsman can tell me where 

 the kink is." I have had the same experience, but have, with- 

 out any doubt in my mind, discovered the "kink." When 

 shooting over a 1,000-yard range for practice, aud making 

 bull's-eyes right along, I had a miss, the shot falling short and 

 drifting with the wind. Being partly convinced as to the 

 cause, 1 went to the spot where the bullet struck, and there 

 found just what 1 expected— that was, nearly all of the paper 

 patch,' which had followed tbo bullet. Since then I have 

 found two patches where the bullet struck when they were 

 called "uuaccouutables." My remedy for this difficulty is 

 sure. Have your bullets soft enough, or, if they are hard, 

 have the paper patch short enough, so" that the bullet will take 

 the grooves the full length of the patch, no farther. That will 

 start the. patch enough so that it will leave the bullet as soon 

 as it leaves the barrel. With a hard bullet and long patch, 

 and a light charge of powder, you will be sure to get "unac- 

 countabiee." 1 use one part tin to sixteen parts lead for 550 

 grain bullet, 105 grains powder. Joseph Bedjton. 



Lakeville, Conn., August 1. 



Mr. Farrow and Me. Yohe at Dusseldoep. — The follow- 

 ing extracts. from a letter written by Mr. Farrow, dated Dus- 

 seldorf, Germany, July 30, we do not publish with pleasure. We 

 regret to say it tells of discourtesies, which we hardly think Mr. 

 Farrow, as a representative American rifleman, should have 

 suffered. It might be well if some of the German riflemen in 

 their country could learn manners from our adopted Teutonic 

 citizens. He writes : 



The feat is over and 1 an* most heartily disappointed, both 

 at our reception and treatment here. If our reception at 

 AVimbledou was merely civil, here it was not even polite. 

 After coming over 3,000 miles we might have been thought 

 deserving of some little attention. Our letters from the North 

 American Bund were merely glanced at and returned to us. 

 No place was assigned to us in the procession. We were in- 

 vited to none of the banquets. We were interfered with while 

 shooting at the principal target. We were not allowed to 

 shoot at the targets when the fest prizes were to be contended 

 for. Yohr made a 25 to start with. Just as he was aiming 

 his second shot one of the controllers spoke to him, saying, 

 " Your rifle is not according to the rules," and detained him 

 to argue the question. Now that man must have known that 

 our rifles were examined by the committee and had been 

 passed and sealed. He might have overlooked this, but the 

 same thing was practiced on me at the field targets. I had a 

 19 to start with (20 is the centre), when one of the shooting 

 masters, named Deckers, came to me, and, as he must have 

 unown that I was an American and could not speak German, 

 he seized my rifle, and I was told " It was too heavy." I 

 pointed to the seal of the controller and asked if that was not 

 sufficient. " No, that did not amount to anything; he was 

 bound to know all about it himself. " My rifle was carried out 

 of the room, and, after it was found all right, I pointed to my 

 medal aud asked him if he thought I should have traveled so 

 many thousand miles to try and win by fraud. His reply, 

 as translated to me, was that he did not care for me or my 

 medal. Of course this annoyed me exceedingly, and may 

 have possibly affected my shooting. 



We translate from the New York Stoats Zeitung of the 13th 

 the following portion of a letter addressed to that journal by 

 its foreign correspondent : 



Messrs. Farrow and Yohr, of New York, each received a 

 handsome gold watch. The American shots always had a 

 close gathering of people about them, wondering at their ab- 

 solute certainty. Messrs. Farrow and Yohr felt rather disap- 

 pointed that they could not enter for the higher prizes. Ac- 

 cording to the rules in vogue, however, only members of the 

 German Schuetzenbund were permitted to compete on the 

 target " Deutschland," and, as the gentlemen in question were 

 not members, they could not prove their abilities in this field. 

 The committee might in this case have made an exception in 

 favor of the visitors, especially as in America every shot, no 

 matter to which " Verein " he may belong, is permitted to 

 compete at any and all meetings. At any rate, Mr. Farrow 

 proved that we understand how. to shoot in America, and has 

 maintained the honor of American shots in a highi degree. 

 His performances are all the more praiseworthy, as all the 

 shooting was done without auy artificial rest. 



Tint Peabody-Maktini Rihb- Of the efficiency of the 

 Feabody-Man.ini rifle it is sufficient to say that as a military 

 arm it has obtained the highest reputation for solidity, 

 accuracy and long-range. It helped to make the contest be- 

 tween the Russians and Turks so terrible to the former, 

 as the arms used by the latter were those made by the Provi- 

 dence Tool Company. One great peculiarity of the rifling 

 used in the Peabody-Martini is the Henry system. There are 

 seven long grooves of peculiar shape, with a sharp twist, one 

 turn in twenty inches. Now, we are frequently asked in re- 

 gard to the rifling and twist necessary for an Express rifle for 

 sporting purposes. The principle that is used for the rifles 

 made by the Providence Tool Company is precisely the one 

 required for using an Express bullet. With a sufficient charge 

 of powder, and the proper Express bullet, the most powerful 

 impact can be produced by this rifle. We especially recom- 

 mend the Kill-Deer pattern, a rifle designed for use on the 

 plains for hunting large game. Its range is from 100 to 000 

 yards. With a calibre of .45, and a weight of 8 or 9 pounds, 

 28-iDch barrel, it uses a cartridge containing 70 grains of 

 powder, with a bullet of 405 grains. The match rifle, a 

 superb arm, bums from 100 to 115 grains of powder with a 

 bullet of 550 grains, calibre .44. If an idea is wanted of the 

 durability of the service arm, and all the rifles are made with 

 precisely the same mechanism, suffice to say that with the 

 regular military rifle, Turkish model, 200,000 service charges 

 (each charge being of 85 grains of powder) were fired from 



one and the same rifle without injury to breech mechanism, 

 and without impairing in the least the efficiency of the piece! 

 In form the Peabody-Martini is compact and graceful, and 

 the working parts are as simple as they are solid. We are 

 quite certain that for sportsmen in the West this rifle is par- 

 ticularly the one specially adapted for flic field, will be 

 found wonderfully accurate and effective. 



. — -», — . 



DRIFT IN RIFLES. 



Lettee erom Sir Henry St. Joiin Haleokd. 



Believing that a knowledge of the comparative drill of 

 rifles might be of interest, we addressed Sir Henry St.. J. 

 ITalford on the subject. General Wingate in his last Hditioi 



gave us the drift of the Springfield rifle (new 1 lei, 45 



calibre, 70 grains powder, hardened bullet, 405 grains) 

 as twenty-five inches at 500 yards, or something over 

 four feet in 1,000 yards. In the Sharps rifles, in their direc- 

 tions for practice, they print i " The rotation of the bullet 

 causes it to drift slightly to the right, and an additional al- 

 lowance of say .03 at 800 and .05 at' 1,000 yards, should be 

 made for wind from the left greater than for wind from the 

 right." The following is dated at Wiston, Leicester, Eng- 

 land, July 29 : 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



No apology is necessary in writing to me on rifle matters. 

 1 am always ready to answer questions to the best of my 

 ability, and glad to receive information. 1 do not find that 



ilk,, Hrifl ,,t" Hit. m/l,lflpn ,v.„<.-.l. -ifi.. :,. .^.....^ , 1. . .. ., . . 



drift ot the modern match rifle is more than about two 

 feet at 1,000 yards, and no doubt some small portion of 

 this is due to earth rotation. I found the drift from Whit- 

 worlh hexagonal rifles was about three feet. Metford's 

 2,000 yards rifle, taking 150 grains of Curtis & Harvey's No. 

 5 and a 700 grain percussion shell, did not appear to have 

 any drift at either 1,000 or 2,000 yards. As far as f have 

 observed, the drift is the same in England whether one 

 shoots north, south, east or west. No doubt south of the 

 Equator it would be more or less compensated by earth rota- 

 tion, as it would have to be deducted from the total amount 

 while here it is added to it. 



I need only add that at the time this question was 

 searched into great pairs were taken to insure the vertically 

 of the sights by delicate spirit levels, and that the rifles 

 were carefully shot at twelve yards to get a true starting 

 point. Believe me, yours truly, H. St. J. Hautobd; 



For Forest and Stream awl Mod and llvn 

 LONG-RANGE SHOOTING ON GAME. 



BY T. 8. VAN 1IVKE. 



THERE are few subjects about which more extravagant 

 nonsense has been shed from tongues and quills than 

 about the performances of hunters and experts with the 

 rifle ; and certain forms of exaggeration have become so 

 stereotyped that many good hunters and writers, who really 

 know better, unconsciously follow them. Much delusion 

 has been dispelled by the more philosophical procedure of 

 the past four years In the history of rifle shooting; but 

 a large amount of it has, instead of being destroyed, been 

 only driven to another place of refuge. Pew persons would 

 venture now to write or talk about driving nails by the 

 dozen at even thirty yards, instead of 100 as formerly ■ but 

 since the great impetus lately given to long-range target, 

 shootiug, and the remarkable achievements therein, there 

 has been a proportionate increase in the extravagance of the 

 talk about killing game at long-ranges, until a man would 

 now be almost ashamed to write about killing a deer under 

 150 or 200 yards at the least. 



Now, in the name of a sound sporting philosophy, let us 

 stop this and have the truth. If, either through defective 

 rifles, sights, or natural difficulty of estimating distance, we 

 cannot with any approach to certainty kill game beyond' 300 

 yards, let us by all means acknowledge it, and either ac- 

 commodate ourselves to it or try in some way to overcome 

 the hindrance. For the sake of the beginners, let us not be 

 talking about knocking over game, as a matter of course at 

 400 and 500 yards, wdien we can't do it on an average more 

 than once in half a dozen times. 



Now, no one need point to the superior range of the 

 breech-loader as a proof that any great improvement has 

 been made in killing game at long distances, so tar aB the 

 throwdng of a single ball is concerned. The whole superior- 

 ity of the breech-loader (I except the Creedmoor rifles from 

 this) over the " Old Kentucky" lies in the great ease with 

 which tbo heavy ball that was always necessary for good 

 shooting at over 150 yards may now be introduced. The 

 art of making a rifle do accurate shooting at mid-ranges 

 "" well (though not as universally) understood many 

 uanyan "Old Keutnck" 

 Jed with a wefl-patched 

 e sights and fired by the 

 >uld make the score of 

 look a Utile slim all the 

 i some of the Creedmoor 

 ■ared even 



years ago as it is now, and there is 

 in the backwoods to-day that, lot 

 heavy ball, mounted With the sai 

 same hand as the breech-loaders, y 

 some of our best " sporting " rifle 

 way up to 500 yards, and I fear even 

 rifle owners would begin to wonder, 



with a Creedmoor rifle. Beyond 500 or 600 yards the breech- 

 loader might be ahead on account of the difficulty of patch- 

 ing for the muzzle-loaders (in the old way, with linen circu- 

 lar patch) a ball heavy enough for a very long flight. The- 

 breech-loader's superiority for killing game lies, entirely in 

 its rapidity of Are, an advantage which, to my mind, far 

 outweighs every other considerations, so loug as" it is not too 

 inaccurate. But it leaves the question — How far can game 

 be killed ?— just where il was before. 



Now, the way in which about three-quarters of all the 

 tremendously long shots we hear about arc made is simply 

 this: The hunter sees a deer at a long distance, looking 

 about the size of a fawn. He shoots and drops him perhaps 

 at the first sight ; or, what is much more likely, he shoots 

 two or three or lour times, and the deer, instead of running 

 away, only jumps a few steps or stands Still until begets 

 the range. But when be drops ! "Gr-D-r-eat C{0 e-e-c-sar ! 

 what a shot I" exclaimed the delighed shooter ; " 400 yards, 

 by jingo !" This he fully believes, for he does not measure 

 the ground, and by the time he gets home he has actually 

 persuaded himself that it was 450, and when he comes to 



