S64 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



never be answered by the inertia advocates. Another set of 



expert reasonerg have taken the contrary, and have advanced 



the theory that iu the passage, of the missile through the gun, 



s drawn forward, 1 suppose, either by suction or 



r of the missile or separation of the 



. In: mini suddenly drew the sun bark and kicked 



'..mi Phis theory would have cogency, provid'u 



drawn forward n " sufficiently astopro- 



,, ;i shock at its recovery. In direct opposition to 



.there is another class who argue that, the 



- or is driven back from the time the tail 



until its escape. To make the thing brief, the gi 



back w'nii all the force Of the charge, less the resistance of 



nd V , e !i of the gun. This theory has the, 



oi pr< i itiug something tanuible to reason trom ; but 



the old ditlleulty of bucking against one hundred pounds, ami 

 getting the missile in the bull's eve', would most, effectually 

 knock the bottom out of this Theory. The advocates for the 

 theory of recoil while the missile is in the gun, have 



I experimented with guns on a level plain and then on 

 an inclined plain, and have found the gun moved ; have sus- 

 pended them by string, or strings, with the .same result, and 

 have, owderso small that it failed to 



propel the missile entirely from the gui tiorj ; 



and it is claimed by them that this is a kno~k-down argument 

 for then' position. 



It will be borne in mind, and, really, Iwmdd life 

 reader to hold his finger on this point, that, so long as a 

 without check there is no recoil, and it 

 '■what amount of force propels it. Like the 

 fellow who. in attempting lo fly, jumped out of Ihe chamber 

 window , f, mnd it easy Hying, but the alighting played the mis- 

 chief with him. If we place a small quantity of powder on 

 the end of a sheet of note-paper, bold the paper by the 

 iie end, and explode the powder, the end of the paper 

 pov ii: was placed will be driven down, ex- 

 hibiting recoil, and there is ho missile to move here! Now 

 what produces the recoil r Simply that the column , 



eel upward is arrested by the unyielding 

 atr, and the unspent force that could nol all escape in 

 that direction is driven back upon the paper, and the paper 

 not possessed of strength enough tore Isl th 'coil is driven 

 down. Here we will introduce a serin* of experimenls with 

 vehicles that will represent gun barrels of equal weight, and 

 •ly on some indicator that will measure 

 ■ ■ charged each with an equal quantity of powder and no 



tides will open with a divergence ol 

 forty degrees, and the last one will end with vertical .-. all 

 cylinder!. As we explode these charges in these vehicles il 



will be found each tie of Ihem laterally, and 



that We will increase tin r c -d 

 and now if we :idd missile to consolidate this column of gas, 



and increase its force from time to time, we may increal 



recoil indefinitely, at any rule to the full tolerance of the 

 vehicle. 



We claim that the missile plays no par! in the action of re- 



.eept, that it retards and consolidates the column of gas, 



and which gas. when arrested by the air, being more eonsoli- 



imoutri of recoil. We will 



- n odu i one insta ■ eged recoil. W 



i arm of blazing gases >i". 

 ttii bi :: time before the rocket starts, 

 but as soon as the column of gases press against the air with 

 greater force than the weight of the rocket, we see tie 

 at once driven away by the recoil. How, really ? Why, the 

 orce that would escape, and re- 

 turns it again to the rocket, just the same as when we I 

 rubber bali against a wall, the force that took the ball away 

 being unspent on its arrest, firings it back to the point, of 



reing the cartridge of this rocket on the stock, and 

 placing the stock on some scale that will indicate force, and, 

 igniting it, we can tell just how much recoil a man would 

 eifthesb - placed against the shoulder, 



my one suppose that the recoil of a gun 

 from that of any other receptacles for the burning of gun- 

 powder ? Wedon't see how theycau. Tin air always resists 

 in proportion to the suddenness of attack, and in this 



meexpi i i discharging its force upward and 



another downward. Commencing with those that are slow 



u ir combustion, we find when ignited they make but 



little impression on things on which they rest, but as their 



sudd, i esed, we find things beneath begin to 



yield, until they can 1 i stiddenand powerful that 



rocks are crushed beneath them in open air. and, why? 

 Because the unaccommodating air is less yielding than the 

 rock. On the same principle, will, ordinary black powder. 

 that is slowed down with charcoal to accommodate the 

 strength of guns, rocks can lie crushed under water. 



hose who contend that a gun recoils while the 

 missile is in it, would like to know why a gun is forced back 

 before the missile escapes if it is not the recoil we are con- 

 tending for, since the fact that a gun is driven back has been 

 determined by careful experiments, as admitted above. 



This we propose to show- immediately after slim-, tngtha 

 bullet in its passage through the gun produces no recoil 

 directlv. 



Almost, every one knows that pern force in the form of 

 gases pushes in every direction alike, and the 

 and pent in a gun-barrel furnishes no exception to 

 (.he rule, ad t claim that the pa. 

 agh the gun only enlari 



dinnry gun i baarronged 



i 



several pounds, and would hardly cavity oi an 



ordinary gun when intact, stock and all; b 



may be' decidedly driven back so as to disturb the shooting. 

 At. any rate I his force does not disturb Ihe shooting at Creed- 

 moor, with a linn holding and a 10-pOUhd 



With certain phenomoua in ride shooting may view 

 this Column of air -pack preceding the missile as a sort of 

 nhimera; but what flattens the apex of leaden bolts and cbnx- 



pells the use of tin to harden them r Surely it is net a 

 chimera: We have one more experiment to dies 

 that is, what, mak, s B gun recoil when the missile, is not en- 

 tirely ejected from it. 



If we charge a gun with a bullet that will take lie 

 pounds in move, and only powder enough to partly drive if 

 through Ihe bore, when we start the bullet there must, lie a 



i | mnd ormi e propelling it so far as it goes Mr a 



ittle extra force is generated in the start momentum rnav 



jarry it a trifle beyc id as soon as the force falls below 8 



pounds the bullet stops '■ <w. at the stopping 



must be in le i 5 or ' unds Of unspent force, which will 



be thrown back 



the bullet has n 



pack the air 



>i» 



ed quick c 

 what, th 



to the point of urn -I to 

 of the normal pressure of 

 that air would aid the backward movement proportionately. 



Gunpowder is not all instantly consumed in the breech of a 

 gun, but is burned the entire lenrfb of the barrel with aug- 

 menting force as it proceeds. If the powder Spent all its 

 force suddenly at the breech the momentum Of tl 



would lie greatly impaired by friction before it escaped. The 



missile rests firmly on the powder, and a! 



f, ,;i ■' pi-ei, ..;.! in the powder the mis- 



sile Starts, slowly at tirst. comparatively, and inct e 

 aproximate. for the first foot at the rate of om hundred feet 

 the second; second foot, three hundred feet the second; 

 third loot, nine hundred feel the second; but when relieved 

 of Ihe friction and cone, re -a I air il perhaps jumps away for 

 the lirst few hundred feet at. the rale of two thousand feet. 

 persecond. Saving, as we think, fairly, though ■ 



viewed the various tie ■ ,ia - , a Pvoil thai have been ei ain id 



from time to time, and shown their objections, wesubmit this 

 as being th* < • 1ST Bono. 



■ •■I I i .i proper met propoi 



it i 'a, ovi ry shot with JTos. -1, 5 and ft. and "r to W 



measurer! yards, t therefore pleads fait hearing for No. s, 



ir win be B. R i aui, after a 



fair trial, lie ,,.,, i then ilnti ml ahli ,.,. at, and with these 



gracious word! i a ,;,nt, in the service." A3 I' 



■ - - graced, i. think. 

 I wish, to learn the penetration or death-dealing cpa 



oth are placed on the same eqnal tooting iiy HSiig propor- 



il I ■ -: a.-ae " differ in size as tl 



i a , one - thai n 111 g - - 

 a ■■ , i i ; I . . ■■■■-. • pellet has 



| 



ipparcnt The proportionate chn gei I ■ these guns, as 

 fmuid ill the table prepared by me, and on record in FOBBKTANP 

 Stkf oi of Feb. 15. 1477, and. again, together With a table of proportion- 

 ate targets, in lion ANti Gun of April 7, is;-, are: Charge for No. 6 

 ig , "■ , nichms of good strong powder, andl?, ounce of shot ; 

 good Strong pOwUer, and 1 '.,' 

 ounce of shot. The?, _ , -i- u, ,i or diminished, lint 



ill. no la.. . from it for 



POSITIVE ACTIONS vs. SNAP ACTIONS. 



Emion Forest and Stream; 



" Bonnie nine Flag" savs 



Fobbst and Si ream, June 7: 



capper's' opinion of 

 arc an abomination." 

 of the most popular h 

 men who u 



Prrrsr.ria ; ■! an ■ I ". LE I 



But we admit 



sheen previous- 



take a gun-bar- 



l'iis. charge it with 



mds to ne , 



■i is forced to the 



lal force manlfesl 



gas, which 



grains to thi 



until the bullet is 

 pressed gasst 



the yun moves, but not from the cause that In- 

 ly claimed, that is to our knowledge. If we 

 Oat we can force in air or gas 

 i Ut, which will require 8 pound 



e an I on e in il - bll 



muzzle we surely will find no a 



cale i cepl tJ e specific weight of 



tie, if air, a little short of 3: 

 cubic inches: but if we now adc 

 , a ; fn mi I lie muzzle at once on th 



6 will have extra force indicated on the scale in ihe 



PCoil. Bj this we , I, i ■ ,, —first, that 



the swelling of the receptacle by Hie moving of the- bullet 



e i ■■■■ I herei no i stra force used 



; i loesnOl move until after the bullet escapes. Hut 



Eorce developed where the bullel 

 through the gun so suddenly, il is compressed or impacted 

 air If this column of air -preceding the bullet is u - I 



a a,- ii!, eMemal air, the gnu will be 



crowded Ire I. I» f- ■ ! I Ihe bullet, and L SOlti 



prelude re, H place] I I tD H| "I ' 



the air of the more powerful column of expli 



e-.edbyevperiiia , 



much 

 from 

 too gl 

 less t I 

 The 



nv g 



th 



invs iii his letter published in the 

 , T : -'I agree cordially with 'Re- 

 action guns — thai, as u rule, they 

 re we have a wholesale denunciation 

 i action in use to-day among spocts- 

 ,i although " Recivpper" has -vi-iii, 

 I have failed to notice an a e 

 rcrs. Perhaps they would only be 

 positive actions ; I am sure they cost 



■er is not interested in the 

 r action, and was only pron 

 luinns of your valuable pa 

 men about to order fine guns might 

 that most convenient of all breed 

 Durabilily and convenience are the t 



s, the top-snap. 

 atials in a breecb- 



se, if necessary, b - 



1o the former, but that action that most fully combines both 

 durabilily and convenience is the best action. The most ar- 

 ea i a ■■,!-, cateof positive actions must admit that the top-snap, 

 as made by .Messrs. I -'n nicy. Sell ,v ideencr; is more con- 

 venient than any positive-action in use to-day. Then the only 

 finest ion to deci'ce is, ''Are top-snap acl ions durable?" Let 

 us look at the evidence on this point. Mr. James Purdy, of 

 London, while at the Centennial Exhibition, showed the 

 writer a little 20 gauge snap-action breech loader that he 

 bad made for a prominent sportsman of Europe, with a letter 

 from the owner, certifying that the gun had been tired over 

 20,000 times, and vi I and Tree from "shake" as 



e- la a : a ae Iti lands. We have in our sportsmen's 



association at least fill e siiiip-fioi, Mi . a of them, 



to my own knowledge, have had very hard usage; b« [hi 

 vet to hear of a single riuo gun Hint has become the least 

 shaky. But perhaps Q&itmnged evidence o" 

 of the top-snap can be furnished by reference 

 dus. Helms used one of Scott's top-action 

 live years, and during that time has exploded 

 in it than any amateur sportsman would use in a Ii 

 and no one, I think, will deny that I lie Captain, on many oc- 

 casions, uses heavier charges than most of us would care to 



shoulder. During his recen) exhibition at Gihnore's Garden 



he fired more cartridges in a single evening than most spoils- 

 men use in an entire year, and the Captain speaks in his book 



of having, on one I so rapidly that the barrels 



l a, meltedfrom ,i. -withstanding this unusual 



wear and tear, the " abominable snap-action'' on hi 



good to-day as when it, left the maker's hands. Then, is il, 

 not. folly to ca'l such an action an ■ 



I agre'e fully with "Bonnie Blue Flag" that Recappers' arti- 

 cles are Very readable ; but, for that reason, his theories are 

 the more dangerous. Ei-rnr. 



o Capt, Bogar- 

 guns for nearly 

 nore cartridges 





of e 



.; i, 



attoi 



furnish the public, through Fokest 

 'ith the resells of an impartial trial of 

 l the same tlasks and lues, th 

 ; an I to fit equally llrrn, gm , 



. 



With I ale and cttokr;- 



B. K. B. be ph 



a AND KOIl AN 

 .ai.ll llllllilillli 

 to beef cqea 

 well cleaned, etc., the gn 



it shooter, two shol with the mnzzl 



l,orc. or one e 

 targets ; then wo shall know why the r.tvoke-i 



ol i i ew thicker and pertia 

 But 7 wish to see how .and puriicularly 



mude e'lias. Hoping I am not asking too much la our good 

 sporting, 7 fun .yonrs to command, -Ma.i. II. W. MERRILL. 



e ins,, the 



ilisf - 



of 



WILL B. R. B. TRY HIS GUNS V 



Editor Fohest , 



a,:,,,,:-,-. ,ia a,i ■ , i-,,a, remarks ol B.Tt.B.. of Galres- 



to i is, in your oolumaa Of May 17, istr, on "Light Choke Bores vs. 



1 , ■. , ,,, ■-, 11 ,. lie 1 tii savs: 



"After a sea -,e imgon Ihe Texas 1 



V'-"-;iii£c ,-tiela d Fox iriiii. will, i-n ,,|,, ,.,„■,, -i ,:eler made by 



1: - , 1,1- ■ a 11 mi- a: a I sed ,■■ a I 



spnri. la fact, most of the liim he C-o tthompplee, 



aa V I a a - USl I : ! lei - ' ' 



I a, , , . it, the ducks 



I , r IT..- , ball;,." " ' * 



,| 1 ,:.■.,.-,■ a , , - with a reflect on. I have not 



then ■■' Ll 



,, , . ,,, a solicit Will lera.nei - L'-ai I 



Mli ., mfi . , 1 • , Hon ■,,,-.--,,, 



I , ' a II in, ' -1 aa'', II 



L yet eroviilcd tic 



inn an I trot 



In 11 e 1 1 

 ; ail thai "■ u " I ■' 'i '' ■ e ' It 1- for large 



I e ," , .III ,e I 1. ,-.7;. 



: and (tun" columns amy liudre- 



-ei;,,a tng; At a re- 



irtbern counties, a planer was 



, i 

 ,1 u vrrv valuable animal, and 



11 

 iiiry ri marks he, said : " V. a 



I iwn and 



with its paw right to a fjh'il." 

 ,, issue of the case. 



11, ; a-,- I 11 a Bill -. ' 188 CO 1 ' ,'aae 1 a, Una ,,; ( a 



etatnte relating to the Shooting of Eongbirds, a man was released be- 

 ,■ a 1 ■ did not knoW whether a red-winged blackbird could be 



■ ■ ■ .,,-:■ red a song bird or 1 3u li Us is an age of eniigi 



Perchance the next tiling will be that a setter, Ii E 

 hawk is a game bint, or something equally as start line,. 



FiiiToi: Forest asp Stream; 



1 lie renders nf the "Ob 



lief from the ordinary run of Bpo 

 ceni session Of court in one of 



-,,, ' nuicerniug the siion 



plaintilf Unit the doe a 

 during the testl 



ol the rial \ tier a tew 1 



anybody -nd 'a' know'd it w 



1 very epiiet. 

 ad plenty of 

 of sport and 

 r ed to re- 

 bel ow heie ; 



ith torehefi, 



jOexteii Pai:k. Ij. I., June 23.— (irounds of the Long 

 Island Shooting Club— Monthly contest for the champion cup 

 of the club; shot for at seven birds each, 35 yards, 80 yards 

 boundary. Long Island club rules. 



Edwards 1 11111 1— T Atkins t 1 en w 



Di Wynne (ST yds).] 11111 •■— « Browcr 1 1 u w 



1 Je sl< ei . 1 1 S Br, 

 Williams 1 1 1 1 1 11 w Hughes n 1 ,1 u w 



Heddrn U I t 1 1 I 11—5 Flinrsall. . . a a 



W'llne.r 1 1 1 1 1 n w liuhiiisnu ...1 II II w 



E' dy 1 1 1 1 w Harris 1 



a,,,., ,,jv (it toll w Henderson .011 w 



Martin..". n 1 1 " 1 D— 3 llowue... w 



In the sweepstakes shooting which followed, Messrs. 

 Broadway. Henderson and Gildersleeve led in the lirst match, 

 and Wynne, Williams and Broadway in tl.; 



i:-,. La Crosse, June 23e— It has bee 

 in the sporting line here this spring. We h 

 pigeons here a while, and should have had lots 1 

 plenty of birds all the season had they I 

 main, as they were nesting about twenl_ 

 but a lot of men and boys went in the night wit 

 poles, etUDS, etc., and completely routed and drove them 

 out. The ground for about four miles long and two 

 wide was literally covered with egg shells, making the third 

 time they have been broke up in this section, which I think 

 is a good reason why you did not get plenty of birds aDd in 

 season for your State shoot. We succeeded, however, in 

 getting a few birds, and on June 'it a few of the liovs bud a 

 little shoot which passed off very pleasantly, it being the first 

 of the season for this place. All wild pigeons and Btrong 

 dyers : twelve birds to a man ; usual distance, bounding, 



l, Here is score: 



, 1 a 9 H E West a 



a a vurd Bi Jim Vincent s 



GusEngel 9 Win Hull n 



Joe Done 3 Ed Parker j 



eJen Crosby 9 Geo Kleue s, 



Michigan. Detroit.— Shoot at Ilurlingham Park, June 20, 

 1S77. for State medal j 1 1 birds each, rnglish rules : 



J E Long 9 C A Mack .9 



ii IT Hawkins Geo Avery 9 



ili t E s Harbour p, 



J VII Eldridge 9 E U Gillmau w 



: 1 ig off ties of nine, at five birds each, Eldridge won 

 with five birds. 

 Same day, sweepstakes, English rules. 



KldrMgB 5 iV e '- y S 



long... • ■' >hi nn 4 



Barbour 4 Hawking 4 



Ties on Ave. 



Eldridge 1 '-a Avery 1 0-1 



Loug 1 



Eldridge and Long divided. 



Minnesota— Lake City. June loth, 1ST?. -The Lake Pejldn 

 Sportsmen's Club are just, alive, and on the shoot "red hat." 

 The following contest, was mainly for a beautiful silccr badge: 

 presented to the club by S. B. Dilley, Esq., tobe 1 

 in "lass ball shooting alone. Two silver cups were offered as 

 3d and 3d prizes. James McCroden won the badge, making 

 two lirst prizes won by him within a few weeks; The club 

 ,1 several hundred pigeons, and several challenges 

 arc in for the sold club badge: lively time 

 The following is Ihe score of last contest, : 

 . 



t} ['.,0,011 " E. A. l'arron ; 



■1 - I..-.- 6 



! ■ ---. 1 



J. a..... . .; 



1 -I <-'• W. In 11 ■■■. . . 



, , 



a 4 S. M. Simpson 7 



D S Oram ■' J-F.'^-r c 



