FOREST AND STREAM 



281 



AMERICAN AMMUNITION. 



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REALIZING the importance of this subject, which for 

 some time past has been agitated in these columns, 

 and being desirous of imparting to our readers such infor- 

 tion as might help solve the question as to the quality of 

 ammunition of home manufacture—referring in this in- 

 stance more particularly to paper shells— we recently 

 made a visit to the works of the Union Metalic Cartridge 

 Co. at Bridgeport and gave to the manufacture of this 

 branch of American ammunition a most thorough exami- 

 nation. A description of the details of this most ingenious 

 and even wonderful process, so characteristic of a country 

 productive of labor-saving machines of every kind, must, 

 for want of space, be left for another time; a summary of 

 results will be all that we can at present present. In a 

 letter published last week from Mr. Hobbs, under whose 

 direction the paper shells, and in fact all the ammunition 

 of the Bridgeport Company, is manufactured, it was stated 

 that the miss-fires of American shells was owing to the 

 want of uniformity in the chambering of guns. It is un- 

 questionably this want of uniformity, which, by allowing 

 in some instances the head of the shell to sink below the 

 position in the breech intended for it, thereby increasing 

 the angle at which it is struck by the firing pin, to which 

 the whoie difficulty can be traced. In preparing for the 

 manufacture on a large scale of an article of this descrip- 

 tion, for which expensive and elaborate machinery is re- 

 quired, it is necessary to start with a standard which shall 

 ensure uniformity. Out of a number of guns Mr. Hobbs 

 chose the smallest in order to avoid making a shell which 

 would not enter the chambers of some guns. In four 

 guns we examined, all purporting to be number twelve 

 guage, we found a difference of one hundredth of an inch 

 in the bore of the chamber. After the Bridgeport shell 

 has passed through the last stage of manufacture it is still 

 passed to another person, whose duty it is to examine 

 each individual shell, and those in which the heads are 

 found to be below the standard are rejected, branded and 

 packed and sold separately at a reduced price, the pur- 

 chaser taking the chance of miss-fires. These shells are 

 marked and known as 3 C. Any sportsman finding this 

 mark on his Bridgeport shell, may know that it is sent 

 from the factory thus stamped to show that it has not 

 passed inspection. We experimented first with some 

 hundreds of these 3 C . shells. In the guns with the largest 

 chamber a number of them, perhaps from five to seven 

 per cent. , missed . These same shells placed in the gun 

 with the smaller chamber were exploded in every instance, 

 with the exception of one or two where the first blow from 

 the striker had probably displaced the fulminate. It will 

 be borne in mind that these were condemned shells. We 

 subsequntiy exploded a hundred or more of the regular 

 shells in all the guns without one miss-fire. 



To procure a uniform thickness of head is the great 

 object in the manufacture of these shells. The difficulty 

 of so doing can be realized when the multiplicity of pro- 

 cesses is witnessed. In England, owing to the cheapness 

 of labor, much of the work which here requires machinery, 

 is done by hand. The question of paper alone was one 

 most difficult to solve. The Messrs. Eley take all of one 

 manufacture, and it was long before an American house 

 could be found to turn out an article which would con- 

 form in all respects to the requirements. To sum up, if 

 shot guns were all chambered with the uniformity observ- 

 ed in the manufacture of our rifles, we should hear no more 

 of miss-fires from the first than we now do from the latter; 

 or if the firing pins were made to act more direct, as for 

 instance in the case of the Parker guns, we believe the 

 same results would be reached. By the bye, we would 

 like to hear from some one who has used the Bridgeport 

 shell in the Parker gun; the action of the firing pin with 

 them is almost horizontal, and unless a chamber was so 

 large as to permit the shell to pass beyond the reach of the 

 pin, no miss-fires should ever occur. Of one thing we 

 are convinced, the Bridgeport shell is made with all care, 

 the materials used are first-class, and the same as enter into 

 the manufacture of their rifle ammunition, which is ad- 

 mitted to be excelled by none. The letter which we print 

 below explains very clearly the cause of miss-fires and sug- 

 gests a remedy, which coincides with all that we have 

 written:— 



Pittsbttcsh, Penn,, November 30th, 1875. 

 Bditob Forest and Stream:— 



I have read with interest the various communications that have ap- 

 peared in the columns of Forest and Stream in reference to American 

 ammunition, and have concluded to give my experience with Bridgeport 

 shells; also, to give reasons why so many of them fail to explode. I 

 have used upwards of 350 of them during the last five weeks, and only 

 failed on two. Now, Mr. Editor, one thing is certain- -we need ammu- 

 nition that does not cost so much as Eley's, but we want it reliable. I 

 useaW. C. Scott & Sons 8* pounds, No. 12-gauge breech loader, and 

 have used both Eley and Bridgeport shells. When I first bought my gun 

 I used American shells, and fully twenty per cent, failed to explode. 

 The query then was, what was wrong? I studied the matter over thor- 

 oughly, and while examining the exploded and unexploded shells my 

 attention was attracted to the difference in the indentation mark on the 

 •aps. Having here a clue, I took the barrels off the stock, pushed the 

 extractor down to its proper position, and put the unexploded shells 

 in and pushed them down with my thumb, I then laid a straight edge 

 across the breech end of the barrels and noticed the distance from the 

 face of the shells to the edge of my straight edge by fitting a piece of 

 wood between them. I marked them, and proceeded with my investiga- 

 tions. I now took two exploded shells and went through the same for- 

 mula, and I detected the difference instantaneously, viz., the exploded 

 shells were thicker in the head. As the barrels were already chambered 

 and countersunk for the shell head, this could not be easily remedied, so 

 wfcat was the alternative here? Mycnn hm m ■■■■(■: idirg locks. While 

 I was hunting a remedy for the disease i acoideu tally pulled the trigger 

 hack, and with my thumb shove i the hauuner ahead on the pin and had 

 my attention called to the fact that the hammer had to move one six- 

 teenth of an inch before .it to an bed the end of the firingSpin , Sera w m 



a good clue to work on. I argued that the one sixteenth additional 

 length would reach just that much farther, and reach thejshells with 

 thinner heads and make a deeper indentation and strike harder on the 

 anvils in the caps. I went to a machine shop, made two new firing pins, 

 put them in, and found that only about six per cent, missed fire, and 

 this on the left hand barrel. While drawing back the hammer I noticed 

 that the left hand spring was stronger than the right, and also noticed it 

 was perceptibly harder to shove forward. I took the locks off, took out 

 the spring, eased the spring on the rebounding side, and now, Mr. Edi- 

 tor, I have no trouble with the Bridgeport shells not exploding. The 

 English gun is evidently chambered for Eley's shells. I never had any 

 pnll off at the head while extracting. Just let persons troubled as Dr. 

 Webb was try my experiment, keep his shells dry, and give the firing pin 

 one eighth of an inch of a movement more if possible, and they will 

 without doubt be better satisfied with the results. 



Allow me to make a suggestion to our Bridgeport makers, and that is, 

 alter your dies to make a thicker and more uniform head, and put stiffer 

 and harder paper in them. Their caps for recapping paper shells are 

 splendid. I have used hundreds of them in recapping American and 

 English shells, and never had a miss-fire unless I was in too big a hurry 

 to get my shells recapped and forced them in crooked, which had the 

 effect of pulverizing the fulminating powder, rendering them useless. 

 When the cap does not go in straight and smoothly, reject it, for a miss- 

 fire may be the result. 



Here is another item. When you find a shell does not explode, ex- 

 amine the head and you will see that it is invariably forced into the coun- 

 tersink intended for the head, and that the blow of the firing pin has 

 struck the cap just hard euough to pulverize the fulminating powder be- 

 fore the shell is tight and firm against the shoulder, and that the inden- 

 tation on the cap is made after the shell is forced tight against the 

 shoulder and after the fulminate has been powdered and shaken out of 

 the cap. Friend op American Workmen and Sportsmen. 



RIFLE TYPES— MO. VI— CONCLUSION. 



The Grumbler and Protestor.— The cosmogony of 

 the Rifle Range would be incomplete without the Grumb- 

 ler and Protestor, two characters by no means of an amus- 

 ing kind. These individuals are sometimes distinct as to 

 species. Whereas you can stand the first, when the latter 

 takes a persistent form he is insupportable. Grumbling 

 may be defined as epidemic— protesting, fortunately, is 

 only endemic. A man may, however, start out as a mild 

 carper, merge into the confirmed grumbler, and end by be- 

 coming a chronic protestor. The grumbler "wants to know 

 why every officer— every man jack ©f them— ain't on the 

 range; what they were elected for, if they never come on 

 the ground? Why must he stand in line to get his shooting 

 ticket, when he saw Bill Wiper get his ticket without any 

 such fuss?" He can't see why he "can't come down any 

 day, or at any time, and fire at any target he pleases. Ain't 

 it a free range and a free country? He would just like 

 any man to tell him why they always made it a point of 

 putting him to shoot on No. 4 target Oh! he knew why — 

 just to favor a lot of privileged fellows, who seemed to 

 think the range was their's, and did just what they pleased. 

 He was'nt going to fire off a single shot more until he knew 

 where his last shot had hit. What was a range officer for, 

 but to find it out for him? Suppose he had to run down 

 a thousand yards or so to the target every time he wanted 

 him? Was'nt the range officer put in office just for that? 

 They would'nt let him fire all his shots, but he was late 

 and the match was ended. Was it his fault he missed the 

 boat?" Generally the grumbler expects that all the rules 

 and the entire machinery of the range shall be stopped or 

 started according to his pleasure, and that every officer of 

 the association should be at his beck and call. He never 

 can see that exactly the thing he insists shall be done is im- 

 possible. His personal grumbles are incessant. "That 

 man's rifle," he says, "has got one band too many and it 

 ain't right," or "that other man's position was'nt fair; he 

 shot fully six inches nearer the 1,000 yards target than I 

 did." His own arms and ammunition are fruitful sources 

 of grievance to him. "He never yet got a decent car- 

 tridge, and never expected to. Powder never was twice 

 alike, and it was'nt lead the bullets were made of, but dross. 

 There never was a gun kicked like his, nor a piece that 

 caked and fouled so." Then the sun and wind have al- 

 ways combined to bother him. Even when it rains, that 

 natural phenomenon surprises and aggravates him. He is 

 certain, too, that every human being on the ground, from 

 the waiter in the restaurant to the markers, are conspiring 

 to defraud him of his rights and privileges. The grumb- 

 ler is invariably a miserable shot, and deserves to be one. 

 He frets, fumes and worries so much over any and every 

 trifle that his nerves are entirely gone. At first when you 

 are thrown in. companionship with such a captious creature, 

 his presence is irritating to a degree. It time you get to 

 pity what is truly only an unfortunate form of insanity. 

 If, however, charitable people look on the grumbler as a 

 nuisance, the protestor is held to be a pest, and when he 

 assumes the chronic stage, he is the most noxious animal 

 to be found on the range. As there are sea lawyers, so 

 there are range lawyers. He does not attend a match in 

 order to shoot, but to litigate. He is only so far learned 

 in the laws of the N. R. A. as to quibble with them. He 

 is ever on the watch to find his neighbor at fault. If there 

 should happen to be a single rule which might, by the most 

 malicious twisting and ingenious straining, have a double 

 or doubtful interpretation, he will wait patiently until his 

 opportunity comes, and then he will manufacture a first- 

 class snarl. Then only is he happy, and out comes an 

 elaborate Protest. He has such a respect for this word, and 

 gloats over it so much, that he never writes it without a 

 capital P. He passes most of his useless life in concocting, 

 compiling and eliminating protests. He watches positions, 

 and should an unluckly man only put the thumb of his 

 left hand the sixteenth . part of an inch out of regulation 

 drill, he notes it, and this is the ground work for some fu- 

 ture voluminous protest. He has been known to interrupt 

 a man who was in the very act of firing, by unrolling a 

 protest as long as a piece of wall paper and fluttering it in 

 his face. He wrote a protest of fourteen pages, founded 



on the fact that Corporal Buster of the 277th, had the fifth 

 regimental button on his military coat not properly secured 

 in its appropriate buttonhole, and another document of 

 equal length was directed' against Private Sloven of the 

 772d, who certainly did his firing with unblacked boots. 

 While ruining himself in stationery, and flooding the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee with protests, the protestor himself has 

 this singular characteristic— that of being wrong ninety- 

 nine times in the hundred. Either his protest is badly 

 framed, or sent to the wrong officer, or directed against an 

 innocent person, or at variance with the facts. Neverthe- 

 less he considers these matters as minor points, and insists 

 on a judgment in his favor. Not satisfied with decisions 

 dead against him, based on common sense, he protests 

 again and again against official judgments. Next he breaks 

 out in appeals, and from what was a cinder heap he con- 

 structs a Himalayan mountain. From the Executive Com- 

 mittee he appeals to the Board of Directors, and if he had 

 his own way would carry his nonsense before the Supreme 

 Court of the Uniten States. This disagreeable being is the 

 enemy of mankind in general and the deadly foe of rifle 

 associations in particular. But what is worse, having ham- 

 pered everything for a while, should his claims be ignored 

 he never ceases bewailing what he calls "the injustice done 

 him," and he ends by endeavoring to create ill feeling, in- 

 variably singling out the most meritorious officers in the 

 organization and maligning them with false imputations. 

 The best— the only remedy in a case of this nature — is to 

 sit down on the protestor — i. e. t to crush him out. Some 

 rather honest yet hasty men on rifle ranges have thought 

 that if an accident should occur, such as the discharge of 

 his own rifle, so that he might be made lame for life, or 

 incapable of coming on a range at all, that this would be 

 considered by them as a merciful visitation of Providence; 

 but we are not of this opinion. To give him the cold 

 shoulder and to back up the decisions of the officers is the 

 best plan; then send him a letter signed by the majority of 

 the club politely requesting him to sever his connection 

 with the association, and he has his quietus. This duty is 

 an imperative one, or the chronic Protestor will ruin all 

 the profit or pleasure to be derived from your rifle range. 

 Such a man as we have endeavored to describe would keep 



on protesting and appealing in the kingdom of the blest. 

 «»»»» 



Opinions of the People.— We are pleased to quote 

 what some of the leading journals say of our new book 

 entitled "Camp Life in Florida," as well as a few private 

 opinions: — 



Fifty per cent, of the people going to Florida this Winter will, I be- 

 lieve, buy your hook. It is most seasonable, and decidedly a hit—Com. 

 L. A. Beardslee, XT. S. N. 



It is just the book for every one eoing to Florida, and every one that 

 stays at home. It must go off like hot cakes.— Geo. A. Boardman. 



It is very interesting, and I am sure the public will appreciate a book 

 so long needed.— Major H. W. Merrill, U. S. A. 



Charming in its style, and valuable for the information it contains; — 

 Detroit Public Leader. 



All necessary information in its pages.— Phila. Inquirer. 



One of the best guides issued.— JW. Y. Daily Graphic. 



Valuable and indispensable work.— New Bedfoi*d Standard. 



Can find nowhere so much or so accurate information about Florida 



Evening Mail. 



Cannot fail to interest.— Richmond Dispatch. 



From personal observation we can recommend it as a capital guide. 



Yonkers Gazette. 



A most interesting contribution on the natural history and geography 

 of Florida.— Kentucky Live Stock Record. 



Has met with overwhelming approbation.— £2. Augustine Press. 



Highly interesting matter for the tourist, health or pleasure seeker — 

 N. Y. Bulletin. 



No one could follow to Florida a more intelligent and genial guide.— 

 Washington Sunday Herald. 



Sportsmen will be delighted with this book, as it contains just the in- 

 formation they are constantly in pursuit of.— Chicago Field. 



A great deal of information not to be picked out of common guide 

 books. — Rod and Gun. 



A mass of information that has not been hitherto readily accessible 

 and all visitors to the South will gladly avail themselves of its assist- 

 ance.— 2V". Y. Times. 



Altogether refreshing.— Scientific American. 



Supplies a want long felt.— Tallahassee Floridian. 



Renders essential service not only to sportsmen and health hunters but 

 to the State of Florida itself .—Brooklyn Union. 



■ ■■ ■ ' ^ H » ■ 



"Camp Life in Florida."— The Forest and Stream 

 Publishing Company have sent out 200 copies of "Camp 

 Life in Florida" to the editors of leading newspapers. Any 

 of our exchanges who have not received copies, and wish- 

 ing them, will oblige us by notifying us to that effect. 

 — -»i»» 



—Col. Skinner, of the Turf, Field and Farm, has pub- 

 lished a letter in which he makes decided objection to Mr. 

 Bergh's suggestion to the New Jersey farmeis to shoot 

 him for hunting foxes over their lands. This is quite 

 natural, and we don't wonder at it. Better shoot the foxes 

 we think— and send Mr. Bergh to Utica. 



—While Dr. M. G. Ellzey, President of the Virginia Ag- 

 ricultural College at Blacksburgh, was hunting for quail 

 last week, he had a very narrow escape from death, his 

 dog having knocked his gun from a log in such a way 'that 

 it was discharged within a few inches of his head. The 

 accident did not prevent his bagging fourteen quail, how- 

 ever. 



Now Let Every Newspaper Man Hurrah, Give 

 Thanks, and Sing!— Postmaster Jewell, in his Post Office 

 report says:— 



"I recommend that the postage on transient newsmnpr* 

 and periodicals, books, printed matter of all sorts K 

 graphs and maps, sheet music, photographs and warm 

 scripts designed tor publication, shall be reduced to m,, 

 cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof which w»* 

 the rate before the enactment of the law advancing it dnV 

 ing the dosing hours of the last Congress." * 



