GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



149 



peating shot gun, 12 gauge, medium choke. 

 I have used one nearly 6 years and if you 

 want a game gun, and can shoot one of 

 these, it is the gun for you. I have hunted 

 with good shots, with 10 gauges, and never 

 saw them kill as many birds as I could with 

 my 12 gauge. Some of them have traded 

 fine 10 gauge double guns for repeaters and 

 think they are the best on earth. The only 

 objection to the repeater is that it uses a 

 2Yz shell. 



I have" killed 5 cranes out of one flock, 

 passing over me, and 4 geese. I have made 

 scores on other game that can't be beaten 

 by any 10 or 8 gauge gun. 



L. S. Van Vliet's idea, in not getting a 

 full choke gun is right. At- short range a 

 full choke gun, if held on the bird, cuts it 

 up till it is almost worthless. Furthermore, 

 on windy days, or in timber and cornfield 

 shooting, the best shots cannot do good 

 execution with a full choke, and I don't 

 think weight has anything to do with the 

 question of hard shooting. With the 10 

 gauge more shot can be used; but you will 

 have to load considerably heavier to get 

 the penetration of the 12 gauge load, and 

 most of the good makes of 12 gauge guns 

 will shoot right. 



We are too quick to find fault with the 

 gun. Most of the trouble is with us. We 

 all have off days. I have seen smooth bore 

 rifles, not much larger than 44 calibre, 

 shoot shot as hard as any of our shot guns. 

 I prefer a 12 gauge 30 in. gun, 7 pounds. 



What is the best rifle for big game? 



R. S. Brickey. 



Can you or any of your readers, tell me 

 where I can get a book on old guns and 

 pistols? 



I have a collection of over 100 old arms, 

 including U.- S. Army flint lock, made in 

 Harper's Ferry, 1809; Queen Anne flint 

 lock, 6 ft. long, used in the Revolution, and 

 a lot of old cap and ball pistols, with no 

 maker's name or date. Have some dupli- 

 cates, which I would be glad to trade. 



Recreation seems to treat of every- 

 thing, from a " chipmunk " to a moose, and 

 from a minnow to a whale. I could not 

 do without Recreation, and have it sent 

 to my camp, in the wilds of Maine, when 

 there; so I expect a flood of light from 

 you, or from your readers, a'bout old fire- 

 arms. C. R. Richards, Rochester, N. Y. 



" The Gun and its Development," by W. 

 W. Greener, published by Charles Scrib- 

 ner's Sons, N. Y., has a great fund of in- 

 formation about old guns. Captain Philip 

 Reade, of the U. S. Army, has contributed 

 to Recreation a series of illustrated ar- 

 ticles on old guns, which have been printed 

 within the past year. 



Will my readers please send me such in- 

 formation, and photographs, as they may 

 have, on this subject? — Editor. 



I would like to tell the readers of your 

 king of magazines about some of the work 

 of the 25-35 Winchester. It is all a mistake 

 to think it good only for small game. I 

 have killed bear, elk and deer with mine, 

 and have never handled a gun that could 

 do better work. I killed a deer last fall 

 that would not have known he had been 

 hit if I had used a black powder gun. He 

 was standing quartering to me, about 150 

 yards away. I intended to hit him in the 

 point of the shoulder; but under shot, and 

 only " ticked " his breast, cutting a gash 

 in the hide 1^ inches long. He ran 20 

 steps and fell dead. Now what killed him? 

 I examined his heart and it was a mass of 

 clotted blood. If Repeater, of Conners- 

 ville, Ind., thinks of killing small game, 

 with one of these rifles, he will have to hit 

 it in the head; for if he hits the body of a 

 duck, or a grouse, he won't have any game 

 to take home with him. A 32-40 or 38-55 

 would be a better target rifle. 



I have had 25 years' experience in the 

 Rockies, and the 25-35 is by far the best all- 

 round rifle I have ever used. 



M. P. Dunham, Woodworth, Mont. 



On page 467, of your June number, P. J. 

 M., Maxwell City, N. M., asks the opinion 

 of those who have used them, as to the 

 Lyman sights. 



For 8 or 10 years past I have used these 

 attachments and am highly pleased with 

 them. 



When first examined one is apt to think 

 them impractical; but after using them to 

 fire a few hundred shots no hunter would 

 go back to the old " buck horn " and 

 " knife-blade " affairs. 



On standing game one can " catch sight" 

 from one to 2 seconds quicker than with 

 an open sight; and that often makes just 

 the difference between getting a shot and 

 not getting it. 



On moving objects there is no compari- 

 son, at all, to be made. Wm. Lyman has 

 never put a bad thing on the market. 



Allow me to suggest that you exclude 

 from Recreation all illustrations showing' 

 any person leaning on the muzzle of a gun. 



Our sons and daughters are imitative 

 creatures and Recreation should con- 

 tribute nothing to aid the fool factories. 

 Just wait a little and give your readers a 

 portrait of the corpse. V. B. 



In my opinion the " best gun " is the 

 Burgess repeater. Beside being one of 

 the smoothest working guns in the market, 

 it has no equal for- close, hard shooting. 

 The rapidity and accuracy with which its 

 6 charges can be delivered into the midst of 

 a flock of ducks, bagging — in almost every 

 instance — ducks that would have gotten 

 away from a double barrel, warms the heart 

 of a sportsman. I have seen an entire flock 



