316 



RECREA TION. 



16 VS. 12. 



In reply to J. A. B., Osage, la., as to 16 

 gauge guns against 12 gauge: My experi- 

 ence with both has convinced me that for 

 all round shooting I prefer the 12 gauge, for 

 the following reasons: 



1. In wing shooting the 16 gauge does 

 not make a target large enough, when 

 shooting among brush; but will do in open 

 field work. 



2. If you choose a 16 gauge that makes a 

 target large enough you cannot use load 

 enough to fill the target properly. I re- 

 cently tested the penetration of a 16 gauge 

 and 12 gauge together, and the victory lay 

 with the 12 gauge for 2 reasons: a. The size 

 of the target was the same; and b. the pene- 

 tration was better, using as a load 3 drams 

 powder and 1 ounce No. 7 shot in both 

 guns. According to the usual theories the 

 16 gauge should have made the closer pat- 

 tern; but it did not make any better target 

 than the 12. Judging from my experience 

 a 16 is not in it with a 12 gauge gun. Let 

 us hear from others. 



W. B. Seavolt, Lock 53, Md. 



it is a close, hard shooter, it will not kill at 

 any such distance as 127 yards. 



Shanghai, New York City. 



NOTES. 



Do you think the 22 calibre rifle is large 

 enough to kill game, up to and including 

 foxes? 



A. G. Sullivan, Fanningdale, N. Y. 



ANSWER. 



No. A 22 bullet will kill even a deer, if 

 it hits him in the brain or in the heart; but 

 if you hit him, or a fox or a woodchuck, 

 with one of these, in any other part of the 

 body, he will have life enough left to run 

 a long distance, and, in many cases, would 

 escape. I would much prefer a 32-20 Mar- 

 lin or Winchester repeater. This cartridge 

 is cheap, gives no recoil to speak of, is ac- 

 curate and yet has plenty of killing power 

 for such game as you mention. It is all 

 right even for squirrels, because it is so 

 thoroughly accurate you can hit them in 

 the head, and not waste any meat. — Edi- 

 tor. 



In the current number of Recreation I 

 notice a communication from Chas. T. 

 Pinkham, Brooklyn, in which he asserts he 

 has killed game at 127 yards with a Win- 

 chester shot gun, using 2 l A drams powder 

 and iy 8 ounce No. 8 shot. I should like to 

 ask Mr. P. if that 127 yards was measured or 

 estimated. I have done considerable shoot- 

 ing, and have been plentifully sprinkled 

 with No. 8 shot at much shorter range than 

 127 yards, and do not believe the 12 gauge 

 shot gun has yet been made that will kill 

 game at such a range. One of my brothers 

 shoots a model '93 Winchester, but, while 



I do not understand why there has not 

 been a more combined and vigorous pro- 

 test, from the shooters of this country, 

 against the advance in price of all nitro 

 powders. It was a shrewd move on the part 

 of the manufacturers of powder, after they 

 had it well introduced and had proved it as 

 effective as black powder, and much pleas- 

 anter to use, to advance the price 25 per 

 cent. If, as I have seen it stated, the com- 

 panies can furnish to the Government 

 smokeless powder for less than 20 cents a 

 pound, I say the sportsmen of this country 

 should kick vigorously against paying 4 

 times as much for what they use. We can 

 kill all the game we ought to kill with black 

 powder, and it is but a short time ago we 

 thought it all right. Let us drop the nitro 

 powder, each and every one of us, until the 

 manufacturers " come to their gruel " and 

 give us nitro at reasonable figures. 



H. F. Chase, Amesbury, Mass. 



I am a close reader of Recreation and 

 find every subject discussed interesting^ as 

 well as instructive; especially those relat- 

 ing to guns and ammunition. I would like 

 to hear, through your journal, as to the ef- 

 fect of a 38-55-255 on big game, such as 

 moose, elk and deer, and whether there is 

 any way of making this arm more effective. 



Does smokeless powder, in this shell, 

 make any difference? If so, what? 



R. C. G., Merriam Park, Minn. 



After another season's use my partner and 

 I find no reason to change our good opin- 

 ion of the 30-30 Winchester smokeless rifle; 

 and would not trade one for any black 

 powder gun ever made. We find the full 

 jacketed bullet best; as the soft point bullet 

 lacks penetration, and we are unable to see 

 that it tears a much greater hole than the 

 full jacketed bullet. We have made some 

 remarkable shots with the 30-30, owing to 

 its flat trajectory. 



M. W. Miner, Banner, Idaho. 



I should like to hear, through Recrea- 

 tion, whether the 32 long smokeless cart- 

 ridge, used in the Marlin '92 model rifle, 

 is a success, and whether it would be strong 

 enough to kill bear and deer. 



A. F. Schroeder, Neenah, Wis. 



Will some reader of Recreation please 

 tell me what can be done with a gun that is 

 pitted in the barrels? 



E. J. D., Syracuse, N. Y. 



