5°° 



RECREA TION. 



I do not, however, claim that any of 

 them will kill game at 127 yards, with No. 

 8 shot and ^A drams of powder. Mr. Bert 

 Paige, of Antrim, N. H., claims he kills 

 hawks, with a Baker, at that distance, and 

 wishes some one to come and see him do 

 it. I wish very much to be one of the party 

 to visit him and see this wonderful per- 

 formance. A Baker (or any other 12 gauge 

 gun) that will shoot No. 8 shot hard 

 enough to kill at 127 yards, is a gun I would 

 very much like to own, and I suspect a 

 thousand more of my brother shooters 

 would like to be in it, with me. A gun 

 that is a sure killer at 60 yards (either rab- 

 bits or ducks) is a good one. While one 

 that is sure at 25 rods is a marvel. I want, 

 that gun! What say you — boys? Don't 

 you? 



I contend that a big gun (all things else 

 being equal) will kill farther than a little 

 gun; and it ought to. 



D. T. Tuthill. 



IN FAVOR OF THE MARLIN. 



Lima, O. 



Editor Recreation: I have noticed a 

 greal deal of correspondence in Recrea- 

 tion, as to which is the best rifle. I have 

 owned nearly all kinds of repeaters and 

 single shots, both large and small bore; 

 but have never found anything to equal the 

 Marlin repeater. I have a '92 model, 22 

 calibre, which is as accurate a gun as any 

 man ever shot; and it gives wonderful pen- 

 etration. I hand you herewith a target I 

 made, and into which I put 7 bullets, at 40 

 yards, using ordinary open sights, and 

 shooting off hand. 



In view of the fact that I had not fired a 

 gun for 2 years, until to-day, I don't be- 

 lieve you will call this wild shooting. 



You will notice all the shots are above 

 the centre line which I think shows that the 

 shooting would have been closer had I 

 placed the target at 50 yards, instead of at 



I have never done much shooting with 

 the larger calibre Marlin repeaters; but if 

 they are as accurate and as perfectly made 

 as their 22 calibre is, no sportsman need 

 look farther for a gun that will fill all his 

 requirements. Long live Recreation. 



W. F. Packard. 



EXPLOSIVE BULLETS. 



I should like to ask your readers if they 

 ever tried making explosive bullets for a 

 40-65 (or larger) rifle, by setting a 22 cali- 

 bre short cartridge in the mould, bullet up, 

 and then pouring the lead around it? 

 When it is cold nothing will show but the 

 butt end of the 22 shell, in the point of the 

 larger slug. 



A friend and I have tried this and the bul- 

 lets work well, at short distance. Being 



lightened by the process they have a ten- 

 dency to fall, and are not so good at long 

 range. 



My friend shot a coyote, at 150 yards, 

 with one of these bullets. It hit him in the 

 shoulder, and he looked as though he had 

 been shot with a howitzer. 



If any sportsmen have tried other forms 

 of explosive bullets I should be glad to 

 hear from them. 



We have as good grouse and goose 

 shooting here as can be had anywhere on 

 the Pacific coast. 



If Recreation should fail to come, one 

 month, I would not be the only mad per- 

 son in town; " there are others." 



Ronimus, Pendleton, Ore. 



SOFT OR CHILLED SHOT? 

 The Baker people and some other gun 

 makers advise the use of chilled shot, with 

 smokeless powder, to avoid leading the 

 barrels, and soft shot with black powder. 

 Is this right? If so why are all factory 

 loaded nitro shells put up with soft shot, 

 unless otherwise ordered, if the chilled shot 

 are the better? 



F. C. Doane, Knoxville, Pa. 



ANSWER. 



Preferred this letter to Captain J. A. H. 

 Dressel, of the U. M. C. Co., who replies as 

 follows: 



We do not think Baker and others, who 

 advise the use of chilled shot on account 

 of leading, are right. Chilled shot is prin- 

 cipally used because of being so much 

 harder that it does not become deformed 

 in the loading. Therefore it leaves the gun 

 in perfect shape and makes a more regular 

 pattern. Some people think soft shot has 

 more killing power, as it spreads to a cer- 

 tain extent, on impact, and thus gives more 

 shock, when used on live birds. 



Furthermore, we do not believe that the 

 ordinary term "leading" in gun barrels,, 

 when applied to shot, is exactly correct. 

 The so-called leading is probably caused 

 by the condensation of the gases in the 

 barrel, which are packed continually by 

 the shot passing through the barrel, and 

 the coating thus becomes hard. There is 

 in reality little if any lead in the matter. 



Furthermore, chilled shot, in loaded 

 shells, costs $2.00 a thousand more than 

 soft. This is one reason why some people 

 prefer to use soft shot. In selling loaded 

 shells, of the lower grades, it certainly 

 would not do for us to use chilled shot, as 

 the price would be entirely too great; and 

 we could not sell them at the regular price, 

 without doing so at a greater loss than we 

 are now incurring. 



What else can you give a man for a 

 Christmas present that will give him. so 

 much pleasure, at so small a cost, as a 

 yearly subscription to Recreation? 



