RECKLESS SHOOTING. 



E. A. BRININSTOOL. 



The number of accidents, fatal and other- 

 wise, which result, yearly, from careless 

 handling of firearms is startling. One can 

 hardly pick up a newspaper which does not 

 contain accounts of accidents of this kind. 

 Even the most experienced, have their 

 share of mishaps; and in these days of ham- 

 merless shot guns and nitro powder, the 

 inexperienced sportsman should be ex- 

 tremely cautious. The new brands of nitro 

 powder, need to be carefully studied and 

 tested before being used. A wrecked gun, 

 and perhaps fatal injury to the shooter, 

 may be the result of inattention to the 

 loading directions. 



But it is of carelessness in shooting at 

 objects not clearly seen, and of general 

 recklessness in handling firearms, of which 

 I wish to speak. 



Several years ago I was employed in an 

 Eastern gun. factory, as inspector and tester 

 of arms. My duties were the shooting of 

 the guns, for pattern, and making sure that 

 the mechanism was in working order. The 

 factory cellar was used as a testing range. 

 The building was only ioo feet in depth, 

 so, to get the necessary range of 40 yards, 

 I had to stand 20 feet outside the cellar 

 door. There were several men employed 

 in the cellar, and others were constantly 

 coming and going through it. I had to 

 warn them, before each shot, and several 

 times accidents were barely avoided. 



I recall a narrow escape I had while 

 trapping clay birds, at a shooting match. 

 I stood on a board, while setting the trap, 

 which brought my head 6 inches above the 

 screen from before which the clay discs 

 were thrown. I had set the trap and was 

 stepping down when — bang! went a gun; 

 several pellets of shot going through my 

 cap. 



If I had been standing on the board, at 

 the time, I would not be writing now. 



Another time I was out with several 

 others, hunting woodchucks. We were all 

 armed with 44 calibre Winchester rifles. 

 We walked up the railroad track: I being 

 a few yards in advance of the others. Sud- 



denly — bang! went a rifle, and a ball buried 

 itself in a tie 2 inches from my foot! A 

 careless shooter had accidentally dis- 

 charged his rifle while working a shell into 

 the chamber. 



I remember some reckless shooting that 

 2 friends and I once did. Certainly we 

 should have known better. 



One of the party was a visitor at my 

 house, and we concluded to try the chucks 

 one afternoon. In company with my vil- 

 lage chum we started. My visiting friend 

 carried a Stevens' 25-20 rifle, fitted with a 

 Mogg telescope. My chum's weapon was 

 a Marlin repeater, shooting a 32 rim fire 

 shell. I carried a Stevens' Favorite, 25-10 

 rim fire. 



We sauntered leisurely up the track, to 

 what we considered the best spot. Here 

 we sat, while D , who carried the tele- 

 scope rifle, occasionally scanned the field 

 below the track, through the 'scope, hop- 

 ing to see a woodchuck. 



Suddenly he exclaimed, " There's a big 

 one — nearly black! Get ready fellows!" 



We gazed below at the object. Yes, that 

 was a big one, and he sat still; apparently 

 surveying the field for his enemy — man. 



" Give it to him, D ," I said. 



The distance was about 30 rods. D- 



fired and the ball struck about 20 feet be- 

 yond the object. 



I then took careful aim and fired. My 

 shot struck about the same distance short, 

 as D 's had beyond. 



" Now B ," I said to my chum, " nail 



him dead." 



B was an expert shot. He ad- 

 justed his sight and drew a bead on the dis- 

 tant object. His finger was pressing the 

 trigger, when suddenly the supposed 

 woodchuck stood up; and we made the 

 horrifying discovery that we had been 

 shooting at a man's head! • 



Scared? Three fellows never scattered 

 miles behind them as we did. 



That cured us of shooting at an object 

 of any description unless we were sure 

 what it was. 



Lady (entering barber shop with skye 

 terrier) " Mr. Barber, can you cut my dog- 

 gie's hair? " 



" No I can't, or rather I won't." 



" Indeed: You seem to hold yourself 

 pretty high; for one in your position." 



" Perhaps I do, but I'm no skye- 

 scraper."— Truth. 



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