GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



Anybody can keep on shooting all day, but 

 SOME WORK WITH A SAVAGE. 



I have 'had a Savage .303 about 4 

 months and after having given it a thor- 

 ough trial 1 consider it far the best rifle I 

 ever owned. It will not, of course, shoot 

 so strongly as a 30-40, but that is its one 

 point of inferiority. The .303 shell does 

 not seem so apt as others to stick in the 

 chamber and break off. The gun shoots 

 right where it is held and at the same time 

 is sighted coarser than a 30-40, which 

 makes it easier to catch a quick sight. 



When it comes to reloading, the Savage 

 shell is a thing of beauty and a joy for- 

 ever. I use a wire patched 180 grain bul- 

 let, made by the National Projectile Co., 

 and 18 grains by weight of Savage powder. 

 I have been able to prove, to my own satis- 

 faction at least, that the wire patched bul- 

 let will hold up 50 yards farther than the 

 regular soft nose, metal patched bullet. 

 It will do quite as much crushing and 

 tearing as any other bullet, yet does not 

 damage the rifle. 



Recently I shot a white tail buck at 281 

 paces. The bullet struck about 3 inches 

 back of left shoulder point and about 

 1-3 the way from the back bone to belly 

 line. It nicked one rib a little going in 

 and cut 3 at point of exit, besides tearing 

 away a lot of flesh from the right shoulder. 

 The buck jumped once and went all in a 

 heap. I don't see where the 30-40 could 

 have done better. I started with 60 U. M. 

 C. cartridges ; 10 having burst, the rest 

 are still good though some have been re- 

 loaded 5 times. I never clean my shells in 

 any way except to wipe off with a greasy 

 rag. I tried to reload 30-40's and on the 

 first reloading 21 out of 60 shells broke at 

 the neck. 



it takes a gentleman to quit when he gets enougn. 



on the right side of the breech, just beiow 

 the tube for the percussion cap, from which 

 a stream of fire nearly a foot in length 

 would issue every time the gun was dis- 

 charged. This, the makers, whose names I 

 do not remember, claimed made the gun 

 burn more powder. Was this claim true? 

 If so, why did not the shooting power of 

 the old muzzle loaders increase when their 

 percussion tubes became so badly burned 

 out that enough gas would escape through 

 them to blow the hammers to full cock 

 every time they were discharged? If I re- 

 member rightly, the cartridges for this little 

 gun contained 22, buckshot. For wild goose 

 shooting I never saw its equal. I have seen 

 it shot at a target against guns of all prices 

 and bores, and never saw a gun that could 

 equal it in range and effectiveness. Was 

 it the vent in this gun that caused it to 

 shoot with such tremendous power? The 

 only objectionable feature I remember about 

 the gun was its loud report. It roared 

 like a small cannon ; but when kept clean 

 had no recoil, although it weighed only 6 

 pounds. Old Subscriber, Webster, Mass. 



I should like to know if any reader of 

 Recreation has seen a gun like one I know 

 of, which was bought in Newport, R. I., 

 about 45 years ago, for $25. It was a single 

 barrel breech loader, though it had a ram- 

 rod and was often used as a muzzle loader. 

 It was made for Western turkey shooting, 

 with either balls or buckshot, and used the 

 old percussion cap. It was lever action 

 with an open space behind the flat-sided 

 breech block, which was in 2 pieces, work- 

 ing on the principle of a wedge, so the hard- 

 er the gun recoiled the tighter it was closed. 

 The barrel was 12 gauge, about 24 inches in 

 length, and was fastened to the stock by 

 a bolt passing through the 'barrel from left 

 to right. The stock was extremely long and 

 straight, and the gun had a hammer about 

 4 times the ordinary size. The strangest 

 feature in the make of this gun was a vent 



YES, HE PAYS 'EM. 



I note that some wise men from the 

 East are sending up a plaintive howl, claim- 

 ing that the editor of Recreation is pay- 

 ing his subscribers for saying complimen- 

 tary things about him and about his maga- 

 zine. I have no fault to find with this 

 kick, for it is a good ad for Recreation, 

 and it is also true. Mr. Shields has paid 

 me for saying nice things about his maga- 

 zine, and for fighting on his side of the 

 fence when any little Coquinian war 

 chanced to come bobbing along; and I 

 have no doubt he has paid thousands of 

 others for like services. 



This is how Mr. Shields has paid me. 

 For only $1 a year he has furnished me 

 a' magazine from whose pages I can glean 

 more real information on subjects dear 

 to the hearts of sportsmen than can be 

 found in any dozen other publications. 

 This alone would be pay enough, but it is 

 not all. He has ever treated me with uni- 

 form courtesy, and it is fair to assume 

 that he extends this courtesy to all with 

 whom he has any dealings, game hogs ex- 

 cepted. Courtesy is a good investment 

 for anyone, and I respectfully recommend 

 it to the careful consideration of the hasty- 

 nudding folks. 



Here is some more pay that I get. Rec- 

 reation, aided by the L. A. S., for whose 

 birth and rapid growth Mr. Shields is re- 

 sponsible, is trying to save the game for 



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