376 



RECREATION. 



duce less velocity than the lower pressure 

 of the smokeless, which, being better sus- 

 tained, works over a longer path. 



This again explains why a gun made for 

 black powder is not always safe to use 

 with the lower pressure of smokeless pow- 

 der. The gun is made thick at the breech 

 for the high pressure of black powder, and 

 the walls of the barrel near the muzzle are 

 thin because the pressure has fallen off by 

 the time the shot reaches those parts ; 

 whereas the well sustained pressure of 

 smokeless powder, while perfectly safe at 

 the breech, may burst the outer parts of 

 the barrel. Modern guns are made safe for 

 both kinds of powder. 



The statement is sometimes made that 

 black powder should be used in long bar- 

 rels, and nitro powder in short ones. This 

 is an error,. The shorter the barrel, the 

 quicker must the charge of powder be. A 

 special grade of smokeless powder must 

 be used for short barrels, such as revolvers. 

 My early efforts to use ordinary smokeless 

 powder in revolvers were flat failures. 



I have been asked why shot scattered, 

 and why a choke bore scatters it less than 

 a cylinder. There are 2 causes for the 

 scattering of shot. One is that the air in 

 front of the charge as it issues from the 

 muzzle is compressed by the onward rush 

 of the charge, and entering among the 

 shot pellets this compressed air forces 

 them apart. The other cause is the pres- 

 sure of the powder gases acting on the 

 rear wad for a short time after the charge 

 has left the muzzle. At this time the 

 charge of shot has not the lateral support 

 of the walls of the barrel, hence this pres- 

 sure forces the rearmost shot pellets in 

 among the foremost, thus wedging them 

 apart. In a choke bore, the diameter of 

 the barrel decreases toward the muzzle. 

 Therefore the diameter of the shot charge 

 must decrease as the charge moves for- 

 ward to the muzzle; but as the volume 

 of the charge remains the same, it is evi- 

 dent that the length of the charge must 

 increase. In other words, the shot in front 

 must move faster than those in the rear 

 to gain the required distance. Therefore, 

 when the charge emerges from the muzzle, 

 the rearmost shot pellets must gain on 

 the foremost under the action of the blast 

 of powder gas from the muzzle, before the 

 wedging action above described can take 

 place.. Hence this wedging is reduced, and 

 the shot do not spread so much as in a 

 cylinder gun. 



I have been told that soft shot should 

 be used with black powder, and chilled, 

 or hardened, shot with smokeless. This 

 is wrong. Chilled shot is always to be 

 preferred, especially with black powder, 

 whose high pressure, suddenly applied, is 

 apt to crush and deform soft shot. The 



more gradual application of pressure with 

 smokeless powder is less apt to deform the 

 shot, particularly when elastic felt wads 

 are used between powder and shot. It 

 also gives the easier recoil which makes 

 smokeless powder so pleasant to shoot. 

 R. R. Raymond, 

 1st Lieut., Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. 



THE ALL ; AROUND SAVAGE. 



San Francisco, Cal. 

 Editor Recreation : 



During the past 16 years I have shot 

 many different makes and calibers of rifles, 

 among them Remingtons, Ballards, Colts, 

 Marlins (alas!), Winchesters, etc. I am 

 not narrow minded enough to say that 

 the Savage is absolutely the best shoot- 

 ing and working arm made or better than 

 the Winchester. Each stands as the high- 

 est exponent of its respective class ; 

 the Winchester as the special gun, the Sav- 

 age as the all around gun. 



I pick the Winchester for comparison, 

 because I believe it the only gun which 

 really competes with the Savage ; at any 

 rate, that is the case here. If you want 

 to hunt large game and that only, buy a 

 25-35, 30-30, -303, or 30-40 of any standard 

 make, except Marlin, and you will find it 

 reliable and good. For all around shoot- 

 ing, reliability, beauty, style and symmetry- 

 give me the Savage. It is equally good for 

 rabbits, birds or bears. If that is the kind 

 of gun you desire, buy a Savage and you 

 will make no mistake. 



If used while fresh, I find the Savage 

 shells stand reloading with smokeless about 

 3 times ; but I usually reload with black 

 powder, which I find makes a cartridge 

 about equal to the 32-40 in power, and al- 

 lows longer use of shells. The best small 

 load is the small steel or metal covered 

 bullet with 10 grains smokeless. This is 

 a wicked little cartridge and about equals 

 the 32-20. 



lne wire wound or paper patched lead 

 bullet with 13 grain smokeless is a fine 

 cartridge for jack rabbits and targets at 

 200 yards or more. For birds I use a regu- 

 lar 32 caliber lead pistol bullet and 3 grains 

 of smokeless.. The Savage .303 is prac- 

 tically 32 caliber, and the solid head bullet 

 with black powder makes a fine goose load. 

 The .303 is not so powerful as the 30-40, 

 but it is powerful enough and will kill as 

 far as one can see to shoot. According to 

 my experience the penetration of the .303 

 .soft nose Savage is about 10 inches in pine. 



In using the Savage for all around shoot- 

 ing, I find an ivory head front and sport- 

 ing rear sight are best. The Lyman is 

 good when shooting one kind of load. 

 I at first used a Lyman combination rear 

 sight, but found it troublesome. Generally 



