GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



377 



speaking, up io about 60 yards my gun 

 seems to shoot all the different cartridges 

 with about the same head. However, with 

 an open rear sight one soon learns to make 

 allowances. On account of the peculiar 

 shape of the Savage stock, all sights will not 

 fit. When ordering always specify "for the 

 Savage" and you will save trouble. 



Shooting alongside a Krag-Jorgensen reg- 

 ular army cartridge, I find that at 600 yards 

 the Savage, with regular cartridge, shoots 

 just as well, but with a slightly greater ele- 

 vation. Beyond that distance the Krag 

 shoots with the greater ease and accuracy. 

 Shooting Savagre mushroom bullets into a 

 bank of earth at 20 yards, the bullets seem 

 to pulverize, as I can never find them ; 

 while shooting under same conditions with 

 the Krag regular metal cased, I usually 

 find the lead filling in a lump and sep- 

 arated from the covering. 



If the gun is cleaned right after using 

 no trouble will be experienced in keeping 

 the bore bright. 



About the only fault I find with the Sav- 

 age is that the stock, where it fits the re- 

 ceiver, is too light, and lacks needed 

 strength. After using other rifles, it takes 

 one some time to become accustomed to 

 the hammerless feature of the Savage. 



A point of note to a prospective 

 buyer is the uniform courtesy of the man- 

 ufacturers. About a month after I bought 

 my rifle I took it to the hills, where I had 

 the misfortune to break the automatic 

 cutoff and ejector. I took the broken 

 parts out and used the gun as a single shot. 

 Then I sent the broken parts to the factory 

 with a request that they be replaced. In a 

 short time I received new parts, postage 

 prepaid, and a letter regretting the occur- 

 rence, and explaining it to have been 

 caused by a flaw. 



In hunting I have found the Savage 

 the lightest and best balanced repeater 

 I have ever used. The Savage carbine, 20 

 or 22 inch, is an ideal gun for woods 

 hunting and horseback. It will shoot as 

 well as the regular gun, but I do not think 

 it so good a long range weapon, on account 

 of the sights being so close together. 



In regard to the soft point bullet flying 

 to pieces on contact with a skull : Recently, 

 while hunting, a farmer requested me to 

 kill a horse which had been hopelessly in- 

 jured. Standing about 30 yards away, I 

 aimed at the horse's forehead, a little below 

 the center line and ranging upward. At 

 the report the horse fell, killed instantly. 



I have nothing against the Marlin rifle 

 except its faulty action ; if that was per- 

 fected it would rank with standard makes. 

 It is a pity so good a gun fell into such 

 stubborn hands. Marlin is at least consist- 

 ent. He refuses to advertise in Recrea- 

 tion because some of its readers have 



asked him to, and refuses to remedy a 

 known defect in his guns because the pub- 

 lic asks him to. In both cases he loses. 

 Jas. Gilmaker. 



A FORMIDABLE WEAPON. 



The experience of Mr. E. E. Van Dyke 

 in the use of a 22 caliber rifle for hunting, 

 as given in February Recreation, leads me 

 to relate a little of my own experience 

 along the same line. For many years I 

 had been an advocate of the larger caliber 

 hunting rifles for big, dangerous game, sup- 

 posing in my simplicity that they would 

 be more effective in stopping power, owing 

 to their increased weight of powder and 

 lead. However, after an exhaustive series 

 of experiments with nearly all makes and 

 calibers of cartridges, both smokeless and 

 black powder, and various lengths of bar- 

 rels, I found that the most effective for all 

 purposes, especially for the hunting of 

 moose or grizzly bears, is the 22 short, 

 rim fire. This seems to possess decided 

 advantage over every other size in "get 

 there" qualities, and in stopping large 

 game. I found, also, that the barrel could 

 be materially shortened, one of about 10 

 inches giving the best results. With a 10- 

 inch barrel using the above ammunition, the 

 average penetration is 36 inches in sea- 

 soned oak planks.. Indeed, some of the bul- 

 lets in addition passed through an iron 

 plate, back of the last plank, l /> inch in 

 thickness. A rifle of this description is the 

 most formidable hunting weapon that can 

 be made, and is abundantly able to stop 

 any animal that roams the American or 

 African forests. Armed with one you need 

 not be afraid to meet, as the late Seth 

 Green used to say, "anything that wears 

 hair." 



I took such a one with me on my last 

 trip to New Brunswick, for moose. One 

 rainy day in camp on the shore of Wish- 

 luck lake, I saw a moose come down to 

 the opposite shore to drink. The lake at 

 that point is about 34 of a mile across. Ed 

 Raynor, my guide, said, "Try him." I did 

 so, firing just as the moose was raising his 

 head from the water. " He fell in his tracks 

 as if a thunderbolt had hit him. Taking 

 the boat we went across and found that the 

 little bullet had not only smashed the skull 

 into atoms, but had penetrated some 18 

 inches along the pith of the backbone. 



Again, returning to my cabin one evening 

 in the Cceur-d'Alene mountains of Idaho, 

 I came suddenly upon 4 immense silver- 

 tips in a rocky gorge where I had no chance 

 to retreat and they all charged me at once,. 

 I was under the disadvantage of having to 

 reload after every shot, for I had my 22 

 pistol, single shot. Still I managed to lay 

 them all out before they reached me, as 

 only one shot was required for each. Sev- 



